Berthier--Maskinonge

Running along the north shore of the Saint Lawrence between the outskirts of greater Montreal and Trois-Rivieres, Berthier--Maskinonge covers more than 4,100 square kilometres across the Lanaudiere and Mauricie regions. The riding takes in the towns of Berthierville, Louiseville, Lavaltrie, and Lanoraie, along with dozens of smaller parishes. Nearly all of its residents are francophone, and the economy rests on agriculture, forestry, and small-scale manufacturing.

Candidates

Ruth Ellen Brosseau (NDP) -- Originally a paper candidate placed on the NDP slate in 2011 to fill the riding, Brosseau won unexpectedly during the party's Quebec surge, defeating the incumbent Bloc MP despite being on a pre-planned vacation in Las Vegas during much of the campaign. A single mother who had worked as an assistant manager at a Carleton University campus pub, she quickly earned credibility in the overwhelmingly francophone riding through attentive constituency work. By 2015, she had been appointed deputy agriculture critic and was known for championing compensation for homeowners affected by the pyrrhotite crisis.

Yves Perron (Bloc Quebecois) -- A secondary school history teacher, Perron won the Bloc nomination in May 2015 in his first attempt at elected office. He campaigned on Quebec sovereignty and the defence of regional interests, seeking to rebuild Bloc support in a riding the party had held for nearly two decades before 2011.

Pierre Destrempes (Liberal) -- Destrempes carried the Liberal banner in the riding, advancing his party's platform of economic growth and middle-class support.

Marianne Foucrault (Conservative) -- Foucrault ran for the Conservatives in a riding where the party had limited historical support.

Cate Burton also stood for the Green Party.

About the Riding

Berthier--Maskinonge's agricultural landscape includes dairy farms, grain operations, and the fertile floodplains along the Saint Lawrence and its tributaries. The forestry sector remains significant in the northern reaches of the riding, where the Canadian Shield begins to rise. The pyrrhotite contamination crisis, which had damaged home foundations across the Mauricie region since the early 2000s, was a major local concern -- thousands of homeowners faced repair bills that could exceed $200,000 per house, and demands for federal financial assistance featured prominently in the campaign. Brosseau's advocacy on the pyrrhotite file had earned her local support that transcended partisan lines. The Trans-Pacific Partnership trade negotiations and their potential impact on dairy supply management also weighed on voters in this heavily agricultural constituency.