Saint-Laurent - Cartierville

This riding is at the west end of Montreal on the south shore of Rivière-des-Prairies. Most of the riding is made up of the former city of St-Laurent. The riding is bounded by Autoroute des Laurentides in the north, Autoroute Métropolitaine, Boulevard Cavendish, the CN line, Highway 13 and Boulevard de la Côte-Vertu in the east, the limits of the former city of St-Laurent and the boundary between Montreal and Pierrefonds in the south and Rivière-des Prairies in the west.

The riding is highly industrialized and is home to part of Pierre Trudeau Airport, Bombardier's Canadair division and CAE Electronics. The main industry is manufacturing, followed by retail trade and health and social services. About 30 per cent of residents over age 25 have a university certificate or degree. The average family income is $71,038 and unemployment is 10.3 per cent.

According to the 2006 census, the immigrant population is 49.9 per cent. Lebanese, Chinese, Jewish, Italian and Greek communities contribute to the ethnic makeup of the riding.

Thirty per cent of residents have French as their mother tongue and 14 per cent listed English. Fifty-one per cent listed a language other than French or English, with Arabic leading this category at 13 per cent. Rentals outnumber homeowners in the riding 57 to 43 per cent.

In the 1986 redistribution, the riding of St-Laurent was created from 51 per cent of Dollard, 22 per cent of Laval-des-Rapides and 12 per cent of St-Denis. The riding name was changed to St-Laurent-Cartierville in 1989.

Population: 109,015 (2006 census; an increase of 8.2% since 2001)

Political History

Liberal Stéphane Dion retained his hold on this riding in 2006, capturing nearly 60 per cent of the vote. In 2004, Dion captured more than two-thirds of the vote to defeat eight other candidates, including William Fayad of the Bloc Québécois.

Dion has been MP since a 1996 byelection. He was appointed president of the Privy Council and minister of federal-provincial relations in 1996. He was reappointed to those posts until 2003. From 2001 to 2003, Dion was the co-ordinator of issues related to official languages. Then prime minister Paul Martin made him minister of the environment in 2004. In December 2006, Dion won the federal Liberal leadership.

In 1988 in St-Laurent, Liberal Shirley Maheu was elected, serving a second term in the renamed St-Laurent-Cartierville. She resigned and was appointed to the Senate in 1996.

• Since 1988 - LIB