Former PQ leader Andre Boisclair has a new government job: the much-employed onetime environment minister has been named special advisor to Quebec Environment Minister David Heurtel in the battle against climate change.

Heurtel said Thursday that Boisclair’s experience will be, “an asset for the dossier.”

Boisclair will spend the equivalent of two days a week at the post, as he will also continue to chair the Environmental Review Committee (COMEX).

Boisclair joined COMEX last December, after asking to be relieved of his duties as Quebec's Delegate General in New York to address the court dispute with the Coalition Avenir Quebec (CAQ). Boisclair filed a $200,000 defamation lawsuit last November following statements made by former CAQ MNA Jacques Duchesneau.

Boisclair was paid $170,000 – nearly double the salary of his predecessor – in his post as delegate general.

Boisclair served as Quebec environment minister from 2000 to 2003. He also worked as a lobbyist for Questerre, a company involved in shale gas.