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Canada Votes 2008

Results, Ridings and Candidates

Pontiac

2008 Results

Pontiac
Party Candidate Votes Status
Updated: Nov. 7, 2008 5:00 PM EST 256/256 polls
CON Lawrence Cannon 14,013 Elected
LIB Cindy Duncan McMillan 10,396
BQ Marius Tremblay 9,556
NDP Céline Brault 6,655
GRN André Sylvestre 2,218
ML Benoit Legros 120

Unofficial results were updated at the time shown following judicial recounts in six ridings. For more recent results, visit Elections Canada. The CBC does not endorse and is not responsible for the content of external sites. External links will open in a new window.

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This is a mainly rural riding located north of Ottawa in the southwest of Quebec. The Ottawa River forms the southern boundary. The riding contains the regional county municipalities of Les Collines-de-l'Outaouais, Pontiac and La Vallée-de-la-Gatineau as well as part of the city of Gatineau made up of the former cities of Buckingham and Masson-Angers. The Rapid Lake and Kitigan Zibi Indian reserves are also in the riding. It includes Maniwaki, Mont-Laurier, and approximately 60 villages, including Farrellton, Low, Venosta, Fort Coulonge and Shawville.

The economic base is distributed among government services, retail trade, construction and manufacturing. The average family income is $71,835 and the unemployment rate is 7.6 per cent.

According to the 2006 census, 23 per cent of the population is anglophone, while almost 73 per cent spoke French as their mother tongue. The total immigrant population is less than three per cent. The aboriginal population is seven per cent.

The 2004 redistribution kept 67 per cent from Pontiac-Gatineau-Labelle and added 17 per cent from Gatineau, mainly the Buckingham and Masson-Angers areas. The riding was renamed Pontiac. This riding was called Pontiac from 1867 to 1947, Pontiac-Témiscamingue from 1947 to 1966 and Pontiac from 1966 to 1976. The riding of Pontiac-Gatineau-Labelle was established in 1976 by combining Pontiac, Hull and small parts of Labelle and Gatineau. In 1996, the riding added 11 per cent of Gatineau-La-Lièvre.

Population: 99,589 (2006 census; up 10.7% since 2001)

Political History

Conservative Lawrence Cannon captured the riding in 2006, unseating Liberal David Smith.

In 2004, Smith won his first term by defeating Bloc Québécois candidate L-Hubert Leduc. Liberal Robert Bertrand served three terms in Pontiac-Gatineau-Labelle from 1993 to 2004.

This riding elected both Progressive Conservatives and Liberals from 1867 to 1949 and was Liberal from 1949 to 1957 inclusive. PC Paul Martineau was elected in 1958, 1962 and 1963. Liberal Tom Lefebvre was elected in 1965 and served six terms. He was appointed to the Senate in 1984. PC Barry Moore won in 1984 and 1988, but was defeated in 1993.

  • 1968-80 inclusive - LIB
  • 1984, 1988 - PC
  • 1993, 1997, 2000, 2004 - LIB
  • 2006 - CON