The Quebec government has appointed former Radio-Canada journalist and public affairs host Dominique Poirier as the province's delegate-general to New York.

Ms. Poirier takes-over from former Parti Québécois leader André Boisclair, who stepped down last month after suing Coalition Avenir Quebec MNA Jacques Duchesneau as part of a $200,000 defamation suit.

Mr. Duchesneau accused the former party leader of favouritism in the awarding of a government contract when Mr. Boisclair was a minister in the former PQ government. Mr. Duchesneau alleged that the contract was tied to Mr. Boisclair's use of cocaine at the time.

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Mr. Boisclair has since been appointed to a two-year contract as head of the James Bay environmental committee and retains his $175,000 a year salary.

The Minister of International Affairs, Jean-François Lisée, explained that Ms. Poirier's was the perfect fit for the job. He said that Ms. Poirier was always "neutral" on the issue of sovereignty when she was a journalist but that she was willing to "defend the policies of the Quebec government including its desire to achieve sovereignty." He added that Ms. Poirier will also inherit the task of explaining to Americans the government's controversial secular charter which if adopted would prohibit the wearing of overt religious symbols by public servants.