Nunavik loses friends in Quebec cabinet

Three Quebec cabinet ministers, all of whom had worked closely with Nunavik’s leaders over the years, quit politics on Tuesday before being pushed out of cabinet in a shuffle.

Guy Chevrette, 62, had been Quebec’s native affairs minister since the mid-1990s. Taking his place is Rémy Trudel, a former minister of municipal affairs who has visited Nunavik on many occasions.

Chevrette had regularly visited Nunavik. Last year, Makivik Corporation president Pita Aatami accompanied him on a tour of Europe to promote Quebec’s dealings with native people.

High-ranking Parti Québécois members had urged older ministers such as Chevrette, who juggled five other posts in cabinet, to step aside in favour of younger faces. With this move, Quebec premier Bernard Landry gives his party a fresher face in its bid for re-election.

A Quebec election will be held either this year or next, and the PQ, re-elected in 1998 under former premier Lucien Bouchard, wants to become the first Quebec government in 46 years to win a third consecutive mandate

“It’s very dangerous for a party to succumb to ageism,” Chevrette said after a meeting with Landry on Tuesday.

“It’s not age that dictates whether you can succeed — it’s your ability to achieve, and I hope our party draws a lesson from that.”

David Cliche, 49, who had served as native affairs minister before Chevrette and once lived in Nunavik when he worked for the provincial government, quit when it became apparent he would lose his industry, science and technology cabinet post.

Jacques Brassard, 61, quit because he would have lost his natural-resources portfolio.

Michel Létourneau was named minister responsible for northern development.