Westmount - Ville-Marie

This affluent central Montreal riding spreads from the St. Lawrence River, Highway 10, Highway 720 and the Lachine Canal in the northeast, to Avenue Beaconsfield and Avenue Hingston in the south, Côte-St-Luc Road, Chemin Queen-Mary, Chemin Kingston, the limit of Westmount and Avenue Des Pins West in the northwest and Boulevard St-Laurent, Rue St-Antoine Est, Rue Berri and Bassin de l'Horloge in the north.

The average family income in this riding is the ninth highest in Canada at $129,086. The unemployment rate is 8.5 per cent.

According to the 2006 census, 36 per cent of residents have English as a first language while only 28 per cent have French, one of the lowest rates in the province. One-third of the riding's residents have a first language other than English or French. Fifty-seven per cent of residents over age 25 have a university certificate or degree, one of the highest rates in Canada.

Two of Montreal's universities – McGill and Concordia – are located in the riding.

St-Henri-Westmount was created in 1976 and consisted of 70 per cent of Westmount, 21 per cent of St-Henri, and five per cent of Lasalle-Emard-Côte-St Paul. In 1996, parts of Notre-Dame, Laurier-Ste-Marie and Outremont were added and the riding was named Westmount-Ville-Marie. In 2004, 83 per cent of Westmount-Ville-Marie was combined with 19 per cent of Notre-Dame-de-Grâces-Lachine.

Population: 100,360 (2006 census; an increase of 3.2% since 2001)

Political History

Liberal incumbent Lucienne Robillard won a fourth term in 2006, beating Conservative runner-up Louise O'Sullivan by more than 11,500 votes. In 2004, Robillard won a third term with 56 per cent of the vote. She was first elected in a 1995 byelection in St-Henri-Westmount. She was appointed minister of labour in 1995, and minister of citizenship and immigration in 1996. She became president of the Treasury Board and minister responsible for infrastructure in 1999, portfolios she held until 2003. In 2003, the prime minister Paul Martin appointed her minister of industry and minister responsible for the Economic Development Agency for the regions of Quebec. He appointed her minister of intergovernmental affairs in 2004 and minister of human resources and skills development in 2005.

The former St-Henri riding was Liberal from 1925 to 1974. Westmount was Liberal from 1940 to 1974, except for a PC win in 1958. In the newly configured St-Henri-Westmount, Liberal Don Johnston, incumbent from Westmount, won in 1979, 1980 and 1984. He was appointed president of the Treasury Board in 1980, minister for economic development, minister of state for science and technology in 1983, and minister of justice and attorney general in 1984. He left the Liberal caucus in 1988 to sit as an Independent. Liberal David Berger won in 1988 and 1993 but resigned in 1994 and later was appointed Canadian ambassador to Israel.

St-Henri-Westmount:

• 1979-93 - LIB

Westmount-Ville-Marie:

• 1997, 2000, 2004, 2006 - LIB