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

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

engineer, politician and multiple-time minister.

Biography

Bérubé was born in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

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

Cégep Saint-Laurent A CEGEP ( or ; ), also written cégep, CÉGEP and cegep, is a Public school (government funded), publicly funded College education in Quebec, college providing technical, academic, vocational or a mix of programs; they are exclusive to the pr ...

), then at the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

, where he graduated in 1966 with a doctorate in

mining engineering Mining in the engineering discipline is the extraction of minerals from underneath, open pit, above or on the ground. Mining engineering is associated with many other disciplines, such as mineral processing, exploration, excavation, geology, and ...

. 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) (french: Compagnie Minière IOC) is a Canadian-based producer of iron ore. The company was founded in 1949 from a partnership of Canadian and American M.A. Hanna Company. It is now owned by a ...

. 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''. Overview In the ''North American system'', used in the United States and many other countries, it is a ...

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, Luxemb ...

. 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 itself, the ...

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 establishin ...

. He became Minister of Lands and Forests (french: Ministre des Terres et Forêts) as well as Minister of Natural Resources (french: Ministre des Richesses Naturelles), then Minister of Energy and Resources (french: Ministre de l'Énergie et des Ressources) 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 (french: Ministre délégué à l'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 Treasury B ...

. 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 parlia ...

, he was made Minister of Education, 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 Atlanti ...

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 government entity which is established or nationalised by the ''national government'' or ''provincial government'' by an executive order or an act of legislation in order to earn profit for the governmen ...

for research, prospection and promotion of

asbestos Asbestos () is a naturally occurring fibrous silicate mineral. There are six types, all of which are composed of long and thin fibrous crystals, each fibre being composed of many microscopic "fibrils" that can be released into the atmosphere b ...

, 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 Québécois 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 attempt ...

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 Q ...

(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 SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. is a Canadian company based in Montreal that provides engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) services to various industries, including mining and metallurgy, oil and gas, environment and water, infrastructure, a ...

, becoming executive vice-president in 1991. The following year, he became president of the

Société d'habitation et de développement de Montréal Lactalis is a French multinational dairy products corporation, owned by the Besnier family and based in Laval, Mayenne, France. The company's former name was Besnier SA. Lactalis is the largest dairy products group in the world, and is the se ...

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 (french: Cimetière Notre-Dame-des-Neiges) 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 a ...

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

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Berube, Yves 1940 births 1993 deaths 20th-century Canadian engineers French Quebecers 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