Pontiac (formerly known as Pontiac—Gatineau—Labelle) is a federal

electoral district An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other polity ...

in western

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, Canada, that has been represented in the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada (french: Chambre des communes du Canada) is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada. The House of Common ...

from 1867 to 1949 and since 1968. In every election since its creation except 1979 and

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

, Pontiac has been a

bellwether A bellwether is a leader or an indicator of trends.bellwether
" ''Cambridge Dictionary''. Ret ...

electoral district whose electoral winner also was a member of the winning party.

History

The electoral district existed over three distinct periods: *It was created by the

British North America Act of 1867 The ''Constitution Act, 1867'' (french: Loi constitutionnelle de 1867),''The Constitution Act, 1867'', 30 & 31 Victoria (U.K.), c. 3, http://canlii.ca/t/ldsw retrieved on 2019-03-14. originally enacted as the ''British North America Act, 186 ...

which preserved existing electoral districts in

Lower Canada The Province of Lower Canada (french: province du Bas-Canada) was a British colony on the lower Saint Lawrence River and the shores of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence (1791–1841). It covered the southern portion of the current Province of Quebec an ...

. It was redistributed into the new electoral districts of Pontiac—Témiscamingue and Villeneuve in 1947. *In 1966, an electoral district of Pontiac was created from Pontiac—Témiscamingue and parts of

Gatineau Gatineau ( ; ) is a city in western Quebec, Canada. It is located on the northern bank of the Ottawa River, immediately across from Ottawa, Ontario. Gatineau is the largest city in the Outaouais administrative region and is part of Canada's N ...

and Labelle. Then, in 1978, it was renamed "Pontiac—Gatineau—Labelle". *In 2003, the electoral district of Pontiac was created again during a redistribution of the ridings in western Quebec. Pontiac lost territory to

Argenteuil—La Petite-Nation Argenteuil—La Petite-Nation is a federal electoral district in Quebec. It encompasses a portion of Quebec formerly included in the electoral districts of Argenteuil—Papineau—Mirabel (69%) and Pontiac Pontiac may refer to: *Pontiac (autom ...

and gained territory from Hull—Aylmer and

during the 2012 electoral redistribution.

Geography

The electoral district includes: * the regional county municipality of

Pontiac Pontiac may refer to: *Pontiac (automobile), a car brand *Pontiac (Ottawa leader) ( – 1769), a Native American war chief Places and jurisdictions Canada *Pontiac, Quebec, a municipality ** Apostolic Vicariate of Pontiac, now the Roman Catholic D ...

* the Regional County Municipality of La Vallée-de-la-Gatineau, including Rapid Lake and Kitigan Zibi

indian reserve In Canada, an Indian reserve (french: réserve indienne) is specified by the '' Indian Act'' as a "tract of land, the legal title to which is vested in Her Majesty, that has been set apart by Her Majesty for the use and benefit of a band." Ind ...

s * that part of the City of Gatineau northwest of a line following Montée Paiment to Autoroute 50 to Boulevard la Vérendrye Ouest. * that part of the City of Gatineau northwest of a line following Promenade de la Gatineau to Boulevard Saint-Raymond to Chemin Pink to Boulevard des Grives to Boulevard des Allumettières to Chemin Eardley * the regional county municipality of Les Collines-de-l'Outaouais (excepting L'Ange-Gardien and Notre-Dame-de-la-Salette) The neighbouring ridings are

Abitibi—Témiscamingue Abitibi—Témiscamingue is a federal electoral district in Quebec, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 2004. The area was also represented by the electoral district of Témiscamingue from 1968 until 2004. ...

, Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou,

Saint-Maurice—Champlain Saint-Maurice–Champlain is a federal electoral district in Quebec, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 2004. It consists of: * the City of Shawinigan; * the Regional County Municipality of Le Haut-Saint-M ...

Laurentides—Labelle Laurentides—Labelle is a federal electoral district in Quebec, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 2004. Geography The district is located north of Gatineau and northwest of Montreal, in the Quebec regi ...

, Hull—Aylmer and

(in Quebec) and Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, Ottawa—Orléans,

Ottawa West—Nepean Ottawa West—Nepean (french: Ottawa-Ouest—Nepean) is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1997. Geography The district includes the neighbourhoods of Shirleys ...

, Carleton—Mississippi Mills, and

Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke is a federal electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons since 1979. It is represented by Cheryl Gallant of the Conservative Party. Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke inc ...

(in Ontario).

Linguistic demographics

Anglophone Speakers of English are also known as Anglophones, and the countries where English is natively spoken by the majority of the population are termed the ''Anglosphere''. Over two billion people speak English , making English the largest language ...

: 36% *

Francophone French became an international language in the Middle Ages, when the power of the Kingdom of France made it the second international language, alongside Latin. This status continued to grow into the 18th century, by which time French was the l ...

: 58% *

Allophone In phonology, an allophone (; from the Greek , , 'other' and , , 'voice, sound') is a set of multiple possible spoken soundsor ''phones''or signs used to pronounce a single phoneme in a particular language. For example, in English, (as in ''s ...

: 6%

Members of Parliament

This riding has elected the following

Members of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

Election results

Pontiac, 2003–present

Pontiac—Gatineau—Labelle, 1979–2003

Pontiac, 1968–1979

Pontiac, 1867–1948

References

*
Campaign expense data from Elections Canada
Riding history from the

Library of Parliament The Library of Parliament (french: Bibliothèque du Parlement) is the main information repository and research resource for the Parliament of Canada. The main branch of the library sits at the rear of the Centre Block on Parliament Hill in Ottawa ...

:
Pontiac 1867–1947Pontiac 1966–1978Pontiac—Gatineau—Labelle 1978–2003Pontiac 2003–present2011 Results from Elections Canada

Notes

{{coord, 46, 20, N, 76, 50, W, region:CA-QC_scale:1000000, display=title Politics of Gatineau Quebec federal electoral districts