Liberals gain 1 seat in Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean region
Last Updated: Monday, December 8, 2008 | 11:42 PM ET
CBC News
The Liberals knocked off a Parti Québécois seat in the Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean region in Monday's provincial election, erasing the PQ's stranglehold on the area's ridings.
Liberal Serge Simard defeated PQ candidate André Michaud by less than two per cent of the vote in the riding of Dubuc. It marks the first time since 1976 that the Liberals will hold Dubuc.
PQ house leader Stéphane Bédard won a close race in Chicoutimi, defeating the Liberal candidate Joan Simard by more than four per cent of the vote.
The Liberals were looking to the riding of Roberval for a breakthrough, where Georges Simard was battling PQ MNA Denis Trottier. However, Trottier was re-elected with roughly 46 per cent of the vote with more than 70 per cent of ballots counted.
In Jonquière, the PQ's Sylvain Gaudreault was re-elected, carrying almost 48 per cent of the vote.
In Lac-Saint-Jean the PQ's Alexandre Cloutier defeated the Liberals, earning more than 55 per cent of the vote.
