Berthier—Maskinongé

Stretching along the north shore of the St. Lawrence River between the northern suburbs of Montreal and Trois-Rivières, the riding of Berthier—Maskinongé straddled the Quebec administrative regions of Lanaudière and Mauricie. It encompassed the regional county municipalities of D'Autray and Maskinongé, along with the former municipalities of Pointe-du-Lac and Trois-Rivières-Ouest in the city of Trois-Rivières.

Candidates

Ruth Ellen Brosseau (NDP) — Brosseau was the assistant manager of Oliver's Pub, a bar on the campus of Carleton University in Ottawa. A single mother, she had agreed to let her name stand as the NDP candidate after being asked by politically active friends. She had no prior political experience and had never visited the riding before the campaign. Her candidacy attracted national media attention after it emerged that she had spent part of the campaign period on a trip to Las Vegas for her birthday.

Guy André (Bloc Québécois) — A social worker from Pointe-du-Lac, André had represented Berthier—Maskinongé since its creation in 2004, winning three consecutive elections with comfortable margins. He was considered a member of the hardline sovereigntist wing of the Bloc. He had never received less than 45 percent of the vote in the riding.

Francine Gaudet (Liberal) — Gaudet stood as the Liberal candidate in the riding.

Marie-Claude Godue (Conservative) — Godue carried the Conservative banner, having also run as the Conservative candidate in the riding in 2008.

Léonie Matteau (Green Party) and Martin Jubinville (Rhinoceros) also contested the seat.

About the Riding

Berthier—Maskinongé was a rural and semi-rural riding with a population of approximately 109,000, nearly all francophone — about 98 percent of residents reported French as their mother tongue. The economy rested on three pillars: agriculture, the furniture industry, and recreational tourism. The fertile lowlands along the St. Lawrence supported dairy farming, grain production, and mixed agriculture, while the MRC de Maskinongé covered nearly 2,600 square kilometres of farmland, forest, and lake country.

Louiseville, the largest town in the Maskinongé MRC, was a centre of architectural heritage and cultural institutions. The town of Berthierville, in the D'Autray MRC, anchored the eastern end of the riding. The furniture manufacturing industry had long been a significant employer in the region, though it faced competitive pressures in the years leading up to 2011.

The riding's northern reaches offered outdoor recreation, with lakes and forests drawing seasonal visitors for fishing, hunting, and cottage life. Federal concerns in the riding centred on agricultural policy — supply management, farm income support, and rural infrastructure — as well as manufacturing competitiveness, employment insurance, and services for an aging rural population. The riding had been Bloc territory since its creation, reflecting the strong sovereigntist sentiment in this deeply francophone corridor of central Quebec.