Benoît Bouchard (born April 16 1940) is a Canadian public official and former politician.
After a career as a professor and teacher, Bouchard was elected to the Canadian House of Commons as the Progressive Conservative Member of Parliament for Roberval, Quebec in the 1984 Canadian election. He was immediately elevated to Brian Mulroney's Cabinet as Minister of State for Transport. In 1985 he was promoted to Secretary of State for Canada. He subsequently served as Minister of Employment and Immigration (1986.06.30 - 1988.03.30), Minister of Transport (1988.03.31 - 1990.02.22) Minister of Industry, Science and Technology (1990.02.23 - 1991.04.20) and Minister of Health and Welfare before retiring from politics in June 1993 to accept an appointment as Canada's Ambassador to France.
In 1996, Bouchard returned to Canada and was appointed Chair of the Transportation Safety Board of Canada by Prime Minister Jean Chrétien and oversaw the Canadian portion of the investigation of the Swissair Flight 111 air crash. He retired from the board in 2001.
Last updated: 05-27-2005 20:26:14