Before becoming a politician, Laporte had been a student of history and Law at the University of Regina.
[1] Laporte became the New Democratic Party (NDP) MP for Moose Jaw—Lake Centre in the 1988 federal election, winning a riding that had been a Progressive Conservative (PC) stronghold for thirty years.
[2] It was a very narrow win, garnering only 408 votes more than PC Candidate Bill Gottselig.
[3] In the 1993 election, he lost the seat to Reform Party candidate Allan Kerpan.
His loss was even narrower that his initial win: only 310 votes separated him from the winner.