Louis-Saint-Laurent

Louis-Saint-Laurent covers the northwestern quadrant of Quebec City, taking in the neighbourhoods of Val-Bélair, Loretteville, Neufchâtel, and Lebourgneuf within the boroughs of La Haute-Saint-Charles and Les Rivières. It also includes the independent city of L’Ancienne-Lorette — a suburb of roughly 17,000 that was reconstituted as a separate municipality in 2006 after a demerger referendum — and the Wendake reserve, home to the Huron-Wendat Nation. The riding was created in 2003 from parts of the former Portneuf and Quebec East districts. With a population of roughly 108,000, it is approximately 85% French mother tongue, with growing Arabic, Spanish, and Creole-speaking communities.

Candidates

Gérard Deltell (Conservative) — Born in Quebec City in 1964 to Pied-Noir parents from Algeria, Deltell studied human sciences at Cégep de Sainte-Foy and history at Université Laval. He worked as a journalist for television networks TQS, SRC, and TVA from 1989 to 2008 before entering provincial politics. He represented Chauveau in the National Assembly from 2008 to 2015, served as leader of the Action démocratique du Québec from 2009 until its merger with the Coalition Avenir Québec in 2012, and then served as house leader for the CAQ. Elected federally in 2015, he was named Conservative Quebec lieutenant and later served as Opposition House Leader under Erin O’Toole.

Jeanne-Paule Desgagnés (Bloc Québécois) — Desgagnés ran on a platform of defending Quebec’s consensus on language, culture, immigration, and secularism at the federal level. Her local priorities included protecting the Rivière Lorette park, supporting Quebec’s shipyards in federal naval construction contracts, and expanding public transit networks in the capital region.

Jean-Christophe Cusson (Liberal) — Cusson carried the Liberal banner against the Conservative incumbent in this Quebec City riding.

Sandra Mara Riedo (Green) — Riedo represented the Green Party of Canada.

Guillaume Labonté-Côté (People’s Party) — Labonté-Côté ran for the People’s Party of Canada.

About the Riding

Louis-Saint-Laurent is a predominantly suburban riding whose residents commute into the government and service-sector jobs that dominate Quebec City’s economy. The riding includes large-format retail and commercial zones in Lebourgneuf and Les Rivières, as well as light industrial parks. L’Ancienne-Lorette, surrounded entirely by Quebec City, retains its own municipal government and a distinct small-town character.

Wendake is a culturally significant site — the Huron-Wendat Nation’s urban reserve is a centre for Indigenous tourism and heritage, drawing visitors to its longhouse museum and traditional crafts. The average household income in the riding was approximately $87,000 as of the 2011 National Household Survey, reflecting a solidly middle-class suburban base. Heading into 2021, the riding’s key issues included labour shortages in the service and construction sectors, housing affordability in Quebec City’s fast-growing suburbs, and federal policy on immigration levels — a topic on which Deltell and the Bloc candidate found some common ground in pressing for greater Quebec autonomy. The Conservative incumbent’s deep roots in the capital region’s media and political landscape made the seat a difficult target for opponents.