André Vallerand

[1] In the latter capacity, he supported Montreal's candidacy to host the United Nations's international centre for genetics and biotechnology and lobbied for improvements to the city's telecommunications sector.

[2] Vallerand offered qualified support for the Quebec government's white paper on taxation in January 1985, describing it as a "step in the right direction" but calling for further structural changes in favour of the corporate sector.

[3] Later in the year, he announced the Chamber of Commerce's support for a large-scale hydro-electricity scheme proposed by Robert Bourassa, then the leader of Quebec's opposition Liberal Party.

[5] The Liberal Party won a majority government in this election, and Vallerand was appointed to Bourassa's cabinet on December 12, 1985, as minister responsible for small and medium-sized businesses.

[6] Shortly after his appointment, Vallerand said that his priorities would include simplifying government regulations, ensuring easier access for Quebec businesses to capital markets, and increasing aid for export ventures.

[8] The following month, Premier Bourassa appointed Vallerand and fellow minister Daniel Johnson to draft a plan for an industrial zone in the region.

[16] Shortly before the 1989 provincial election, he announced a three million dollar initiative for a new Sûreté du Québec building on Montreal's South Shore.

[19] Vallerand and federal minister Benoît Bouchard agreed on a one hundred million dollar plan to boost the tourism sector in January 1992, though revenues remained low throughout the year.

Vallerand worked with the government of Canada to reduce tobacco taxes in early 1994, in a bid to target Quebec's contraband cigarette trade.

[30] In mid-1994, Vallerand imposed sanctions against service stations in the Mohawk communities of Kahnawake and Kanesatake and required that they pay almost four million dollars in back taxes.

[31] In June 1994, a Quebec Superior Court justice ordered the government to lift the sanctions, but also ruled that the communities were required to collect sales tax from non-native customers.

[38] Vallerand later served as president of the Canadian Institute of Tourism and Electronic Commerce (CITEC), though he was ousted from this position after a fractious board meeting in January 2000.

Shortly thereafter, Vallerand contacted the Prime Minister's Office to report allegations that some federal funds granted to CITEC via Human Resources Development Canada had been misappropriated by two other board members; he went public with the controversy later in the same month, saying that it had not been properly addressed by the government.