Former Conservative cabinet minister Lawrence Cannon is heaping praise on Quebec Premier Jean Charest, calling him the best politician of his generation.

Cannon shared his kind words for Charest at a weekend meeting of the youth wing of Quebec's Liberal Party, in Sherbrooke.

"Jean Charest is an exceptional man," Cannon told reporters Saturday, speaking in French. "He's probably the best politician of my generation – and I'm convinced he'll lead his party to another election win."

Lawrence Cannon helped found the Quebec Liberal Party youth wing. Canadian PressThe former foreign affairs minister helped found the Quebec Liberal Party youth wing 40 years ago.

Cannon has also served as communications minister under former Liberal Quebec Premier Robert Bourassa from 1990 to 1994.

Cannon said he's always kept his Quebec Liberal membership, even during his time as a Conservative federal minister.

But the idea of him wading into provincial politics is "a hypothetical question."

Cannon lost his federal seat in the May 2 election.

His son Phillipe works as an advisor to Quebec's culture minister Christine St-Pierre.

Charest has been at odds with Cannon's former boss — Prime Minister Stephen Harper — on many issues, from climate change to arts funding.

In the 2007 provincial election campaign, Charest promised to share new federal budget money earmarked for Quebec for personal income tax cuts.

Relations between Charest and Harper soured during the 2008 federal election, after the premier criticized Conservative cuts to arts and culture funding and proposed crime law reforms.

Charest's campaign outings helped spoil the Conservatives' chance at forming a majority government.

The Quebec premier has also used the international stage repeatedly to blast Ottawa's greenhouse gas policies.

With files from the Canadian Press