Argenteuil—La Petite-Nation

Argenteuil—La Petite-Nation stretches along the Ottawa River in western Quebec, running from the eastern fringes of Gatineau through Grenville-sur-la-Rouge, the historic village of Montebello, and the industrial town of Thurso to the small city of Lachute, then extending north toward Val-des-Bois and Duhamel. The riding has a population of roughly 109,000 and is overwhelmingly francophone, with more than 80 percent of residents speaking French as a mother tongue and over 95 percent identifying as white. It is a largely rural and semi-rural riding with a working-class economic base.

Candidates

Stéphane Lauzon (Liberal) was the incumbent, first elected in 2015. He worked at the Canadian International Paper Company in the 1980s before returning to school in 1992 to become a certified vocational instructor. He spent twenty years in vocational training and then started a construction management company. In 2009, he was elected to Gatineau city council, where he chaired the municipal committee on sports and recreational matters until his resignation in 2015 to run federally.

Yves Destroismaisons (Bloc Québécois) holds a bachelor's degree in social work and spent more than 30 years in the health sector, including 22 years as a social worker in mental health and 8 years as a community organizer at the Petite-Nation CLSC. He is the coordinator of Boulev'Art de la Vallée in Saint-André-Avellin, an organization providing activities and support to people with mental health challenges. A committed sovereigntist, he also ran for the Bloc in the 2019 federal election and previously stood as a Parti Québécois candidate in the 2018 provincial election.

About the Riding

The riding's economy historically relied on the paper and textile industries, particularly around Lachute, the seat of the Argenteuil Regional County Municipality. Lachute (population roughly 14,000) developed through its close connection with paper mills, lumber operations, and manufacturing plants, though deindustrialization pressures have forced economic diversification in recent decades. Thurso, once dependent on its pulp mill, has similarly sought new economic directions.

Tourism is an increasingly important sector, anchored by Montebello's Château Montebello (the world's largest log cabin and a Fairmont hotel) and the surrounding Omega Wildlife Park. The Ottawa River corridor draws seasonal visitors for boating, fishing, and outdoor recreation. In 2021, the federal government announced financial support for the Municipalité du Village de Grenville to repair the Grenville canal and create a multifunctional public space for recreation and tourism.

Key issues in the 2021 campaign included high-speed internet access in rural areas, the housing crisis, green energy transition, and the pandemic's impact on the tourism sector. The riding was one of the tightest contests in Quebec, with Lauzon holding off the Bloc by a slim margin of roughly 1,100 votes.