Retirement
Bouchard retired from politics in 2001, and was replaced as Quebec premier by Bernard Landry. He stated that his relative failure to revive the sovereignist flame was a cause of his departure, something for which he took responsibility. Others have speculated that the Michaud Affair, regarding allegedly anti-Semitic comments by Parti Québécois candidate Yves Michaud, was another factor favouring Bouchard's departure.
He returned to practising law by becoming a partner at Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg, where he specializes in commercial and corporate law. He served as a negotiator in high-profile labour and commercial disputes, most recently for Olymel and the Société des alcools du Québec (Quebec Liquor Board) during a strike that lasted six months. He is chairman of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra and sits on the board of Transcontinental G.T.C. Limited, Saputo Inc., Groupe BMTC and Groupe Conseil Dessau-Soprin. In April 2004, he helped launch the Centre for International Studies of the Université de Montréal (CÉRIUM), of which he is a board member.
He is now President of the Quebec Oil and Gas Association.
In a 2010 panel event celebrating the 100th anniversary of Montreal newspaper Le Devoir, Bouchard said that sovereignty did not offer any solutions for Quebec, though he himself is still a sovereigntist at heart. He also accused the PQ of being so fixated on independence that it had no solutions for the province's basic needs, and also accused it of pandering to xenophobic elements by taking a hard line on immigration. In response, several sovereigntists, including PQ leader Pauline Marois, accused Bouchard of becoming one of the party's many belle mères, or "armchair quarterbacks."
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