Raymond Bachand to serve as Quebec adviser during NAFTA renegotiations
CBC News | Posted: February 12, 2017 12:46 PM | Last Updated: February 12, 2017
Bachand served as Quebec's finance minister, among other cabinet portfolios; left politics in 2013
Former Quebec finance minister Raymond Bachand will act as special legal counsel to the Quebec government as Canada enters renegotiations of the North American Free Trade Agreement with U.S. President Donald Trump.
His appointment was made official this morning.
Bachand represented Montreal's Outremont riding in the National Assembly from 2005 to 2013.
He held numerous cabinet portfolios including minister of economic development, then finance.
Bachand left politics shortly after the Parti Québécois took power in 2012.
He ran to replace Liberal leader Jean Charest after Charest stepped down, but finished a disappointing third behind Pierre Moreau and the winner, Philippe Couillard. He resigned five months later.
Prior to entering politics, Bachand served as the president and CEO of the Fonds de solidarité FTQ.
A lawyer by training, he was a founding member of Oxfam Quebec and received a doctorate from the Harvard Business School.
He also served as a staffer in PQ leader René Lévesque's office and held a formal role in the pro-independence "Yes" side of the 1980 referendum.
He currently heads the Institut du Québec, a public policy think tank.