Laurier—Sainte-Marie (Quebec) 157/338

 Laurier—Sainte-Marie (Quebec)

Today we're in Montreal with Laurier—Sainte-Marie!

Laurier—Sainte-Marie has existed as a riding since 1988. The population of the riding was 116,932 in 2021. The riding is in the city of Montreal and contains parts of the Le Plateau-Mont-Royal and Ville-Marie boroughs. The riding is the third smallest in the country by area, only larger than Toronto Centre and Papineau.

Politically, this seat has been much more turbulent in the past few years. It stayed with the Bloc from 1993 (1990 unofficially) until 2011, when the NDP won the seat. The NDP held it by 10 points in 2015, losing it to the Liberals in 2019. The NDP made some headway in 2021, closing the gap by 11 points. This seat is currently held by Liberal MP and Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault.

Back to the unofficial Bloc win, Gilles Duceppe won the seat in a by-election in 1990, beating future mayor of Quebec Denis Coderre. The Bloc was so new that it had not registered as a federal party yet, having Gilles Duceppe win as an independent. Gilles Duceppe served as an MP from 1990-2011 as well as the leader of the Bloc from 1997-2011 and a few months in 2015. After losing the seat in 2011, he tried one more time in 2015 to take the seat back, but he was unable to take it back. In 2019, this seat was 33/78 in Quebec and 156/338 in Canada by margin.

The name is fine, I know that Laurier is for Laurier avenue, but that doesn't mean I have to like it. The shape is honestly pretty good for an urban seat, very clean shape. As for individuality, party leader and wild swings? Sign me up.

Tomorrow we'll be north in Laval–Les Îles!