PQ Leader Andre Boisclair makes a point in a speech during to a rally of members of various cultural communities Sunday, March 4, 2007 in Montreal. Premier Pauline Marois is defending her government's decision to give former Parti Quebecois leader Boisclair two lucrative jobs.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson
December 04, 2012 - 12:10 PM
QUEBEC - Premier Pauline Marois is defending her government's decision to give former Parti Quebecois leader Andre Boisclair two lucrative jobs.
Boisclair has just been named Quebec's delegate-general in New York as well as assistant deputy minister in the International Relations Department.
The international relations job allows Boisclair, who was PQ leader between 2005 and 2007, to remain in the civil service on a permanent basis.
The 46-year-old Boisclair will be guaranteed an annual salary of $170,000 and will then be able to start taking his full pension at the age of 55.
Marois said in Quebec City today that Boisclair is extremely competent and has overseen thousands of civil servants in his various cabinet portfolios.
She also lauded his studies in the United States as well as the fact he ''almost'' became Quebec premier.
Boisclair led the PQ to a disappointing third-place finish in the 2007 election.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2012