“It is ordered, on the recommendation of the Minister of Industry, Commerce, Science and Technology:
That Mr. Louis L. Roquet be appointed president and general manager of the Société de développement industrielle du Québec, for a term of five years as of May 8, 1995.” Extract from decree 577-95 of April 26, 1995.
All major servants of the state are subject to such government decrees.
When Louis Roquet entered my ministerial office at the beginning of April 1995 for an exploratory meeting with a view to filling the position of president and general manager of the Société de développement industrielle (SDI), I only knew him by reputation. Honest, competent and dedicated, I was told. I found myself before a man with clear ideas, already knowing where the SDI should go and especially why it should be transformed into Investissement Québec.
Our meeting went far beyond the scheduled time, so Louis Roquet told me his intervention plan with passion. We shared the same vision for the future of this Crown corporation. It had to be better aligned with the needs of Quebec entrepreneurs. My decision was made instinctively, it would be him in this position and no one else. I offered it to him on the spot, he appreciated this absence of procrastination and accepted immediately. The execution of our business plan now belonged to him.
Leaving my office, he retraced his steps asking me whether I hadn’t forgotten a question. “I don’t think so, Mr. President,” I tell him, asking him what that forgotten question would be. “My political option,” he replied hesitantly. I then confirmed to him that the mission of the new SDI, the relations between the president of a Crown corporation and his responsible minister had nothing to do with this question. The state is the state, politics is something else. We were in complete agreement with this notion of service to the state. Our agreement was sealed with a firm handshake, and he left with a “Thank you Mr. Minister” in his strong and unique voice. For nine years he headed the SDI, Investissement Québec, then the SAQ.
Alas, our professional relationship was short-lived. Indeed, a few months later, in January 1996, when the stars made it so that I had to leave my political post, he was one of the few to show me, in private, his respect.
A great state clerk has just passed away, I wanted to salute him. Thank you, Mr. Louis Roquet.