Manicouagan

Manicouagan is one of the largest federal ridings in eastern Canada, stretching along the north shore of the St. Lawrence River from Forestville east to the Labrador border and deep into the boreal interior. The riding’s two main population centres are Baie-Comeau and Sept-Îles, which together account for more than half of the roughly 80,000 residents. Eight Innu reserves fall within its boundaries — Essipit, Pessamit, La Romaine, Matimekosh, Mingan, Natashquan, Pakuashipi, and Uashat-Maliotenam — and about 18% of the riding’s population identifies as Aboriginal, with Innu-aimun the most commonly spoken Indigenous language alongside French and English.

Candidates

Marilène Gill (Bloc Québécois) — Born in 1977, Gill was a literature teacher at Cégep de Baie-Comeau and served as literary director at Éditions Trois-Pistoles, publishing personal works that earned several awards and grants. She also worked as a political attaché to Michel Guimond, a former Bloc Québécois MP and chief whip. A mother of three who had lived on the North Shore for nearly 30 years, she was first elected in 2015 and sought a third term in 2021.

Rodrigue Vigneault (Conservative) — Originally from Natashquan, Vigneault was the former president of the defunct Commission scolaire du Fer. He brought a perspective rooted in the riding’s eastern communities.

Thomas Gagné (Liberal) — A 38-year-old originally from the Outaouais region, Gagné carried the Liberal banner in a riding where the party had not been competitive in recent cycles.

Nichola St-Jean (NDP) — St-Jean, from outside the region, said he had visited the North Shore frequently with his parents as a young person. He ran for the NDP in the vast Manicouagan riding.

Bianca Girard (Free Party Canada) — Girard represented the Free Party Canada.

About the Riding

Manicouagan’s economy is defined by resource extraction and hydroelectric power. Hydro-Québec operates a massive generating complex on the Manicouagan and Outardes rivers — the Manic-Outardes project, completed in 1978, produces a combined 4,672 megawatts. The Daniel-Johnson Dam, one of the world’s largest multi-arch dams, is among its most recognizable structures. Lake Manicouagan itself — the ring-shaped remnant of an ancient asteroid impact, visible from space — serves as a Hydro-Québec reservoir and a regional landmark.

Baie-Comeau was founded in 1936 when Colonel Robert R. McCormick, publisher of the Chicago Tribune, built a pulp and paper mill on the St. Lawrence. Forestry and pulp production remain part of the local economy, joined by mining — the area holds world-class titanium, vanadium, and graphite deposits. Sept-Îles is the gateway to the iron ore mines of northern Quebec and Labrador, with the Iron Ore Company of Canada shipping concentrate through its port. Indigenous communities in the riding have long pressed for greater consultation on resource development; the Innu Nation’s unresolved $900-million lawsuit against the former operator of the Schefferville mines underscored tensions over land rights and environmental remediation. Heading into 2021, broadband access in remote communities, health care staffing shortages, and the future of resource-sector employment were among the riding’s most pressing concerns.