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MONTREAL — Canada’s aerospace industry has appointed former Quebec premier Jean Charest to chart a new course for the sector.

The Aerospace Industries Association of Canada is putting Charest in the cockpit to coax funding commitments and a long-term plan from the federal government amid fears the country’s star is fading.

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“The industry has come to the conclusion that we sort of need a reset in terms of what the future of the industry is in Canada,” Charest said in a phone interview from Paris.

“There is a sense that we’re in a world where there’s much more competition. And it’s not that we’re doing badly, but the world is really moving fast.”

Charest, a former federal minister who served as premier of Quebec from 2003 to 2012, highlighted government’s “very critical role” in funding, research and training for civil and defence aviation.

“The Trump administration has decided to create a new division for space,” he noted, referring to a newly announced military branch the U.S. president has dubbed Space Force.