Mégantic—L'Érable

Stretching across southeastern Quebec from the Appalachian foothills to the U.S. border, Mégantic—L'Érable straddles three administrative regions: Chaudière-Appalaches, Centre-du-Québec, and Estrie. The riding includes the regional county municipalities of Les Appalaches, L'Érable, and Le Granit, with Thetford Mines, Plessisville, and Lac-Mégantic as its principal communities.

Candidates

Luc Berthold (Conservative) — Born in Sherbrooke in 1966, Berthold moved to Thetford Mines in 1986, where he began his career as a radio host and journalist at station CKLD before becoming editor-in-chief of the weekly newspaper Le Courrier Frontenac. He later served as a political assistant and communications advisor in the Quebec Liberal Party's opposition team and as press officer for the Quebec Ministry of Regional Development and Tourism. Elected mayor of Thetford Mines in 2006 and re-elected in 2009, he stepped down from municipal office in 2013.

David Berthiaume (Liberal) — A scientist trained in chemistry and business administration, Berthiaume was the general director of OLEOTEK, a research centre in Thetford Mines specializing in green and sustainable chemistry. He campaigned on issues including supply management protections for dairy producers, infrastructure investment, and rural broadband expansion.

Jean-François Delisle (NDP) — Delisle carried the NDP banner in a riding where the party had surged to second place in 2011 but faced declining support across Quebec in 2015.

Virginie Provost (Bloc Québécois) — Provost represented the Bloc Québécois in a riding the party had held before the Conservative breakthrough of 2006.

Justin Gervais (Green Party) — Gervais stood for the Green Party, drawing attention to environmental issues in a region grappling with the legacy of industrial mining.

About the Riding

The riding bore the deep mark of the Lac-Mégantic rail disaster of July 6, 2013, when an unattended freight train carrying crude oil derailed and exploded in the town's downtown core, killing 47 people and destroying much of the commercial centre. The tragedy raised urgent federal questions about rail safety regulation, the transport of dangerous goods, and the oversight of short-line rail operators. By the time of the 2015 election, reconstruction efforts were underway, but the community remained focused on accountability and the proposed rail bypass to reroute tracks away from the rebuilt town centre. Beyond Lac-Mégantic, the riding's economy was in transition. Thetford Mines, once the hub of Canada's asbestos industry, had seen its mines close and was reinventing itself through investments in plastics, composite materials, and nanotechnology. Plessisville, known as the maple syrup capital, anchored the agricultural economy of the L'Érable region. The Mont-Mégantic International Dark Sky Reserve, covering over 5,000 square kilometres around the astronomical observatory, had become a draw for scientific tourism. Nearly 98 percent of the population identified French as their mother tongue, though anglophone heritage lingered in place names like Stornoway, Inverness, and Broughton Station.