Vaudreuil—Soulanges

Stretching across the triangular peninsula where the Ottawa and St. Lawrence rivers converge at Quebec's western edge, Vaudreuil—Soulanges bridges suburban commuter communities near Montreal with the agricultural flatlands of the Soulanges canal country. The riding takes in the rapidly growing city of Vaudreuil-Dorion, the town of Hudson, L'Île-Perrot, and a string of smaller municipalities running west toward the Ontario border.

Candidates

Peter Schiefke (Liberal) — An environmentalist from Hudson, Schiefke held a bachelor's degree in political science from Concordia University and a master's degree in renewable resources from McGill University. He had served as national director of The Climate Reality Project Canada, the Canadian division of the organization founded by Al Gore. He had also co-founded Youth Action Montreal and organized a 2007 climate change summit at the Palais des congrès de Montréal. Schiefke won the Liberal nomination in February 2015 after a contested vote.

Jamie Nicholls (NDP) — The incumbent MP since 2011, Nicholls held a Bachelor of Fine Arts in visual arts from the University of Victoria and a graduate degree in landscape architecture from the University of British Columbia. A registered landscape architect, he had taught visual communication design at Bahçeşehir University in Istanbul before settling in Hudson. He had served on the board of the Vaudreuil-Soulanges watershed council and was elected in the 2011 NDP sweep of Quebec.

Vincent François (Bloc Québécois) — A computer engineer and accessibility advocate, François had founded the Accessibilité Web cooperative to promote digital inclusion for people with disabilities. During the campaign he called on residents to oppose the passage of crude oil rail convoys through the region.

Marc Boudreau (Conservative) — A lawyer, Boudreau ran on the Conservative ticket in a riding where the party had not been competitive for decades. He emphasized support for families and small businesses.

Jennifer Kaszel (Green Party) — Kaszel represented the Green Party in this suburban-rural riding west of Montreal.

About the Riding

Vaudreuil—Soulanges had experienced rapid population growth through the 2000s and early 2010s as Montreal-area families moved westward in search of affordable housing. Vaudreuil-Dorion, the riding's largest community, had grown into a bilingual commercial hub with expanding retail and service sectors. The Soulanges portion remains more rural and francophone, with dairy farming and field crops dominating the landscape along the historic canal route. Commuters travelling to Montreal via Highway 20 and the commuter rail line made transit infrastructure a perennial concern. The riding had been held by the Bloc Québécois from 2004 before swinging to the NDP in 2011, setting up a three-way contest heading into 2015.