Duceppe remembered Gauthier as a good teacher who knew how to easily explain things concretely.
“He was a go-getter, it’s sad to lose him so soon,” Duceppe said. “I had great moments by his side. Beyond the differences we could have, we wanted, both of us, that Quebec move forward.”
Gauthier was MP for 20 years, first for the riding of Roberval in Quebec’s Saguenay Lac-Saint Jean region between 1997 and 2004 and then for the new riding of Roberval-Lac-Saint-Jean until 2007.
He was one of the most recognizable Bloc members, at one time serving as house leader.
During the 2019 fall federal election campaign, he briefly joined the Conservatives to help organize the party’s Quebec efforts, saying he’d renounced sovereignty but remained a Quebec nationalist.
He announced his departure due to illness in May 2019.
Current Bloc Quebecois Leader Yves-Francois Blanchet offered his support to Gauthier’s family.
“On behalf of myself and Bloc Quebecois MPs, I extend my sincere condolences to the many friends and relatives of Michel Gauthier. I wish them the courage that he has shown in his fight against the disease,” Blanchet wrote on Twitter.
Gauthier, who lived in Gatineau, Que., was born Feb. 18, 1950.
He began in provincial politics and was first elected to Quebec’s national assembly as a member of the Parti Quebecois in 1981 and was re-elected in 1985 in the provincial riding of Roberval.
During his time in provincial politics, he served as parliamentary secretary to Jacques Parizeau, who was Quebec’s finance minister.
He was head of the local school board in Roberval between 1988 and 1993 before making the leap to federal politics.
When former Bloc leader Lucien Bouchard left the federal party to return to provincial politics in Quebec, Gauthier was tapped to lead the sovereigntist party from 1996 to 1997, a time when it was the official Opposition.
When Duceppe was elected Bloc leader in 1997, Gauthier was appointed house leader, returning to the job he’d held under Bouchard.
After politics, Gauthier also spent some time working in media as host of the show “Gauthier” on the now defunct French-language network TQS.
Gauthier is survived by his wife Anne Allard, his children Isabelle and Alexandre and their families, his wife’s daughters Natacha and Katia, and their grandchildren.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 31, 2020.
Stephane Blais, The Canadian Press
Note to readers: This is a corrected story. A previous version incorrectly identified his wife as being the mother of his children.
OTTAWA – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the NDP is caving to political pressure from Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre when it comes to their stance on the consumer carbon price.
Trudeau says he believes Jagmeet Singh and the NDP care about the environment, but it’s “increasingly obvious” that they have “no idea” what to do about climate change.
On Thursday, Singh said the NDP is working on a plan that wouldn’t put the burden of fighting climate change on the backs of workers, but wouldn’t say if that plan would include a consumer carbon price.
Singh’s noncommittal position comes as the NDP tries to frame itself as a credible alternative to the Conservatives in the next federal election.
Poilievre responded to that by releasing a video, pointing out that the NDP has voted time and again in favour of the Liberals’ carbon price.
British Columbia Premier David Eby also changed his tune on Thursday, promising that a re-elected NDP government would scrap the long-standing carbon tax and shift the burden to “big polluters,” if the federal government dropped its requirements.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
Simon Jolin-Barrette, minister responsible for consumer protection, has tabled a bill to force merchants to calculate tips based on the price before tax.
That means on a restaurant bill of $100, suggested tips would be calculated based on $100, not on $114.98 after provincial and federal sales taxes are added.
The bill would also increase the rebate offered to consumers when the price of an item at the cash register is higher than the shelf price, to $15 from $10.
And it would force grocery stores offering a discounted price for several items to clearly list the unit price as well.
Businesses would also have to indicate whether taxes will be added to the price of food products.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
Quebec legislature member Youri Chassin has announced he’s leaving the Coalition Avenir Québec government to sit as an Independent.
He announced the decision shortly after writing an open letter criticizing Premier François Legault’s government for abandoning its principles of smaller government.
In the letter published in Le Journal de Montréal and Le Journal de Québec, Chassin accused the party of falling back on what he called the old formula of throwing money at problems instead of looking to do things differently.
Chassin says public services are more fragile than ever, despite rising spending that pushed the province to a record $11-billion deficit projected in the last budget.
He is the second CAQ member to leave the party in a little more than one week, after economy and energy minister Pierre Fitzgibbon announced Sept. 4 he would leave because he lost motivation to do his job.
Chassin says he has no intention of joining another party and will instead sit as an Independent until the end of his term.
He has represented the Saint-Jérôme riding since the CAQ rose to power in 2018, but has not served in cabinet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
