Bas-Richelieu—Nicolet—Bécancour

Bas-Richelieu—Nicolet—Bécancour is a rural riding on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River, straddling the Centre-du-Québec and Montérégie administrative regions of Quebec. It stretches from the industrial city of Sorel-Tracy at its eastern end, across the agricultural lowlands of the Richelieu and Nicolet river valleys, to the city of Bécancour opposite Trois-Rivières. Key communities include Sorel-Tracy, Nicolet, Bécancour, Pierreville, and Saint-François-du-Lac.

Candidates

Louis Plamondon (Bloc Québécois) — Plamondon was one of the longest-serving members of the House of Commons, first elected in 1984 as a Progressive Conservative in the riding of Richelieu under Brian Mulroney's landslide. Born in 1943 in Saint-Raymond-de-Portneuf, he was the brother of renowned lyricist Luc Plamondon. Educated at Université Laval and the Université de Montréal, he had worked as a math teacher and restaurant owner before entering politics. After the failure of the Meech Lake Accord in 1990, Plamondon left the Progressive Conservative caucus and became one of the founding members of the Bloc Québécois. He had served as the Bloc's House leader and had been re-elected continuously ever since, making him the dean of the Bloc caucus heading into 2011.

Krista Lalonde (NDP) — Lalonde had been involved in the student movement advocating for affordable education and had completed an internship at a law firm specializing in family and criminal law.

Charles Cartier (Conservative), Rhéal Blais (Liberal), and Anne-Marie Tanguay (Green Party) also contested the riding.

About the Riding

Bas-Richelieu—Nicolet—Bécancour is a riding defined by its industrial heritage and agricultural landscape. Sorel-Tracy, the riding's largest community with a population of approximately 35,000, was historically known as Quebec's "Steel City," home to a cluster of metallurgical firms including the Rio Tinto Fer et Titane complex, one of the world's leading producers of titanium dioxide feedstock, employing over a thousand workers. The city also had a storied shipbuilding tradition, though that industry had largely wound down by 2011.

Bécancour, at the riding's western end, was home to the Gentilly-2 nuclear generating station, Quebec's only nuclear power plant, which was still operational in 2011. The Bécancour industrial park attracted heavy industry, including aluminum smelting and chemical manufacturing. Between these industrial anchors, the riding's interior is a patchwork of dairy farms, crop fields, and small towns along the Nicolet and Yamaska rivers. Nicolet, a small city of roughly 8,000, is home to the École nationale de police du Québec, the province's police training academy. The riding is almost entirely francophone. Federal issues in 2011 included the future of the nuclear industry, manufacturing competitiveness, agricultural supply management, and rural infrastructure investment.