Bouchard, Lucien definition of Bouchard, Lucien in the Free Online Encyclopedia.

Bouchard, Lucien (lüsyăN` b

shär`), 1938–, French-Canadian separatist leader, b. Quebec. A lawyer and a political ally of Brian Mulroney Mulroney, Brian (Martin Brian Mulroney) (mŭlrō`nē, –r
..... Click the link for more information. , Bouchard served under him as Canada's ambassador to France (1985–88) and environment minister (1989–90). In 1990 he broke with Mulroney and the Progressive Conservative party over the failed Meech Lake Accord Meech Lake Accord, set of constitutional reforms designed to induce Quebec to accept the Canada Act . The Accord's five basic points, proposed by Quebec Premier Robert Bourassa, include a guarantee of Quebec's special status as a "distinct society" and a commitment
..... Click the link for more information. and formed the Bloc Québécois, a Quebec Quebec (kwēbĕk`, kwə–, kē–, kə–), Fr.
..... Click the link for more information. separatist party intended to complement the provincial Parti Québécois Parti Québécois (pärtē kēbĕkwä`)
..... Click the link for more information. (PQ) on the federal level. In the 1993 elections the party became the second largest in the Canadian parliament, and the charismatic Bouchard became leader of the opposition. He lost a leg to a life-threatening bacterial infection in 1994 but returned to his seat in Commons and in 1995 nearly led separatism's supporters to victory in a Quebec referendum. Bouchard resigned from the parliament in 1996 to become Quebec's premier and leader of the PQ; he resigned as premier and party leader early in 2001.