Former Parti Québécois leader André Boisclair confirmed Monday that he is quitting politics and will seek work in the private sector.

Boisclair confirmed in a news release that he will officially resign as MNA for Pointe-aux-Trembles on Nov. 15. Boisclair said he won't be at the national assembly when it resumes sitting on Tuesday.

André Boisclair, shown in March, said he would officially resign from his seat as MNA for Pointe-aux-Trembles on Nov. 15.
(Jacques Boissinot/Canadian Press)

"It is time for me to seek new challenges," he wrote in the release in French. "I'm leaving with a feeling of accomplishment, and with the same hopes for Quebec's future in my heart."

Boisclair informed the current leader of the sovereigntist party, Pauline Marois, about his intentions on Saturday.

He resigned as leader six weeks after the party's nosedive in the March 26 provincial election.

The election put Boisclair's leadership into question after the party fell to third place in the national assembly, winning only 36 of the 125 seats. The party garnered 28 per cent of the popular vote, the PQ's worst showing since 1970.

In the wake of the election, Boisclair also engaged in a public spat with Bloc Québécois Leader Gilles Duceppe.

Marois replaced Boisclair in June, about 1½ years after Boisclair soundly defeated her in a drawn-out leadership race after Bernard Landry stepped down.

Boisclair faced turbulence from the moment he assumed the post in 2005. He faced controversy over his admission of cocaine use when he was a cabinet minister in the 1990s.

As Quebec's first openly gay party leader, Boisclair was also dogged by criticism in December when he participated in a television parody of Brokeback Mountain, a film about homosexual cowboys.

'It [Boisclair's departure] saddens me. But I understand and respect it.'—PQ Leader Pauline Marois

In an interview with the Journal de Montréal published Monday, Boisclair said he was still attached to the independence movement in Quebec, but deplores party infighting.

He also reproached Landry for blaming the March 2007 election results on him.

Boisclair 'intelligent and talented': Marois

Marois said she's disappointed to see Boisclair leave.

"I've said it several times, there was room for André on our team. His choice is otherwise. It saddens me, but I understand and I respect it,"  she said in a release.

The PQ leader called Boisclair a "competent, intelligent and talented" man.

PQ MNA Lisette Lapointe lamented Boisclair's announcement, saying that despite his leadership difficulties, he injected new energy into the party.

Boisclair was elected to the national assembly for the first time in 1989, in the Montreal Gouin riding. He held several cabinet portfolios in the governments of Lucien Bouchard and Landry.

He resigned his seat in August 2004 to study public administration at Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass. 

Boisclair returned to Quebec in 2005 following Landry's surprise resignation.