Louis-Saint-Laurent

Louis-Saint-Laurent covers the northwestern portion of Quebec City, taking in parts of the boroughs of La Haute-Saint-Charles, Les Rivières, and Laurentien. The riding includes the communities of Loretteville, Val-Bélair, and Neufchâtel, as well as the independent city of L'Ancienne-Lorette and the Huron-Wendat reserve of Wendake.

Candidates

Alexandrine Latendresse (NDP) — Born in 1984, Latendresse was a former child actor who had gone on to study at Université Laval, where she earned a multidisciplinary bachelor's degree in linguistics and Russian studies. She had been preparing to begin graduate studies in May 2011 but agreed to postpone them to run as the NDP candidate in Louis-Saint-Laurent.

Josée Verner (Conservative) — A veteran of communications and public service, Verner had spent close to 20 years working in communications and the public sector, including at the Quebec provincial Ministry of Health and Social Services, before entering federal politics. She had also worked as a political staffer in the Robert Bourassa government. First elected in Louis-Saint-Laurent in 2006 with a commanding majority, she was immediately appointed to Prime Minister Stephen Harper's cabinet as Minister of International Co-operation and Minister for La Francophonie. She subsequently served as Minister of Canadian Heritage, Status of Women and Official Languages, and as Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs. She entered the 2011 campaign as a prominent two-term cabinet minister.

France Gagné (Bloc Québécois) — Gagné ran as the Bloc Québécois candidate in Louis-Saint-Laurent.

Philippe Mérel (Liberal) — Mérel carried the Liberal banner in the riding.

Jean Cloutier ran for the Green Party and Daniel Arseneault for the Christian Heritage Party.

About the Riding

Louis-Saint-Laurent was a sprawling suburban and semi-rural riding on Quebec City's northwestern fringe. The riding had a population of roughly 96,000 as of 2006 and was overwhelmingly francophone, with about 95 percent of residents listing French as their mother tongue. The communities ranged from the dense suburban subdivisions of Neufchâtel and Les Rivières, closer to Quebec City's core, to the more spread-out residential areas of Val-Bélair and L'Ancienne-Lorette.

Wendake, the Huron-Wendat reserve entirely surrounded by the La Haute-Saint-Charles borough, gave the riding a distinctive Indigenous dimension. The reserve was home to the Huron-Wendat Nation and its cultural centre and museum, making it a significant heritage site within the riding's boundaries.

The local economy was largely driven by public sector employment, retail, and services catering to the suburban population. Canadian Forces Base Valcartier, one of Canada's largest military installations, was located just north of the riding and served as a major employer for area residents. Many residents commuted to central Quebec City or to government offices throughout the capital region. The riding had been solidly Conservative since the party's Quebec City breakthrough in 2006, and Verner's incumbency as a cabinet minister made it one of the party's most high-profile Quebec seats heading into 2011.