Mount Royal

The riding is located in the centre of the Island of Montreal and contains the former cities of Côte-St-Luc, Mount Royal, Hampstead and part of the city of Montreal.

The service sector is a major employer, followed by manufacturing and retail and wholesale trade. The average family income is $103,180 with an unemployment rate of 8.5 per cent. Almost 40 per cent of residents over age 25 have a university certificate or degree and about 20 per cent of the population is over 65 years of age.

The riding has a large anglophone population, with 32 per cent speaking English as a mother tongue, while only 21 per cent are francophones. The riding is 24 per cent Jewish, according to the 2006 census. The total immigrant population is 47 per cent. Les than half – 42 per cent – own their homes. In the 1995 referendum, this riding voted 93 per cent against separation.

There was no change in the 2004 redistribution. The riding was established in 1924. The 1996 redistribution kept 99 per cent of the riding, with a small part moving into Outremont.

Population: 98,888 (2006 census; an increase of 0.6% since 2001)

Political History

Former justice minister Irwin Cotler easily held on to this riding for the Liberals in 2006, earning more than 65 per cent of the vote. It was a drop-off from 2004 when Cotler trounced Conservative Matthew Fireman by over 25,000 votes, taking 75 per cent of the total cote. Cotler was first elected in a 1999 byelection. The riding has voted Liberal since 1940.

Former prime minister Pierre Trudeau was first elected here in 1965. He was elected Liberal leader in 1968 and re-elected in 1968, 1972, 1974, 1979 and 1980. In 1984, Trudeau resigned as leader of the party and as prime minister. A former Speaker, Liberal Alan MacNaughton, was MP from 1949 to 1965. Liberal Sheila Finestone won in 1984, 1988, 1993 and 1997. Finestone resigned in 1999 and was appointed to the Senate.

• 1925-1935 inclusive - CON
• Since 1940 - LIB