Raymond Bachand

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Raymond Bachand (born October 22, 1947 in Montreal, Quebec) is a Quebec politician, a businessman and a lawyer. He is the Quebec MNA for the riding of Outremont under the Quebec Liberal Party. He is also the current minister of economic development of innovation and export trade in the cabinet of Prime Minister Jean Charest.

Bachand was educated at the Collège Stanislas, a somewhat prestigious Roman Catholic private school. He obtained a law degree at the University of Montreal in 1969 and has a masters and doctorate degree in administration at Harvard Business School. He was a member of the Quebec Bar in 1970.

Before entering politics he worked in several key positions including in the Quebec's public sector where he worked in the Ministry of Labour as well as in the Prime Minister's Office. He also taught in the École des hautes études commerciales de Montréal in the early 1970s.

He was once the vice-president of Culinar and Métro-Richelieu and was also president of Groupe Secor during the 1980s and 1990s. He was also part of the administration of Montreal newspaper Le Devoir and member of Montreal's Chamber of Commerce.

Bachand was elected on December 12, 2005 in Outremont in a by-election after the retirement of former Finance Minister Yves Séguin. There were speculation that Bachand would also occupy that post but was awarded the portfolio of Economic Development, a sector that fascinated Bachand during his professionnal career.

Bachand was easily re-elected in the 2007 elections defeating PQ's Salim Laaroussi by nearly 6,000 votes.