Claude Béchard (June 29, 1969 – September 7, 2010) was a politician in

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

, Canada. He served as

Quebec Liberal Party The Quebec Liberal Party (QLP; , PLQ) is a provincial political party in Quebec. It has been independent of the federal Liberal Party of Canada since 1955. The QLP has traditionally supported a form of Quebec federalist ideology with nuance ...

Member of the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

(MNA) for the riding of

Kamouraska-Témiscouata Kamouraska-Témiscouata () is a former provincial electoral district in Quebec, Canada that elected members to the National Assembly of Quebec. As of its final election, it included the municipalities of Kamouraska, Quebec, Kamouraska, La Pocatiè ...

in the

Bas-Saint-Laurent The Bas-Saint-Laurent (, 'Lower Saint-Lawrence) is an administrative region of Quebec located along the south shore of the lower Saint Lawrence River in Quebec. The river widens at this place, later becoming a bay that discharges into the Atlan ...

region; as Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food as well as the Minister for Canadian Intergovernmental Affairs, and previously the Minister of Natural Resources and Wildlife, Minister of Sustainable Development, Environment and Parks, Minister of Economic Development, Innovation and Export Trade and

Ministry of Employment and Social Solidarity The Ministry of Employment and Social Solidarity (in French: Ministère de l'Emploi et de la Solidarité sociale) is a government department in the Canadian province of Quebec. Its primary function is to promote employment and provide financial sup ...

Biography

Early life and career

Béchard was born in 1969 in Saint-Philippe-de-Néri. In 1991, he received a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

from

Université Laval (; English: ''Laval University)'' is a public research university in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. The university traces its roots to the Séminaire de Québec, founded by François de Montmorency-Laval in 1663, making it the oldest institutio ...

Quebec City Quebec City is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Census Metropolitan Area (including surrounding communities) had a populati ...

. He graduated with a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

in land planning and

regional development Regional development refers to a broad category of policies aimed at reducing regional disparities within an economy or across economies by devoting resources to underdeveloped areas. Regional development can be national or international in natur ...

in 1994. He began doctoral studies in public administration, but left it to work as a political adviser to

Daniel Johnson, Jr. Daniel Johnson Jr. (born December 24, 1944) is a former Canadian politician. He was a member of the Liberal Party of Quebec and was the 25th premier of Quebec for nine months in 1994 until his party's defeat in the provincial general election ...

from 1993 to 1996. He became the vice-president of the Quebec Liberal Party in 1997 and in a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

the same year was elected as a Member of the

National Assembly of Quebec The National Assembly of Quebec (, ) is the Legislature, legislative body of the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec in Canada. Legislators are called MNAs (Members of the National Assembly; ). The lieutenant governor of Que ...

for the riding of Kamouraska-Témiscouata. He was re-elected in

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

and

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

, the latter which gave his party the power. During the years in the opposition benches he served as critic for employment, labour, energy and education.

Quebec cabinet

When

Jean Charest John James "Jean" Charest (; born June 24, 1958) is a Canadian lawyer and former politician who served as the 29th premier of Quebec from 2003 to 2012. Prior to that, he was a member of Parliament (MP) between 1984 and 1998. After holding se ...

became

Premier of Quebec The premier of Quebec ( (masculine) or eminine is the head of government of the Canadian province of Quebec. The current premier of Quebec is François Legault of the Coalition Avenir Québec, sworn in on October 18, 2018, following tha ...

in 2003, he was named the Minister of

Employment Employment is a relationship between two party (law), parties Regulation, regulating the provision of paid Labour (human activity), labour services. Usually based on a employment contract, contract, one party, the employer, which might be a cor ...

Social Solidarity Solidarity or solidarism is an awareness of shared interests, objectives, standards, and sympathies creating a psychological sense of unity of groups or classes. True solidarity means moving beyond individual identities and single issue politics ...

and Family Welfare before a Cabinet shuffle caused by the departure of Yves Séguin as Finance Minister, promoted him to the position of Minister of Economic Development, Innovation and Export Trade in 2005. He occupied the position for year before becoming Minister of Sustainable Development, Environment and Parks in 2006. Soon after, Béchard became involved in a controversial plan to sell part of the

Mont Orford Mount Orford () is a mountain and ski resort located in the Mont-Orford National Park in the Estrie region of Quebec, Canada. It is northwest of the centre of the city of Magog. History In 2006, the provincial government and then-Environment M ...

provincial park to a developer who planned to build condominiums. The plan was eventually cancelled. In addition, Béchard announced that the Orford Park would double in size as a

national park A national park is a nature park designated for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes because of unparalleled national natural, historic, or cultural significance. It is an area of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that is protecte ...

. Béchard was re-elected in the

2007 elections The following elections occurred in the year 2007. * Electoral calendar 2007 * Elections in 2007 * 2007 United Nations Security Council election Africa * 52nd National Conference of the African National Congress * 2007 Algerian legislative elect ...

and named the Minister of Natural Resources and Wildlife replacing

Pierre Corbeil Pierre Corbeil (born June 23, 1955 in Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec) is a Quebec politician and dentist. He was the mayor of Val-d'Or, Quebec from 2013 to 2021. He was also a Member of National Assembly of Quebec (MNA) for Abitibi-Est as a member of ...

who was defeated by the PQ's Alexis Wawanoloath.

Line Beauchamp Line Beauchamp (born February 24, 1963) is a Canadian politician. She served as the Liberal Member of the National Assembly (MNA) for the Sauvé riding, and for Bourassa-Sauvé at the Quebec National Assembly from November 30, 1998 to May 14, 20 ...

succeeded him as Minister of Environment.

Cancer, recovery, and death

On May 30, 2008, Béchard was hospitalized for persistent stomach pain. On June 9, 2008, he was diagnosed with

pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer arises when cell (biology), cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a Neoplasm, mass. These cancerous cells have the malignant, ability to invade other parts of ...

. In addition, during the same year, his press secretary Nancy Michaud was kidnapped and later found murdered inside an abandoned home in Riviere-Ouelle. Béchard recovered from his operation and was easily re-elected in the

2008 elections The following elections occurred in the year 2008. * Electoral calendar 2008 * 2008 United Nations Security Council election Africa * 2008 Angolan legislative election * 2008 Anjouan presidential election * 2008 Republic of the Congo Senate elec ...

. On June 23, 2009, during a cabinet shuffle, Bechard was moved from the Natural Resources and Wildlife portfolios to Agriculture, Fisheries and Food replacing Laurent Lessard. Nathalie Normandeau replaced Béchard as Minister of Natural Resources and Wildlife. Bechard was also named the Minister of Canadian Intergovernmental Affairs replacing Jacques P. Dupuis. Faced with continuing health challenges from his cancer, Béchard announced his retirement from politics on September 7, 2010, and died later the same day.

Footnotes

External links

*
Carte Mortuaire de Claude Béchard
{{DEFAULTSORT:Béchard, Claude 1969 births 2010 deaths Quebec Liberal Party MNAs Members of the Executive Council of Quebec Politicians from Bas-Saint-Laurent Université Laval alumni Deaths from cancer in Quebec Deaths from pancreatic cancer in Canada 20th-century members of the National Assembly of Quebec 21st-century members of the National Assembly of Quebec