(Quebec) Businessman and former head of the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) Henri-Paul Rousseau has been appointed Quebec’s general delegate in Paris.
The Council of Ministers approved Wednesday afternoon the appointment of Mr. Rousseau, who succeeds another former member of the CDPQ, Michèle Boisvert.
The Minister of International Relations, Martine Biron, made the announcement after the meeting of the Council of Ministers and paid tribute to Ms. Boisvert, who held the fort for five years in the French capital. She notably attributed to him the success of the visit of French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal in the spring.
Mr. Rousseau will take up his position in mid-July.
According to Ms. Biron, the next general delegate has “a lot of political contacts” in France, and he will contribute to the government’s mission to get closer economically to the “French cousin.”
Henri-Paul Rousseau, aged 76, began his career in academia before assuming several management positions in financial institutions.
He worked at the National Bank in the 1980s, before becoming president and CEO of the Laurentian Bank of Canada. It was in 2002 that he took the reins of the Caisse de dépôt et placement, until 2008.
His long reign was, however, overshadowed by the commercial paper episode, which caused Quebecers to lose billions of dollars in 2008. That year, the Caisse revealed a loss of nearly 40 billion.
Mr. Rousseau had to explain himself to elected officials in a parliamentary committee in 2009, and expressed regret.
“Commercial papers are a mistake. Like if you’re going on a bicycle, don’t look forward and crash into the wall… that’s a mistake,” he said at the time.
