Riding Profile:

Most of the residents in this largely bilingual riding live in the Ottawa suburb of Gloucester. The riding includes most of the city of Gloucester and part of Cumberland Township in the northeast. The riding is bordered by the Rideau River to the south.

With about one-third of the population French-speaking, the economy is also dependent on government services, which employs about 19 per cent of the labour force.

As a result of the redistribution of 1999, this riding took in 66 per cent of the Carleton-East riding and just over 25 per cent of Prescott-Russell.

Political History:

The old riding of Carleton-East was held by PC member Albert Lawrence from 1963 to 1974, during which time he was a cabinet minister. The NDP's Evelyn Gigantes held the seat from 1975 until early 1981, when PCs reclaimed it.. Liberal Gilles Morin won in 1985, who served in the cabinet of David Peterson, retired before the 1999 election.

The former riding of Prescott-Russell was a PC holdout through the 1960s and 1970s, but elected Liberal candidate Don Boudria in 1981. Although Boudria resigned to run federally, the Liberals retained the seat until 1999.

The name of this riding was changed to Ottawa-Orléans from Carleton-Gloucester in June 2000.