Raymond Bachand to serve as Quebec adviser during NAFTA renegotiations

Former Quebec finance minister Raymond Bachand will act as special legal counsel to the Quebec government as Canada entersrenegotiations of the North American Free Trade Agreement with U.S. President Donald Trump.

His appointment was made official this morning.

Bachand represented Montreal's Outremont riding in the National Assembly from 2005 to 2013.

He held numerous cabinet portfolios includingminister of economic development, then finance.

• Quebec's former finance minister Raymond Bachand leaves politics

Bachand left politics shortly after the Parti Qubcois took power in 2012.

He ran to replace Liberal leader Jean Charest after Charest stepped down, but finished a disappointingthird behind Pierre Moreau and the winner, Philippe Couillard. He resigned five months later.

Prior to entering politics, Bachand served as the president and CEO of the Fonds de solidarit FTQ.

A lawyer by training, he was afounding member of Oxfam Quebec andreceived a doctoratefrom the Harvard Business School.

He also servedas a staffer in PQ leader Ren Lvesque'soffice and helda formal role in the pro-independence "Yes" sideof the 1980 referendum.

He currently heads the Institut du Qubec, a public policy think tank.