Benoît Bouchard

Benoît Bouchard, PC (born April 16, 1940 in Roberval, Quebec) is a Canadian public official and former politician.

After a career as a professor and teacher, Bouchard was elected to the Canadian House of Commons as the Progressive Conservative Member of Parliament for Roberval, Quebec in the 1984 election. He was immediately elevated to Prime Minister Brian Mulroney's Cabinet as Minister of State for Transport.

In 1985, he was promoted to Secretary of State for Canada. He subsequently served as Minister of Employment and Immigration (June 30, 1986 - March 30, 1988), Minister of Transport (March 31, 1988 - February 22, 1990), Minister of Industry, Science and Technology (February 23, 1990 - April 20, 1991), and Minister of Health and Welfare (April 21, 1991 - June 1993).

He retired from politics in June 1993 to accept an appointment as Canada's Ambassador to France.

In 1996, Bouchard returned to Canada and was appointed Chair of the Transportation Safety Board of Canada by Liberal Prime Minister Jean Chrétien. He oversaw the Canadian portion of the investigation of the Swissair Flight 111 air crash. He retired from the board in 2001.

Benoît Bouchard currently sits on the board of directors of the corporation Bennett Environmental.

VIA Rail cuts

It was during his term as Minister of Transport that one of Bouchard's most infamous public policy decisions was made. The 1989 federal budget identified cuts to be made to a broad range of departments and agencies, one of which was Bouchard's ministry at Transport Canada. As part of his department's efforts to cut its budget, Bouchard authorized Transport Canada to slash the subsidy to the national intercity passenger railway, VIA Rail Canada by 55%.

This drastically reduced funding resulted in VIA Rail Canada cutting its entire network on January 15, 1990 and promoted a strong outcry across Canada in every region served by passenger rail.

Bouchard's contempt for passenger rail was evident in his statement during a television interview several weeks later:

"Ten years from now no-one will remember Benoit Bouchard cut Via Rail..." [cite news
first = Benoit
last = Bouchard
authorlink =
author = Pamela Wallin
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title = Interview by Pamela Wallin with Minister of Transport Benoit Bouchard.
url =
format =
work = Question Period
publisher = CTV News
location =
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pages =
page =
date = February 1990
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References

* [http://www.parl.gc.ca/information/about/people/key/bio.asp?lang=E&query=629&s=M Political Biography from the Library of Parliament]
* [http://www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca/department/history/hplSearch_results-en.asp?frm=person&lan=1&prsnid=876 Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada diplomatic history]