Bouchard, Lucien, << boo SHAHR, loo SYEHN >> (1938-…), served as the leader of the Parti Quebecois, Quebec’s powerful separatist party, and the premier of Quebec from 1996 to 2001. From 1991 to 1996, he had served as head of the Bloc Quebecois. Under Bouchard’s leadership, the Bloc Quebecois became the second largest political party in the Canadian House of Commons in 1993. Bouchard had helped form the Bloc Quebecois in 1990, bringing together Quebecers from other parties who shared the goal of independence for Quebec.
Bouchard was born in Saint-Coeur-de-Marie, near Alma, Quebec. He received a law degree from Laval University in 1964. In the early 1970’s, he joined the Parti Quebecois. Bouchard served as Canada’s ambassador to France from 1985 to 1988. In 1988, he became a member of the Cabinet of Progressive Conservative Prime Minister Brian Mulroney. Later that year, he joined the Progressive Conservative Party and won a seat in the House of Commons. In the Cabinet, Bouchard served first as secretary of state and then as minister of the environment. He resigned from the Cabinet and from the Progressive Conservative Party in 1990.
