[2] While supporting the Bloc Québécois at the federal level, Boucher ran as a New Democratic Party of Quebec (NDP) candidate for a 1992 provincial by-election in the Montreal division of Anjou.
(Former Front de libération du Québec militant Paul Rose had planned to seek the party's nomination for this contest, but could not do so as he was on parole from a life sentence for the murder of Quebec politician Pierre Laporte.)
[5] He served for the next two years as a backbench supporter of Bourque's administration and chaired the city's finance and economic development committee.
In 1996, he shelved a proposal to charge full taxes on churches and religious institutions, arguing that he would wait for the provincial government's direction on the issue.
[11] Also in January 1998, Boucher joined an informal opposition alliance called the Coalition for Montreal's Future, led by fellow ex-Vision councillor Sammy Forcillo.