Gatineau

Gatineau is a federal riding in the Outaouais region of western Quebec, situated directly across the Ottawa River from Canada's capital. The riding covers the central and southern portions of the city of Gatineau, including the neighbourhoods of Gatineau proper, Hull's eastern fringes, and surrounding residential areas. With a 2021 population of approximately 108,000, the riding is heavily shaped by the federal public service—nearly half of all employment in the Outaouais is tied to the federal government, and massive office complexes such as Place du Portage and Terrasses de la Chaudière house thousands of civil servants within the riding's boundaries. The constituency has been Liberal since 2015 and, with the exception of the NDP's 2011 breakthrough, has leaned Liberal for most of its modern history.

Candidates

Steven MacKinnon (Liberal) is the incumbent, first elected in 2015 and seeking a fourth consecutive term. Born in 1966, he studied business at the Université de Moncton and Queen's University. He served as executive assistant and advisor to New Brunswick Premier Frank McKenna from 1988 to 1995, then moved into the private sector, spending eight years as a senior vice-president at a global public-affairs consultancy. A supporter of Paul Martin, he was named deputy national director of the Liberal Party. In Parliament, he was appointed Chief Government Whip in 2021 and elevated to cabinet in 2024 as Minister of Labour and Seniors. Following Chrystia Freeland's resignation, he briefly served as Government House Leader.

Kethlande Pierre (Conservative) is a federal public servant with more than 20 years of civic involvement and 15 years in the public service, serving as deputy director of the National Client Service Centre at the Canadian Intellectual Property Office. She received the 2020 Woman of Influence Award from the Gatineau Chamber of Commerce and previously ran as an independent candidate for Gatineau city council in 2024.

Richard Nadeau (Bloc Québécois) is a retired teacher and former MP who represented Gatineau for the Bloc from 2006 to 2011. Active in local heritage and agricultural organizations, he sought a return to Parliament after more than a decade away from federal politics.

Daniel Simoncic (NDP) carried the NDP banner in the riding.

Mathieu Saint-Jean (People's Party) ran on the PPC's national platform of reduced government spending and lower immigration.

Pierre Soublière (Marxist-Leninist) represented the Marxist-Leninist Party of Canada.

About the Riding

Gatineau's economic fortunes are intertwined with the federal government more than perhaps any other riding in the country. The concentration of public servants means that federal hiring freezes, workforce reductions, and work-from-home policies have outsized local consequences. In 2025, Conservative promises to trim the public service and the Liberals' own spending-reduction targets both raised anxiety among voters whose livelihoods depend on federal employment.

Beyond the public service, housing affordability emerged as a dominant concern. An influx of workers priced out of Ottawa's market, combined with limited housing starts, drove rents and home prices sharply upward. The mayors of both Ottawa and Gatineau jointly called on federal parties to commit to affordable-housing funding and to help repurpose surplus government office space for residential use. Gatineau's proposed tramway project also featured in the campaign, as the city sought federal infrastructure commitments.

The riding's francophone character—over 75 percent of residents speak French as a mother tongue—keeps language politics relevant, particularly debates around bilingualism requirements in the federal public service and the protection of French in a region adjacent to anglophone Ontario.