Federal Election 2025: Everything you need to know about voting in the Outaouais

A voting station for the Hull-Aylmer riding. Photo by Photo: Jean Levac / Graphic: Sofia MisenheimerArticle content

It’s been a decade since a non-Liberal represented any of the three federal ridings across the Ottawa River.

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Greg Fergus in Hull-Aylmer and Steven MacKinnon in neighbouring Gatineau were first elected in 2015. Their neighbour in the massive Pontiac-Kitigan Zibi riding to the north, Sophie Chatel, was elected in 2021, after the previous Liberal MP stepped down.

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But the area hasn’t always been Liberal red, despite the proliferation of public servants who tend to favour Grits federally, and the pockets of anglophones who worry about the people in charge in Quebec City.

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Gatineau

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MacKinnon, a public affairs consultant and former national director of the federal Liberal party, made his first run for office in Gatineau in 2011, finishing third behind NDP candidate Françoise Boivin, a former Liberal, who took 62 per cent of the votes.

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Four years later, MacKinnon returned the favour, defeating Boivin with a similar tally. He was re-elected in 2019 and 2021 with equally strong numbers against Bloc Québécois rival Geneviève Nadeau.

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Since his first election, MacKinnon has put in work as government whip and House Leader. Later, he became minister of Labour and Seniors. Most recently, he was named minister of the new Jobs and Families department, a massive operation created in March that oversees Employment and Social Development Canada and a number of other departments.

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In this latest campaign, MacKinnon, 58, has been stressing the Liberals’ linchpin issue: affordable housing. Gatineau is Quebec’s fourth-largest city and continues its massive growth.

Other issues in the riding include the long-awaited sixth interprovincial bridge in the capital region, which would link Ottawa’s Aviation Parkway to Montée Paiement in Gatineau across Kettle Island. The project has been in discussion for years, with the government recently announcing that it has signed a $10-million contract with a joint venture to work on bridge design.
Six other candidates are running:

• The Bloc Québécois’s Richard Nadeau, who was MP from 2006 to 2011. A former teacher, he is focused on the economy, jobs and protecting Quebec culture;

• Conservative party candidate Kethlande Pierre, deputy director of the National Client Service Centre at the Canadian Intellectual Property Office and a recipient of the 2020 Woman of Influence Award from the Gatineau Chamber of Commerce;

• Rachid Jemma of the Green Party, a manager for McDonald’s restaurants in the Outaouais region for over 20 years;

• Daniel Simoncic for the NDP;

• Pierre Soublière, Marxist-Leninist;

• and Mathieu Saint-Jean of the Peoples’ Party of Canada.

Hull-AylmerArticle content

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Greg Fergus is running for re-election, but some wonder why the Liberal Party veteran would want to, following a series of scrapes last year with the Conservatives, who questioned his impartiality as Speaker of the House of Commons.
One complaint involved an online posting for a get-together with the Speaker that included a line accusing Tory Leader Pierre Poilievre of pursuing policies “that would risk our health, safety and pocketbooks” and promoted a Liberal plan to “grow an economy that works for everyone.” The Liberal Party apologized to Fergus in a letter for the partisan language used.

Then, in 2023, a house committee recommended Fergus apologize to the Commons and pay a fine following a controversial video appearance at the Ontario Liberal convention wearing his Speaker robes. The Conservatives and the Bloc Québécois also demanded Fergus resign as Speaker.