Marcel Masse, former Mulroney cabinet minister, dead at 78

Energy Minister Marcel Masse speaks in the House of Commons in Ottawa on Oct. 6, 1987. Masse, a Quebec politician who served in the cabinet of Brian Mulroney, has died at the age of 78. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chuck Mitchell

OTTAWA - Marcel Masse, a Quebec politician who served in the cabinet of Brian Mulroney, has died at the age of 78.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper is tweeting his condolences to friends and family.

Masse was elected to the Quebec national assembly in 1966 and 1970 as a member of the Union Nationale and served as a provincial cabinet minister.

He was elected to the House of Commons in the 1984 election that brought Mulroney to power.

He held a number of cabinet posts, including communications, energy and defence.

He resigned from cabinet in 1993 and did not run in the federal election that year.

After leaving federal politics Masse served in a number of positions under the Parti Quebecois governments of Jacques Parizeau and Lucien Bouchard.

"He was devoted to serving his fellow citizens," Harper said in his tweet.