Former Bloc leader lauded as a ‘go-getter’
Former Bloc Québécois leader Michel Gauthier has died at age 70 after a battle with lung cancer.
“Michel died in the arms of his wife and two children, his soul at peace,” Gauthier’s family said in a statement on Saturday.
Gilles Duceppe, the longtime former Bloc leader, spoke regularly with Gauthier, who’d announced last year he was fighting cancer.
“I spoke to him last week. He knew he didn’t have a lot of time left because of his illness. We spoke about life and politics — there were moments that weren’t easy,” Duceppe told The Canadian Press.
Duceppe remembered Gauthier as a good teacher who knew how to easily explain things concretely.
“He was a go-getter; it’s sad to lose him so soon,” Duceppe said. “I had great moments by his side. Beyond the differences we could have, we wanted, both of us, that Quebec move forward.”
Gauthier was MP for 20 years, first for the riding of Roberval in Quebec’s Saguenay Lac-saint Jean region between 1997 and 2004 and then for the new riding of Roberval-lac-saint-jean until 2007.
He was one of the most recognizable Bloc members, at one time serving as house leader.
During the 2019 fall federal election campaign, he briefly joined the Conservatives to help organize the party’s Quebec efforts, saying he’d renounced sovereignty but remained a Quebec nationalist.
He announced his departure due to illness in May 2019.
Current Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-françois Blanchet offered his support to Gauthier’s family.
“On behalf of myself and Bloc Quebecois MPS, I extend my sincere condolences to the many friends and relatives of Michel Gauthier. I wish them the courage that he has shown in his fight against the disease,” Blanchet wrote on Twitter.
After his career in politics, Gauthier also spent some time working in media as host of the show “Gauthier” on the now defunct French-language network TQS.