Gaetan Barrette Weight Loss: Quebec Health Minister's Progress Is Stunning

Quebec Health Minister Gaétan Barrette has long endured shots about his physical appearance.

Former Parti Québécois leader Pauline Marois took a less-than-veiled one when he was a candidate for the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) in 2012.

And last year, Barrette was the subject of a petition that called on him to lose weight after Premier Philippe Couillard appointed him as minister of health. Barrette called the petition a form of "bullying."

But a year and a half after he joined cabinet, Barrette is cutting a whole different figure, as evidenced in this composite that was tweeted by Quebec news site Petit Petit Gamin on Thursday.

Bravo au Docteur Barrette pour cette impressionnante perte de poids http://t.co/C2EcV9k95R #Maigrir #poids #regime pic.twitter.com/ZswA7vSmbj
— Petit Petit Gamin (@PetitPetitGamin) October 7, 2015

Filicitation au docteur barrette il a bien maigri
— jacques boudreau (@bois789) October 7, 2015

Je suis critique du travail de @drgbarrette, mais vraiment, félicitations pour sa perte de poids. Impressionnant! http://t.co/ZtitifNQjA
— Jean-Philippe LaRose (@JPLaRose) October 8, 2015

Losing weight isn't easy. So we're VERY proud of this Quebec minister and the progress he's made.