Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou

Covering more than 850,000 square kilometres of northern Quebec, Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou is the third-largest federal riding in Canada by area. The district reaches from the gold-mining centre of Val-d'Or in the south to the Inuit villages along the shores of Hudson Strait in the far north, traversing boreal forest, James Bay lowlands, and Arctic tundra. Nearly forty percent of the riding's roughly 88,000 residents are Indigenous, including Cree communities governed through the Cree Nation Government in Eeyou Istchee and Inuit communities administered by the Kativik Regional Government in Nunavik.

Candidates

Sylvie Bérubé (Bloc Québécois) — A resident of Val-d'Or, Bérubé served as president of the local Parti Québécois association in Abitibi-Est before seeking the Bloc nomination. She was selected as the party's candidate in July 2019 and entered the race as a newcomer to federal politics.

Isabelle Bergeron (Liberal) — A Val-d'Or resident, Bergeron served as Director of Human Resources at the Commission scolaire de l'Or-et-des-Bois for a decade and had more than twenty years of experience in education. She was also active in regional professional associations and sat on the board of directors of the Maison de la Source Gabriel.

Martin Ferron (Conservative) — Ferron had been mayor of Malartic since 2013 and previously worked as a wildlife protection officer and in forestry and mining operations. He campaigned on environmental protection and addressing the high cost of food in northern communities.

Jacline Rouleau (NDP) — A restaurateur with over twenty years of experience, Rouleau was serving her third term as mayor of Senneterre Paroisse at the time of her candidacy. She sought to continue the work of outgoing NDP MP Romeo Saganash, who had chosen not to run again.

Kiara Cabana-Whiteley (Green Party) — Cabana-Whiteley carried the Green banner in the riding.

Daniel Simon (Radical Marijuana) and Guillaume Lanouette (People's Party) also stood as candidates.

About the Riding

The southern portion of the riding sits atop the prolific Abitibi gold belt, with major mining operations around Val-d'Or and the Canadian Malartic open-pit mine near the town of Malartic. Further north, the massive hydroelectric installations along the James Bay watershed, built by Hydro-Québec beginning in the 1970s, supply power to much of southern Quebec. The Raglan nickel mine near Salluit is a major employer in Nunavik. Campaigning in the riding demands travel across multiple time zones to communities reachable only by air. Chronic housing shortages in Indigenous communities, unreliable telecommunications, and access to health care in remote settlements were among the most prominent local concerns heading into the 2019 contest. The departure of the NDP's Romeo Saganash, who had held the seat since 2011, opened the riding to new competition between the Bloc, Liberals, and other parties.