Former student leader takes over Parti Quebecois youth wing

Student leader Leo Bureau-Blouin attends a news conference in Laval, Que., Wednesday, July 25, 2012 where he confirmed that he's running for the Parti Quebecois. (Rogerio Barbosa / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

QUEBEC -- A former leader of the powerful Quebec student movement that spurred massive protests two years ago is taking a new role with the pro-independence Parti Quebecois.

Leo Bureau-Blouin was officially made president of the PQ's youth wing today after running unopposed for the position.

The 22-year-old says he wants to generate more interest in the provincial party among young Quebecers by putting the separatist cause front-and-centre.

Recent opinion polls suggest support for the PQ among youth has slipped considerably.

Bureau-Blouin left student politics to run for the PQ in the 2012 provincial election, becoming the youngest person ever elected a member of the Quebec provincial legislature.

He lost his seat in the April provincial election, when the Quebec Liberals ousted the PQ from power and won a majority of seats in the legislature.