A longtime member of the Quebec Liberal Party, Bossé planned to contest the 1989 provincial election under its banner for the Verdun electoral division.
[6] During this campaign, Bossé promised to reduce the tax rate, improve police protection, provide credits for housing renovation, and give Verdun a greater voice in the Montreal Urban Community (MUC).
Bossé's second term in office was marked by conflict with the city's blue-collar workers, represented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Local 302.
An acrimonious strike began on October 1, 1998, after the city attempted to reduce the number of municipal workers and introduce greater flexibility in job assignments.
[14] In this capacity, Bossé introduced a plan to reform the MUC by giving more responsibility to the office of general manager while reducing the power of the chair.
"[18] Bossé later briefly offered support in principle for a plan, proposed by provincial advisor Louis Bernard, to create one city divided into twenty-seven boroughs.
[19] This notwithstanding, he ultimately opposed the government's final strategy for amalgamation (which included the creation of boroughs) and led a public protest against the merger in December 2000.
There was some speculation that Bossé would run for mayor of the new city as a representative of suburban interests,[21] though he ultimately declined to do so and was instead among the first elected officials to support the campaign of Gérald Tremblay.
[29] It was reported later in the year that Bossé was among the executive members most strongly urging Tremblay to grant taxation rights and greater legal status to the boroughs.
[35] In October 2005, he completed negotiations that allowed volunteer firefighters who had lost their jobs as a result of amalgamation to join the Montreal fire department.
[38] Soon after leaving city hall, Bossé became vice-president of DAA Strategies and, in this capacity, worked as an urban planning consultant for the company Devimco on a major development project in Griffintown.
[39] The timing of this arrangement was controversial, in light of Bossé's recent membership on the executive committee and Devimco's extensive business dealings with the city.