He was president-director general of the Fonds de solidarité des travailleurs du Québec (FTQ), a major union fund, between 1997 and 2001.

[citation needed] Bachand was easily re-elected in the 2007 elections defeating Parti Québécois's Salim Laaroussi by nearly 6,000 votes.

He was re-appointed as the minister of economic development, innovation and international trade and was also given the portfolios of tourism and the region of Montreal.

[4] With the defeat of the Liberal government of Jean Charest, Bachand was replaced by Nicolas Marceau of the Parti Québécois as Minister of Finance.

He was a candidate to succeed Jean Charest as Liberal Party leader but lost to Philippe Couillard on 17 March 2013.