Yves Bérubé (March 28, 1940 – December 5, 1993) was a

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, ...

engineer, politician and multiple-time minister.

Biography

Bérubé was born in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

. His father was a journalist. He studied at the Collège de Saint-Laurent (the modern

Cégep Saint-Laurent A CEGEP ( or ; , ; also written CÉGEP and cegep) is a publicly funded college providing general, professional, academic or a mix of programs; they are exclusive to the province of Quebec's education system. A loanword from French, it origin ...

), then at the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

, where he graduated in 1966 with a doctorate in

mining engineering Mining engineering is the extraction of minerals from the ground. It is associated with many other disciplines, such as mineral processing, exploration, excavation, geology, metallurgy, geotechnical engineering and surveying. A mining engineer m ...

. In 1963 (the same year he had obtained his bachelor's degree) he had married Francine Leroux in Montreal. His career started at the

Iron Ore Company of Canada Iron Ore Company of Canada (often abbreviated to IOC) () is a Canadian-based producer of iron ore. The company was founded in 1949 from a partnership of Canadian and American firms, the largest being the M.A. Hanna Company. It is now owned by a c ...

. After obtaining his doctorate, he became assistant, then

associate professor Associate professor is an academic title with two principal meanings: in the North American system and that of the ''Commonwealth system''. In the ''North American system'', used in the United States and many other countries, it is a position ...

Laval University Laval means ''The Valley'' in old French and is the name of: People * House of Laval, a French noble family originating from the town of Laval, Mayenne * Laval (surname) Places Belgium * Laval, a village in the municipality of Sainte-Ode, Luxe ...

. During this period, he also taught in France and regularly acted as consultant for several companies and the federal government. In 1976, he defeated Marc-Yvan Côté and was elected in

Matane Matane () is a town on the Gaspé Peninsula in Quebec, Canada, on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River at the mouth of the Matane River. The town is the seat for the La Matanie Regional County Municipality. In addition to Matane itse ...

for the

Parti Québécois The Parti Québécois (PQ; , ) is a sovereignist and social democratic provincial political party in Quebec, Canada. The PQ advocates national sovereignty for Quebec involving independence of the province of Quebec from Canada and establishi ...

. He became Minister of Lands and Forests () as well as Minister of Natural Resources (), then Minister of Energy and Resources () when these two ministries were combined in 1979 (it would become the modern Ministry of Natural Resources and Wildlife). He was easily re-elected in the 1981 election. In the new government, he was Minister for Administration (; later Minister for Administrative Reform) and

President of the Treasury Board The president of the Treasury Board () is a minister of the Crown in the Canadian Cabinet. The president is the chair of the Treasury Board of Canada (a committee of Cabinet in the Privy Council) and is the minister responsible for the Treasur ...

. In the March 1984

cabinet shuffle A cabinet reshuffle or shuffle occurs when a head of government rotates or changes the composition of ministers in their cabinet, or when the head of state changes the head of government and a number of ministers. They are more common in parliam ...

, he was made

Minister of Education An education minister (sometimes minister of education) is a position in the governments of some countries responsible for dealing with educational matters. Where known, the government department, ministry, or agency that develops policy and deli ...

, a post he left in December upon the creation of the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology (resulting from a merger of the existing Ministry of Science and Technology and part of the Ministry of Education). As Minister of Energy and Resources, he defended the interest of 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 ...

and Gaspésie region, eventually getting embroiled in a dispute with federal minister

Pierre De Bané Pierre is a masculine given name. It is a French form of the name Peter. Pierre originally meant "rock" or "stone" in French (derived from the Greek word πέτρος (''petros'') meaning "stone, rock", via Latin "petra"). It is a translation ...

over the funding for the establishment of a

paper mill A paper mill is a factory devoted to making paper from vegetable fibres such as wood pulp, old rags, and other ingredients. Prior to the invention and adoption of the Fourdrinier machine and other types of paper machine that use an endless belt ...

in Matane. As Minister of Natural Resources, he presided over the creation of a

state corporation A state-owned enterprise (SOE) is a business entity created or owned by a national or local government, either through an executive order or legislation. SOEs aim to generate profit for the government, prevent private sector monopolies, provide goo ...

for research, prospection and promotion of

asbestos Asbestos ( ) is a group of naturally occurring, Toxicity, toxic, carcinogenic and fibrous silicate minerals. There are six types, all of which are composed of long and thin fibrous Crystal habit, crystals, each fibre (particulate with length su ...

, and as President of the Treasury Board, he was instrumental in salary reductions that affection the Quebec public service in the early 80s. On October 16, 1985, shortly after the resignation of

René Lévesque René Lévesque ( ; August 24, 1922 – November 1, 1987) was a Canadian politician and journalist who served as the 23rd premier of Quebec from 1976 to 1985. He was the first Québécois political leader since Confederation to seek, ...

as Prime Minister, Bérubé and two other ministers,

Yves Duhaime Yves Duhaime (born May 27, 1939) is a former politician in Quebec, Canada. He served as Cabinet Member and Member of the National Assembly of Quebec. Early life Duhaime was born in Chicoutimi, and grew up in Shawinigan. In the 1960s, Duhaime ...

(Finances) and

Clément Richard Clément Richard (; 17 February 1939 – 3 March 2022) was a Canadian lawyer, businessman and politician in Quebec. He represented Montmorency in the Quebec National Assembly as a member of the Parti Québécois from 1976 to 1985. He was born in ...

(Cultural Affairs), resigned together. In the ensuing shuffle, four unelected ministers were named, the largest number since 1936 and the first time since 1970. Following his resignation, he worked at SNC-Lavalin, becoming executive vice-president in 1991. The following year, he became president of the Société d'habitation et de développement de Montréal before dying the next year, on December 5, from a brain tumor. He is buried in

Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery (, ) is a rural cemetery located in the borough of Côte-des-Neiges-Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, which was founded in 1854. The entrance and the grounds run along a part of Côte-des-Neiges Ro ...

. He had two daughters at the time of his death.

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Berube, Yves 1940 births 1993 deaths 20th-century Canadian engineers MIT School of Engineering alumni Members of the Executive Council of Quebec Parti Québécois MNAs People from Matane Politicians from Montreal Academic staff of Université Laval Burials at Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery Deaths from brain cancer in Canada 20th-century members of the National Assembly of Quebec