Drummond

Drummond is a federal riding in Quebec's Centre-du-Québec region, centred on the city of Drummondville along the Saint-François River. The riding corresponds to the regional county municipality of Drummond and sits roughly midway between Montreal and Quebec City along the Trans-Canada Highway. With a population of approximately 80,000, Drummondville serves as the economic and administrative capital of the Centre-du-Québec region.

Candidates

François Choquette (NDP) — A teacher by profession, Choquette held a bachelor's degree in secondary education in French and history and a master's degree in literature. He was a first-time federal candidate in the 2011 election, seeking to break the Bloc Québécois's uninterrupted hold on the riding, which had voted for the party in every election since 1993.

Roger Pomerleau (Bloc Québécois) — Born in Montreal in 1947, Pomerleau was a carpenter by trade who had first been elected to Parliament in 1993 as the Bloc MP for Anjou—Rivière-des-Prairies. He lost that seat in 1997 and returned to the House of Commons in 2008 by winning the Drummond riding, where he served as the Bloc's spokesperson for Canadian Heritage. He was seeking re-election in 2011.

Normand W. Bernier (Conservative) — Bernier was the outgoing director general of the Cégep de Drummondville, a position he had held since 2003. He brought significant experience in post-secondary education administration to his candidacy.

Pierre Côté (Liberal) — Côté ran as the Liberal candidate in the Drummond riding.

Robin Fortin (Green Party) — Fortin carried the Green Party banner in Drummond.

About the Riding

Drummond is built around the city of Drummondville, one of Quebec's principal manufacturing centres. Founded in 1815 alongside the Saint-François River, Drummondville developed as a textile and industrial hub in the early twentieth century and by 2011 was home to an estimated 600 manufacturing companies employing roughly 16,000 workers. The city's industrial base spans sectors including plastics, food processing, metal fabrication, and advanced manufacturing, giving it a reputation as one of Quebec's four major manufacturing hubs.

The riding extends beyond the city proper into the surrounding agricultural territory of the Drummond MRC, where dairy farming, grain production, and maple syrup operations sustain the rural economy. The population is overwhelmingly Francophone, with approximately 96 percent of residents listing French as their mother tongue.

Drummondville's strategic location at the intersection of Autoroutes 20 and 55, roughly equidistant from Montreal and Quebec City, has historically made it attractive to businesses seeking affordable industrial land with good transportation access. The city is also known for its annual Festival mondial de folklore de Drummondville, an international cultural festival. Heading into the 2011 election, local concerns included the health of the manufacturing sector in the wake of the 2008–2009 recession, the availability of skilled labour for the region's industries, and the quality of local infrastructure.