Outremont

This riding is located in the centre of the Island of Montreal. It is bounded by the border of the CP Rail line in the west, the Avenue des Pins in the east between the CP line and Boulevard St-Laurent in the north and Victoria Avenue, Côte-Ste-Catherine Road and Côte-des-Neiges Road in the south. It includes parts of the affluent residential areas of Outremont and stretches to the low-income parts of the Côte-des-Neiges, one of the most ethnically mixed neighbourhoods in Canada.

The economic base is spread over many sectors, including manufacturing and professional, educational and health services. Over 74 per cent of the occupied dwellings are rentals. The average family income is $89,063 with an unemployment rate of 10.7 per cent.

According to the 2006 census, 43 per cent of residents have French as a mother tongue, 16 per cent have English and 39 per cent have neither English nor French. The total immigrant population is over 40 per cent. About half the residents over 25 have a university certificate or degree.

In 2004, 88 per cent of the riding was maintained and four per cent from Papineau-St-Denis and five per cent from Westmount-Ville-Marie has been added. The riding was established in 1933, abolished in 1947 and re-established in 1966. In 1996, small parts of Rosemont, Mount Royal and St-Denis ridings were added.

Population: 95,771 (2006 census; a decrease of 1% since 2001)

Political History

New Democrat Thomas Mulcair won this Liberal stronghold in a byelection in Setember, 2007. The byelection was called after Liberal MP Jean Lapierre resigned to work in the broadcasting industry.

The Liberals had held the seat almost continuously since 1935, losing only once before, to the PCs in 1988. The byelection victory made it the first federal seat to be won by the NDP in Quebec since 1990.

Lapierre won re-election here in a close race in the 2006 general election, defeating Bloc Québécois candidate Jacques Leonard.

Lapierre made his political comeback in this riding in 2004, defeating Bloc Québécois candidate François Rebello by 2,945 votes. Lapierre was first elected in Shefford in 1979. He won his next four elections, but quit the Liberals in 1990 after Jean Chrétien became leader. He was a founding member of the BQ in 1990, but resigned in 1992. He rejoined the Liberals in February 2004. Paul Martin named him minister of transport in July 2004.

Liberal Martin Cauchon was elected in Outremont three times, in 1993, 1997 and 2000. He was appointed secretary of state for the federal office of regional development in Quebec in 1996 and became minister of national revenue and secretary of state for Canadian economic development in 1999. He was again appointed minister of revenue from 1999 to 2002 and justice minister from 2002 to 2003.

This riding had been Liberal since 1935, except for one Progressive Conservative win in 1988. Liberal Marc Lalonde, a Trudeau-era cabinet minister, won in 1972, 1974, 1979 and 1980. He was minister of health and welfare in 1972, minister responsible for the status of women in 1974, minister of federal-provincial relations in 1977, minister of justice in 1978, and minister of finance in 1982. Liberal Lucie Pépin won in 1984, but was defeated in 1988 by PC Jean-Pierre Hogue.

• 1935-84 inclusive - LIB
• 1988 - PC
• 1993, 1997, 2000, 2004, 2006 - LIB
• 2007 byelection - NDP