The longest-serving member of the National Assembly is retiring.
Francois Gendron announced on Saturday that he won't be running for re-election this fall.
Gendron, 73, was first elected to the legislature in 1976 as a member of Rene Levesque's Parti Quebecois government.
He told The Canadian Press on Friday that he never expected to be elected and thought he would soon be returning to his teaching career.
Instead, he spent 42 years in the legislature, where he served as education minister in the 1980s and was deputy premier between 2012 and 2014.
The long-time PQ representative for Abitibi-Ouest says he'll remain an active member of the party
Following the resignation of leader Andre Boisclair in 2007, Gendron was named interim leader until the party elected Pauline Marois as its new chief.
Gendron’s departure is the latest in a string of retirements for the PQ.
MNAs Nicole Leger, Alexandre Cloutier, Agnes Mailtais and Claude Cousineau have all recently announced their intentions to leave politics in October.