Gatineau

This is an Outaouais riding, with the Ottawa River as its southern boundary and the Gatineau River as its eastern boundary. The riding contains part of the City of Gatineau inside the former City of Gatineau limits. Kettle Island is also a part of riding.

The largest source of employment is government and related services, along with retail trade, construction and manufacturing. The average family income is $79,649 and unemployment is 5.3 per cent.

In the 2006 census about six per cent of the population cited English as their mother tongue, while 86 per cent speak French as a first language. The total immigrant population is a little over six per cent. In the 1995 referendum, 72 per cent of this riding voted against sovereignty.

In 2004, the former cities of Buckingham and Masson-Angers moved to the neighbouring riding, pulling the boundaries back to the Gatineau city limits. This riding was created in 1947 from the ridings of Wright and Hull. In 1986, the name changed to Gatineau-La Lièvre. The 1996 redistribution kept 84 per cent of the riding and changed the name back to Gatineau.

Population: 108,742 (2006 census; an increase of 5.7% since 2001)

Political History

Richard Nadeau and the Bloc Québécois pulled ahead in 2006, beating out the Liberals after losing a tight race in 2004.

Liberal Françoise Boivin defeated Richard Nadeau in 2004 by 726 votes. In 2000, Liberal Mark Assad defeated Nadeau to win his fourth term of office.

Both Wright and Hull, from which Gatineau was created, were Liberal from 1917. Liberal Gaston Isabelle, who was elected here in 1965, ran in Hull in 1968. Liberal Gaston Clermont won three terms, beginning in 1968, and another Liberal, René Cousineau, won in 1979 and in 1980. When Progressive Conservative Claudy Mailly defeated Cousineau in 1984, it was the first Conservative win in the riding.

• 1949-80 inclusive - LIB
• 1984 - PC
• Since 1988 - LIB
• 2006 - BQ