Pontiac—Kitigan Zibi

Pontiac—Kitigan Zibi is a vast riding in western Quebec stretching along the Ottawa River to the west and the Gatineau River to the north, encompassing 41 municipalities as well as the Kitigan Zibi and Rapid Lake Indian reserves. The riding was renamed following the 2022 redistribution to honour the Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg, the largest Algonquin First Nation in Canada, whose community sits near Maniwaki at the confluence of the Désert and Gatineau Rivers. The territory spans the Regional County Municipality of Les Collines-de-l’Outaouais—including the commuter communities of Chelsea, Cantley, and La Pêche—as well as the RCM of La Vallée-de-la-Gatineau and portions of the City of Gatineau. Roughly 70 percent of residents are francophone, with a significant anglophone minority concentrated in the Upper Pontiac.

Candidates

Sophie Chatel (Liberal) — First elected in 2021 as the first woman to represent the riding, Chatel is a Montreal native who has lived in the Outaouais since 2002. She holds a law degree from the Université de Montréal and a master’s in taxation from the Université de Sherbrooke. She spent more than a decade as a senior adviser at the Canada Revenue Agency and the federal Department of Finance before being appointed Head of the Tax Treaty Unit at the OECD in Paris, where she contributed to the negotiation of a global minimum tax for multinationals.

Brian Nolan (Conservative) — A bilingual francophone from Chelsea, Nolan has 25 years of public-service experience across federal departments and agencies, most recently as a Senior Program Officer with the Canada Border Services Agency. He holds a degree in computer programming and founded an IT consulting company that he ran for 15 years. He also co-owned a food store in Ottawa’s ByWard Market.

Suzanne Proulx (Bloc Québécois) — A former Parti Québécois member of the National Assembly who represented the Laval riding of Sainte-Rose from 2012 to 2014, Proulx has management experience in industrial enterprises and a background in union leadership. She brought provincial-level political experience to her federal candidacy.

Gilbert W. Whiteduck (NDP) — A lifelong resident of Kitigan Zibi and a member of the Anishinabeg community, Whiteduck holds four university degrees and has spent over 30 years in education, serving as teacher, principal, and director of education. He was elected Chief of Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg for seven years across multiple terms and also served on the Band Council for a total of 20 years. He worked for nine years as a counsellor at the Wanaki Treatment Centre and served on the regional health board overseeing hospitals and social services in the Outaouais.

Claude Bertrand (Green Party) — A retired military officer who served 19 years in the Canadian Armed Forces as a pilot and flight instructor, Bertrand also worked for 16 years as an engineer. He holds a Bachelor of Science in agricultural engineering and has lived in La Pêche for nearly a decade. He previously ran for the Green Party in the riding in 2019.

Todd Hoffman (People’s Party) — Hoffman represented the People’s Party of Canada in the riding, running on the party’s national platform of reduced government spending, lower immigration, and opposition to carbon pricing.

About the Riding

The riding’s economy blends public-sector employment—many residents commute to federal government jobs in Gatineau and Ottawa—with forestry, agriculture, and a growing tourism sector anchored by cottage country and outdoor recreation. The Gatineau Hills draw visitors year-round for skiing, hiking, and cycling, while the Upper Pontiac retains a more resource-dependent character.

The inclusion of Kitigan Zibi in the riding’s name reflects the importance of Indigenous communities to the district’s identity. Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg, meaning “Garden River People,” occupies a reserve of more than 210 square kilometres near Maniwaki and is the largest Algonquin community in both area and population. Indigenous issues—including housing, clean water, healthcare access, and language revitalization—featured in the 2025 campaign alongside broader concerns.

In 2025, the riding’s federal debates centred on housing affordability in commuter communities that saw sharp price increases during the pandemic-era remote-work migration, healthcare access in rural areas that struggle to recruit physicians, the impact of US trade tensions on forestry and agriculture, and language-rights concerns in anglophone communities affected by Quebec’s Bill 96.