He had intended to run at the party's leadership convention but refused to run and resigned as interim leader when the party's executive council decided to hold the convention earlier rather than later and hold it in Winnipeg, Manitoba instead of Quebec where most party members (and all of its Members of Parliament) lived.
He was replaced as interim leader by Charles-Arthur Gauthier.Caouette ran in the 1979 election but lost his seat in the House of Commons.
Outside politics he worked as an administrator, draftsman, research director, and as a technician.