Papineau

This riding is located in the central part of the Island of Montreal. It contains part of the city of Montreal bounded by l'Acadie Boulevard in the southwest and 19th Avenue in the northeast, between Highway 40, D'Iberville Street and Jarry Street East in the west and Bélanger Street, Papineau Avenue, Jean-Talon Street East in the east.

The riding has a mix of row housing, three-storey apartments, small shops, and Chabanel Street clothing manufacturers. The economy is based mainly on manufacturing, followed by retail trade and the service sector. According to the 2006 census, this riding has the lowest average family income in Canada at $50,681. The unemployment rate is 11.6 per cent. This is a transient riding, and renters outnumber homeowners 74 to 26 per cent.

Only 45 per cent of residents have French as a mother tongue. Forty-seven per cent list neither English nor French, with large groups speaking Spanish, Italian, Greek and Arabic as a first language. The total immigrant population is 40 per cent. Twenty-two per cent of residents over age 25 have a university certificate or degree.

In 2004, the riding was renamed Papineau and it kept 96 per cent of the Papineau-St-Denis riding. The riding was created in 1996 from 64 per cent of St-Denis and 57 per cent of Papineau-St-Michel.

Population: 101,019 (2006 census; a decrease of 2.8% since 2001)

Political History

Liberal incumbent Pierre Pettigrew lost his seat in 2006, losing to the Bloc Québécois's Vivian Barbot.

Pettigrew narrowly held on to this riding in 2004, defeating Bloc Québécois challenger Martine Carrière by just 468 votes. Pettigrew was first elected in a 1996 byelection in Papineau-St-Michel, then re-elected in 1997 and 2000 in Papineau-St-Denis. He was appointed minister of international co-operation, minister responsible for the Francophonie and minister of human resources in 1996. He became minister of international trade in 1999, a post he held until 2003. Then prime minister Paul Martin named him minister of health, minister of intergovernmental affairs and minister responsible for official languages. In 2004, he became minister of foreign affairs.

St-Denis riding was Liberal from 1917. Liberal Marcel Prud'homme won the 1964 byelection and also won from 1965 to 1988 inclusive. He was appointed to the Senate by Conservative prime minister Brian Mulroney in 1993. In 1993, Liberal Eleni Bakopanos won St-Denis.

The original Papineau (before 1987) and Papineau-St-Michel riding was Liberal from 1957. André Ouellet was the MP from the 1967 byelection to 1984 inclusive. He served as minister responsible for Crown corporations, minister of regional economic development, postmaster general, minister of consumer and corporate affairs, minister of urban affairs, minister of public works, minister responsible for Canada Post, minister of labour, president of the Privy Council and government house leader.

St-Denis:

• From 1917 - LIB

Papineau/Papineau-St-Michel:

• From 1957 - LIB

Papineau-St-Denis:

• 1997, 2000 - LIB

Papineau:

• 2004 - LIB
• 2006 - BQ