Former federal cabinet minister Yvon Dupuis dead at 90

Former federal cabinet minister Yvon Dupuis, who had a lengthy political career as both a Liberal and later as head of the Ralliement Crediste, has died at age 90.

Dupuis passed away in Longueuil on New Year’s Day.

The son of Rosanne Rafferty and former MP Hector Dupuis, he first came into federal politics at age 25, when he was elected to represent the Montreal-Sainte-Marie riding in 1952.

Defeated in 1956, he regained his seat in 1958 and was reelected in 1962 and 1963, when he was appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Secretary of State by Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson.

A year later, he was promoted to Minister of State.

However, in 1965, he resigned when he was accused of accepting a $10,000 bribe to support the construction of a racetrack in St-Jean-Sur-Richelieu. He was acquitted after a second trial in 1968.

In his memoirs, Dupuis blamed the RCMP for failing to apologize to him after being cleared of the charges.

Dupuis attempted a political comeback in 1973 with the provincial party Ralliement Crediste, but never won a seat in the National Assembly. He attempted to found his own Presidential Party in 1974 but resigned from politics for good a year later.

After leaving the political realm, Dupuis hosted radio shows for stations CKVL, CKAC and CJMS and was also a columnist for the Journal de Montreal and worked as a travel agent.