16 Facts About Michel Gauthier

Michel Gauthier later recanted his sovereignist views when he joined the Conservative Party two years before his death.

Michel Gauthier was born in Quebec City on February 18,1950, and was raised in Chambord.

Michel Gauthier's father, Joseph-Georges Tremblay, worked as a motor engine technician; his mother, Cecile, was a housewife.

Michel Gauthier was a school teacher from 1970 to 1975, educational advisor from 1976 to 1979, then director of education services from 1979 to 1981 at the Roberval school board.

Michel Gauthier then served as president of the Tourism Corporation of Chambord in 1975 and in 1976 as president of Chambord Chamber of Commerce in 1977 and 1978.

Michel Gauthier was first elected as a Member of the National Assembly of Quebec for the Parti Quebecois in 1981 for Roberval and was parliamentary secretary to the finance minister from 1983 to 1985.

Michel Gauthier was re-elected to the legislature in 1985 and served until 1988 when he resigned his seat to become director-general of the Roberval school board.

Michel Gauthier won a seat in the House of Commons of Canada as a candidate of the Bloc Quebecois in 1993.

Michel Gauthier was not one of the Bloc's better-known Members of Parliament, but after Lucien Bouchard resigned to become Premier of Quebec, Michel Gauthier won the Bloc Quebecois leadership election of 1996, defeating Francine Lalonde.

Michel Gauthier's leadership was unpopular with the caucus due to alleged conservative views and his lack of "charisma or authority" when compared to Bouchard.

Michel Gauthier served as BQ House Leader from 1997 until 2007.

Michel Gauthier formally resigned on July 29,2007, and became the host of Gauthier, a television news show, which began airing on TQS in September 2007.

On May 12,2018, Michel Gauthier joined the Conservative Party of Canada after not having been a member of any political party for eleven years.

Michel Gauthier has said he was no longer a sovereigntist, though he remained a Quebec nationalist.

Michel Gauthier had two children from a previous marriage.

Michel Gauthier had been suffering from lung cancer in the years leading up to his death.