Davies | Lucien Bouchard

Litigation

Representative Work

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Director, Transcontinental Inc.
Director, Saputo Inc.
Director, Centre d’études et de recherches internationales de l’Université de Montréal
Director, Groupe BMTC
Director, TransForce Inc.
Member of the Advisory Board, Dessau Inc.

Canadian Bar Association

Chairman of the Board of Directors,Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal
Comité-conseil, Chaire de gestion des arts Carmelle et Rémi Marcoux (HEC)
Director, Fondation Jeunesses musicales du Canada
Director, Montréal International Musical Competition

Québec, 1964

Université Laval, LL.L., 1964
Collège de Jonquière, B.Sc., 1960
Collège de Jonquière, B.A., 1959

Lucien Bouchard is a partner in the Corporate/Commercial, Competition & Foreign Investment Review and Litigation practices. Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Bouchard had a distinguished legal diplomatic and political career. With this wide experience, Mr. Bouchard’s active involvement in the business community includes advising large corporations on strategic issues and policy matters as well as acting as negotiator and mediator for significant disputes of all kinds.

After three years as Canada’s Ambassador to France (1985-1988), Mr. Bouchard was appointed Secretary of State for Canada and subsequently elected as a Member of Parliament. Following his re-election, Mr. Bouchard became Minister of Environment in the Canadian government and served on several cabinet committees. In 1990, after he resigned as Minister of Environment and left the Conservative caucus, he sat in the House of Commons as an independent and founded the Bloc Québécois. Following the federal election in 1993, Mr. Bouchard became the Leader of the Official Opposition in the House of Commons.

In January of 1996, Mr. Bouchard resigned from federal politics and as leader of the Opposition Party in the House of Commons, and was sworn in as Premier of Québec, then re-elected in a subsequent election. Mr. Bouchard served as Premier until his resignation in 2001 and his decision to leave the political arena and return to the practice of law.

Prior to his political career, Lucien Bouchard practised with a private law firm in Chicoutimi, pleading corporate and commercial cases before the courts at all levels. From 1970 to 1985, he was a member or leader of various committees for the Québec Bar. During this time, he also served on commissions and agencies focused on labour relations and other subjects. He was, namely, the Senior Chairperson of the arbitration tribunals in the education sector, Chief Counsel for the Cliche Commission on Québec’s construction industry, and a member of the Martin-Bouchard Commission on the public and parapublic sectors.

On May 30, 2002, Mr. Bouchard was awarded “Commandeur de l’Ordre national de la Légion d’honneur” by the French Government. On June 19, 2008, he was awarded “Grand officier of the Ordre national du Québec” by the Québec Government.

Representative Work

Acted for the Agence Métropolitaine de Transport in defence of its right to establish a reserve for public purposes upon certain immovable property.
Represented Petro-Canada as a special mediator in reaching the settlement between Petro-Canada and its 260 employees of its Montréal-East refinery in a lock-out since November 17, 2007; a collective agreement was prepared which expired January 31, 2007.
Acted as Canadian counsel to BHP Billiton in its unsolicited offer to acquire Rio Tinto in a share exchange deal valued at US$147 billion.
Represented Corus Entertainment Inc. before the Governor in Council, which refused to quash a decision by the CRTC approving the exchange of various radio stations (including CKAC) between Corus and Astral Media Inc.
Acted for Russel Metals Inc. in its acquisition of Leroux Steel Inc. in a transaction valued at approximately $185 million.
Represented Air France before the Superior Court and Court of Appeal in an International arbitration involving the application of sanctions by the Security Council of the United Nations.
Amongst other matters of this kind, which cannot be disclosed, Mr. Bouchard was publicly appointed mediator in the achievement of a settlement of pending lawsuits as well as land, economic and financial issues between the Grand Council of the Crees and Hydro-Québec in relation to the development of the Cree territory in Northern Québec.
Acted as lead negotiator for the Société des alcools du Québec in a strike with its unionized employees (SEMB).
Appointed in a labour dispute between Vidéotron and its unionized employees.
Currently representing the Société de transport de Montréal (STM) regarding the acquisition of a new fleet of 765 subway cars.

Articles and Publications

In addition to several articles published in law journals, Mr. Bouchard is co-author of the Martin-Bouchard Report (1977-1978). In 1994, Stoddard (Toronto) published his autobiographical essay on the political evolution of Québec, entitled On the Record, in which he also recounts his career. More recently, Mr. Bouchard presented the paper Résister à la tentation de la prolifération réglementaire at the Conférence économique in Paris.

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