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Premier Jean Charest and Quebec's oil and gas industry have turned to high-profile former Parti Québécois members to help them navigate through the troubled waters that lie ahead.

On Tuesday, former PQ premier Lucien Bouchard was appointed by the province's oil and gas association to lead the industry's lobbying efforts to improve the image of the controversial shale gas industry.

A few hours earlier, former PQ labour minister Diane Lemieux was appointed head of the Quebec Construction Commission, a provincial agency, to clean up an industry mired in allegations of corruption.

The two appointments were viewed as attempts to move debate beyond partisanship on two problematic fronts.

Former Hydro-Quebec president André Caillé is stepping down as head of the oil and gas association after a disastrous public relations campaign in which he was accused of misinforming residents on potential pollution and water contamination risks from the drilling of shale gas.

The industry suffered another black eye with reports of leaks after drilling near several communities.

"The industry has finally understood that it had do something to improve its image. Mr. Bouchard's appointment will certainly help in projecting a more positive image for the industry," the Minister of Natural Resources and deputy-premier Nathalie Normandeau said in a telephone interview from a Florida vacation.

Mr. Bouchard said in a news release that he is looking forward to the challenge of persuading Quebeckers that a province committed to hydro-electricity needs to develop its natural gas resources. Shale gas, he said, will generate new wealth that will support public services. "There is a necessity to ensure that the development contributes to public not only private wealth," he stated.

Mr. Bouchard's surprise appointment was overshadowed just moments later by the news that his ex-wife, Audrey Best, 50, had died of breast cancer on Tuesday afternoon at the Montreal Jewish Hospital. Ms. Best was born in France and raised in California. She is survived by her two sons, Alexandre and Simon, now in their early 20s. Ms. Best practiced law at the Montreal firm of Heenan Blaikie. She married Mr. Bouchard shortly after he divorced his first wife in 1989. The couple separated in 2004.

Ms. Lemieux, appointed to preside over the commission that oversees the troubled construction industry, recently quit as chief of staff to Montreal Mayor Gérald Tremblay, who has dealt with allegations of favouritism involving construction companies with alleged ties to organized crime.

In a statement on Tuesday, Ms. Lemieux said she will not take a public stand on the demand for a full public inquiry into the construction industry but will focus on fighting corruption from within.

"Over the past several months, the construction industry has been hit hard with innuendos, accusations of corruption, fraud, collusion. The Quebec Construction Commission is no exception," Ms. Lemieux said. "... There is an ongoing debate over whether to hold a public inquiry in the construction industry...I do not intend to add or interfere in this debate."

Quebec Labour Minister Lise Thériault expressed confidence that Ms. Lemieux, a former political adversary, will succeed where her predecessor André Ménard failed. After 17 years at the head of the commission, Mr. Ménard was asked to step down after it was learned that he spent tens of thousands of dollars for an information seminar in Las Vegas. He was also criticized for failing to fight corruption in the industry.

"Ultimately what we all want is for the construction industry to operate full steam ahead, in an optimal fashion and especially lawfully," Ms. Thériault said.

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