Cherry served as chief organizer for the opposition Union Nationale in the 1973 provincial election.[6] The party fared poorly in the election, losing all of its seats in the legislature.
- Minister of cultural communities
Cherry ran as a star candidate for the Liberal Party in the 1989 provincial election and was narrowly elected in the Montreal division of Sainte-Anne. He was appointed to the Bourassa ministry on October 11, 1989, serving as the junior minister responsible for cultural communities.[7]
In early 1990, Cherry took part in plans to modernize the manufacturing firm Valmet-Dominion Inc. (a unit of the Finnish company Valmet) and relaunch its corporate office in Montreal.[8] He spoke at the opening ceremonies and announced that Quebec would provide $11.1 million in development assistance. Less than a month later, Valmet-Dominion issued layoff notices to one third of its workforce; company officials said that the layoffs were cyclical, resulting from a downturn in the sector, though others expressed concern about the timing of the announcement.[9]
- Labour minister
Cherry was promoted to minister of labour on October 5, 1990, while retaining ministerial responsibility for cultural communities.[1] In late 1991, he took part in a ceremony that launched the Canadair CL-415 and announced that Quebec would purchase eight of the new amphibious aircraft.[10] In the same time period, Cherry appointed a business-labor advisory panel to suggest amendments to Quebec's 1981 law on workers' compensation that some critics believed was overly generous.[11]
In 1993, Cherry took part in negotiations with officials from Ontario and New Brunswick in an effort to resolve long-standing differences in the construction sector.[12] In October 1993, he announced that Quebec would continue to require that out-of-province workers earn a "certificate of competence" before being allowed to work on Quebec sites.[13] The following month, however, he introduced legislation to deregulate homebuilding sites and permit the use of non-union labour. Construction workers organized several protests and strikes in a bid to defeat the legislation; the government responded with harsh back-to-work legislation, which Cherry himself described as "probably the most severe legislation ever introduced" on the matter.[14] Despite the protests, the legislation was approved by the assembly and brought into law.[15] Cherry was expelled from his IAWAW local at around the same time.[16]
- Transport minister
Robert Bourassa announced his resignation as Liberal Party leader and premier in late 1993, and Cherry supported Daniel Johnson's bid to become the party's new leader.[17] When Johnson became premier on January 11, 1994, he appointed Cherry as transport minister.[18] In this position, Cherry initiated fifty million dollars' worth of road repairs and introduced a camera system to review congestion on Montreal roads.[19] He also sought to co-ordinate better links between Quebec's road, rail, and ship transportation lines.[20] In September 1994, he launched a thirty-six million dollar project to link Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville with the Jacques Cartier Bridge.[21]
- Opposition member
Cherry's Sainte-Anne division was eliminated by redistribution before the 1994 provincial election, and he was re-elected in Saint-Laurent, a safe Liberal seat in Montreal.[22] The Parti Québécois defeated the Liberals in this election, and Cherry resigned from cabinet with the rest of the Johnson ministry on September 26, 1994. He served as a member of the official opposition for the next four years and was his party's critic for transport issues.[23]
An ardent Canadian federalist, Cherry spoke against Quebec separatism in the 1994 election and campaigned for the "non" side in the 1995 Quebec referendum on sovereignty.[24]
When Daniel Johnson resigned as Liberal Party leader in 1998, Cherry was among the first Liberals to suggest that Jean Charest become his successor.[25] Charest was subsequently chosen as party leader.
Cherry was not a candidate in the 1998 election.
