Raymond Bachand

Raymond Bachand OC (born October 22, 1947 in Montreal, Quebec) is a former politician, a businessman and a lawyer in Quebec, Canada. He was the Member of the National Assembly of Quebec (MNA) for the riding of Outremont, and a member of the Quebec Liberal Party caucus. He is the former Minister of Finance and Revenue in the majority government of Premier of Quebec Jean Charest, and was previously Minister for Tourism during the minority government mandate from April 2007 to October 2008, and Minister of economic development of innovation and export trade from his election until June 2009. Bachand is a former trade unionist. On August 26, 2013 Bachand resigned his seat.[1]

Raymond Bachand

Raymond Bachand announcing his candidacy for Quebec Liberal Party leadership
Member of the National Assembly of Quebec for Outremont
In office
December 12, 2005  August 26, 2013
Preceded byYves Séguin
Succeeded byPhilippe Couillard
Personal details
Born (1947-10-22) October 22, 1947
Montreal, Quebec
Political partyLiberal Party of Québec
ResidenceMontreal
ProfessionAttorney, professor
CabinetMinister of Finances and Revenue

Early life and education

Bachand was educated at the Collège Stanislas, a private school. He obtained a law degree from the Université de Montréal in 1969 and was admitted to the Quebec Bar in 1970. Bachand also completed a master's degree and a doctorate at Harvard Business School.

Before entering politics, he worked in several key positions including in the Quebec's public sector where he worked in the Ministry of Labour as well as in the premier's office. Bachand was a Quebec sovereignist during the 1980 referendum, and an organizer for the 'Yes' campaign. He changed his mind, and is now a Canadian federalist.[2]

He also taught at the École des hautes études commerciales de Montréal in the early 1970s.

He was once the vice-president of Culinar and Métro-Richelieu and was also president of Groupe Secor during the 1980s and 1990s. He was president-director general of the Fonds de solidarité des travailleurs du Québec (FTQ), a major union fund, between 1997 and 2001. He was also part of the administration of Montreal newspaper Le Devoir and member of Montreal's Chamber of Commerce.

Politics

Bachand was elected on December 12, 2005, in Outremont in a by-election after the retirement of former Finance Minister Yves Séguin. There was speculation that Bachand would also occupy that post, but he was awarded the portfolio of Economic Development.

Bachand was easily re-elected in the 2007 elections defeating Parti Québécois's Salim Laaroussi by nearly 6,000 votes. He was re-appointed as the minister of economic development, innovation and international trade and was also given the portfolios of tourism and the region of Montreal. Following the 2008 election, Bachand gave up the tourism portfolio to Laporte MNA Nicole Ménard. On April 8, 2009, following the retirement of Monique Jérôme-Forget, Bachand was named the new Finance Minister.[3]

With the defeat of the Liberal government of Jean Charest, Bachand was replaced by Nicolas Marceau of the Parti Québécois as Minister of Finance. He was a candidate to succeed Jean Charest as Liberal Party leader but lost to Philippe Couillard on March 17, 2013.[4]

On August 26, 2013 Bachand resigned his seat as MNA for Outremont.

Electoral record

2012 Quebec general election
Party Candidate Votes%±%
LiberalRaymond Bachand10,94941.52-12.69
Parti QuébécoisRoxanne Gendron6,11923.20-2.03
Québec solidaireÉdith Laperle4,75118.02+6.59
Coalition Avenir QuébecClaude Michaud3,69114.00+11.04
Option nationaleLuc Séguin4511.71
Parti NulMathieu Marcil2430.92
Quebec Citizens' UnionJonathan Moffatt1200.46
Coalition pour la ConstituanteOlga Sharonova470.18
Total valid votes 26,37199.08
Total rejected ballots 2450.92
Turnout 26,61668.21
Electors on the lists 39,022
2008 Quebec general election
Party Candidate Votes%±%
LiberalRaymond Bachand10,56954.21+7.18
Parti QuébécoisSophie Fréchette6,11925.23+1.73
Québec solidaireMay Chiu4,75111.43+2.30
GreenMaxime Simard3,6916.17-4.63
Action démocratiqueChristian Collard4512.96-5.91
Total valid votes 19,49898.96
Total rejected ballots 2041.04
Turnout 19,702 48.49
Electors on the lists 40,627
2007 Quebec general election: Outremont
Party Candidate Votes%±%
LiberalRaymond Bachand11,86147.03
Parti QuébécoisSalim Laaroussi5,92823.50
GreenLuc Côté2,72510.80
Québec solidaireSujata Dey2,3039.13
Action démocratiquePierre Harvey2,2368.87
IndependentRomain Angeles1010.40
Marxist–LeninistYvon Breton680.27
Total valid votes 25,222 99.35
Total rejected ballots 166 0.65
Turnout 25,388 62.69
Electors on the lists 40,498
Source: Official Results, Le Directeur général des élections du Québec.
Quebec provincial by-election, December 12, 2005: Outremont
Party Candidate Votes%±%
LiberalRaymond Bachand8,17248.79
Parti QuébécoisFarouk Karim6,24237.27
UFPOmar Aktouf1,2127.24
GreenChristopher Coggan7504.48
Action démocratiqueRaya Mileva3382.02
IndependentRégent Millette350.21
Total valid votes 16,749 100.00
Rejected and declined votes 89
Turnout 16,838 40.28
Electors on the lists 41,799

References

  1. "Quebec's former finance minister Raymond Bachand leaves politics". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. August 26, 2013. Retrieved September 1, 2013.
  2. "Quebec remembers 1st referendum – Montreal – CBC News". Archived from the original on May 23, 2010.
  3. Bachand succède à Jérôme-Forget | Politique | Radio-Canada.ca
  4. "Philippe Couillard wins Quebec Liberal leadership". The Canadian Press. March 17, 2013. Retrieved April 30, 2013.
Political offices
Preceded by
Monique Jérôme-Forget
Minister of Finance
2009–2012
Succeeded by
Nicolas Marceau
Preceded by
Robert Dutil
Minister of Revenue
2010–2012
Succeeded by
Nicolas Marceau
Preceded by
Claude Bechard
Minister of Economic Development, Innovation and Exports
2006–2009
Succeeded by
Clément Gignac
Preceded by
Francoise Gauthier
Minister of Tourism
2007–2008
Succeeded by
Nicole Menard
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