By Canadian Press

Former Quebec Liberal cabinet minister Benoît Pelletier dies at 64

Apr 1, 2024 | 7:27 AM

Former Quebec Liberal cabinet minister Benoît Pelletier has died in Mexico at age 64.

In a statement announcing his death, his family described him as an attentive husband and devoted father who was deeply committed to Quebec and the French language.

Pelletier was a well-known University of Ottawa law professor when he made the leap into provincial politics in 1998 by winning a seat in the western Quebec Chapleau riding for Jean Charest’s Liberals.

He presided over the Liberal party’s special committee on Quebec’s political and constitutional future, and was considered the father of the Charest Liberals’ constitutional platform. 

When the party came to power in 2003, Pelletier was named Canadian intergovernmental affairs minister, a portfolio he would hold, along with others, until leaving politics in 2008. 

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Pelletier returned to law and teaching after his political career, and was named in 2015 to the federal government’s committee to study medical aid in dying. 

His family did not release his cause of death.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 1, 2024. 

The Canadian Press