Lotbinière - Chutes-de-la-Chaudière

This riding is located on the southern shore of the St. Lawrence River across from Quebec City. The riding contains the regional county municipality of Lotbinière and part of La Nouvelle-Beauce comprising the parish municipality of St-Lambert-de-Lauzon. It includes the former cities of St-Nicolas, Charny, St-Jean-Chrysostome and St-Rèdempteur, the former municipality of St-Ètienne-de-Lauzon and Ste-Hèlène-de-Breakeyville.

Manufacturing is the major industry in this riding, followed by health care and social services and retail trade. The average family income is $76,363 and unemployment is 3.3 per cent, the second-lowest in Canada.

According to the 2006 census, 98 per cent have French as their mother tongue. The total immigrant population is 1.5 per cent.

The riding of Lotbinière-Chutes-de-la-Chaudière was created in 2004 from 50 per cent of Lévis-et-Chutes-de-la-Chaudière and 46 per cent of Lotbiniè;re-L'Èrable.

Population: 100,454 (2006 census; an increase of 5.9% in 2001)

Political History

Conservative Jacques Gourde captured the riding in 2006, unseating Bloc Quèbècois incumbent Odina Desrochers.

In 2004, Desrochers , the Lotbinière-L'Èrable incumbent, was re-elected handily to a third term, with 46 per cent of the votes and a margin of 9,617 over the Conservative candidate, Jean Landry. In 2000, Desrochers's margin was 2,788, with Liberal Luc Dastous coming second in Lotbinière-L'èrable.

In 2000 in Lèvis, BQ candidate Antoine Dubè defeated Liberal Shirley Baril to win a third term. He resigned in 2003 to run for the Parti Quèbècois in the provincial election. In the 2003 byelection, Liberal Christian Jobin defeated the BQ's Maxime Frèchette.

Liberal Raynald Guay was MP for Lèvis from 1963 to 1980 when he resigned and was appointed to the Anti-Dumping Tribunal. Liberal Gaston Gourde won in the 1981 byelection, but was defeated in 1984 by Progressive Conservative Gabriel Fontaine who served two terms. Fontaine was facing charges on 14 counts of fraud, breach of trust and conspiracy and Kim Campbell wouldn't authorize him as a PC candidate in 1993.

Lotbinière and Lotbinière-L'èrable elected Andrè Fortin for the Ralliement Crèditiste in 1968 and for Social Credit in 1972. He was the leader of the Social Credit party after Rèal Couette. Fortin was killed in an auto accident. Crèditiste Richard Janelle won the 1978 byelection and won again in 1979. He joined the Progressive Conservative party in 1979, but was defeated in 1980 by Liberal Jean-Guy Dubois. PC Maurice Tremblay won in 1984 and 1988. In 1992, he was convicted of using $5,000 from the parliamentary budget to pay for a trip to Acapulco for three members of his riding association and their spouses. He was fined $12,000. In 1993, BQ Jean Landry was elected.

• 2004 - BQ
• 2006 - CON