National Assembly: Retirement of “time minister”.

For 43 years, André Viger has overseen the smooth running of the National Assembly, ensuring all clocks are accurate to the nearest second, a job he will stop in May to enjoy a well-earned retirement at the age of 81.

Every Tuesday, the “Time Minister” goes to Parliament for thirty hours to conduct and organize the air.

“I have 23 that are over 100 years old. I have about ten electrical and electronic,” Mr. Viger listed when he toured the National Assembly with TVA Novelles a few weeks before his retirement.

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Taking office just a year after the 1980 referendum, Andre Viger saw decades of politics pass before his eyes. “Time, in the National Assembly, we know, it will work the second time. Brings pressure'' laughed in the corridors of Parliament.

But as the years pass, the wear and tear of time catches up with the master watchmaker, whose workday is more physical than it seems. “Usually I climb 700 to 800 steps. Today, I don't do my treadmill. But I've always been in good shape,” laughed Mr Wieger.

TVA NEWS/QMI AGENCY

At the Tower of Parliament, Mr Wieger must close the clock that adorns the building, visible to all passers-by.

“100 turns of such a winder, many years ago, I did them without stopping. Today, I stop every 20 or 25 laps because I don't want to get out of breath and take advantage of my age.

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After years of living his passion in the Quebec temple of democracy, Mr. Viger decided not to bid this year, forcing the National Assembly to find a successor.

TVA NEWS/QMI AGENCY

But for this enthusiast there was no question of hanging up his screwdriver and closing up his workshop.

“I'm having a lot of fun, sir, no problem with that. Watches are my life, I have my family. “I'm lucky to have a really wonderful family,” says Mr. Wieger, who “want to keep working as long as possible because there's nothing that keeps me healthy like working.”