Mobile UPI  |   About UPI  |   UPI en Español  |   UPI Arabic  |   UPIU  |   My Account
Search:
Go

Quebec Cabinet minister Bechard dies

|
|
 
  
Published: Sept. 7, 2010 at 7:30 PM

MONTREAL, Sept. 7 (UPI) -- Claude Bechard, the agriculture and intergovernmental affairs minister for Quebec, died of cancer Tuesday, provincial Premier Jean Charest said.

Bechard, 41, died hours after he had announced his health had worsened and he was leaving politics, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reported.

He had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in spring 2008 and had surgery to remove a lesion from his lower intestine and a tumor from his pancreas. The cancer was found to have returned this year.

In his farewell message, Bechard wrote he was honored to represent the people of the Kamouraska-Temiscouata the past 13 years.

"I also want to especially thank the premier, my friend, Mr. Jean Charest, who has always trusted me, and with whom it was a great honor and a pleasure to serve the people of Quebec," said Bechard, who is survived by his wife and two children.

Charest told reporters there was one thing Bechard wanted everyone to know -- "he deeply loved the people he represented."

© 2010 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent.

Order reprints
  
Join the conversation
Most Popular Collections
The Tibetan Moniam Festival in China Super Bowl XLVI ticker tape victory parade The making of the Oscars
The Chicago Auto Show The Most Desirable Women of 2012 Tu Bishvat Migron settlement
Additional World News Stories
1 of 21
President Obama Signs Smuggling Prevention Act at White House
View Caption
fark
If we timewarped back by 2000 years, what job would you most qualified to do? No, you can't bring...
BAD: getting caught in a landslide while hiking. WORSE: getting struck by lightning while trying...
Weepy eyes, hot chix, Jersey Shore Ronnie and a guy with mini fishing reels stuck in his beard....
French roadbuilders find 21 German WWI soldiers...and 1 goat
Photoshop this crazy old coot in the cold
Anonymous ends the week by bringing down the CIA webpage. *golf clap*