Claude Béchard

Claude Béchard (June 29, 1969 – September 7, 2010) was a politician in Quebec, Canada. He served as Quebec Liberal Party Member of the National Assembly (MNA) for the riding of Kamouraska-Témiscouata in the Bas-Saint-Laurent 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.

Biography

Early life and career Béchard was born in 1969 in Saint-Philippe-de-Néri. In 1991, he received a bachelor's degree in political science from Université Laval in Quebec City. 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. 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