Voter breakdown

Liberals take four of five Outaouais ridings as PQ wins Papineau

Tashi Farmilo

Outaouais voters elected Liberal candidates in four of the region's five ridings in the October 5 provincial election, including Pontiac and Hull. The Coalition Avenir Québec, which held four of those seats when the campaign began, won none after eight years in government.

The results in the region differed from the provincial outcome. Paul St-Pierre Plamondon's Parti Québécois will form a minority government in Quebec City, and its only Outaouais seat is in Papineau.

An Aylmer Bulletin tally of the 100-per-cent preliminary results reported by Élections Québec shows how the vote divided across the region. A total of 173,174 valid ballots were cast in the five ridings. Liberal candidates received 71,928 votes, or 41.5 per cent. The PQ received 35,263 votes, or 20.4 per cent; the Conservative Party of Quebec received 27,291, or 15.8 per cent; the CAQ received 19,565, or 11.3 per cent; and Québec solidaire received 17,333, or 10.0 per cent. Other candidates accounted for 1,794 votes, or 1.0 per cent.

The CAQ's share of the vote fell in every riding. In 2022, using results recalculated for the new electoral boundaries, the party won 52.3 per cent of the vote in Chapleau, 53.6 per cent in Papineau and 47.3 per cent in Gatineau. Its 2026 results were 16.5 per cent in Chapleau, 11.2 per cent in Papineau and 10.6 per cent in Gatineau. The CAQ's highest result in the region this year was 16.5 per cent, in Chapleau.

In Pontiac, the riding that includes Aylmer, Liberal André Fortin was re-elected to a fourth term with 18,358 votes, or 61.4 per cent of the vote, compared with 43.7 per cent in 2022. His lead of 14,985 votes over the second-place candidate was the largest margin in the region.

Conservative Osmar Llanos Martinez finished second with 3,373 votes, or 11.3 per cent. The PQ's Marcela Cazas received 3,236 votes, or 10.8 per cent, while Québec solidaire's Bianca Baldo received 2,862, or 9.6 per cent. The CAQ's Mariana Mefleh placed fifth with 1,686 votes, or 5.6 per cent. The second- and fourth-place candidates were separated by 511 votes. In 2022, the CAQ finished second in the riding with 24.7 per cent of the vote.

The Liberals took back Hull, which the CAQ won in 2022. Liberal Sacha Cannon, a lawyer, received 14,582 votes, or 42.5 per cent. Québec solidaire's Mariève Forest placed second with 6,032 votes, or 17.6 per cent, the only Outaouais riding where that party finished second. The PQ's Paul Fauteux followed with 5,798 votes, or 16.9 per cent; CAQ incumbent Suzanne Tremblay received 4,072, or 11.9 per cent; and Conservative Anne-Marie Couturier received 3,639, or 10.6 per cent.

The Liberals also regained Gatineau and Chapleau, which the CAQ won in 2018. In Gatineau, where CAQ MNA Robert Bussière did not seek re-election, Liberal David Logue received 15,547 votes, or 41.3 per cent, 7,239 more than the PQ's Raphaël Déry. Conservative Ogbognon Bertin Aboussou placed third with 6,665 votes, or 17.7 per cent, and the CAQ's William Robertson finished fourth with 3,988, or 10.6 per cent.

In Chapleau, Liberal Michel Langevin, a former 104.7 Outaouais radio host, received 12,816 votes, or 37.5 per cent. The PQ's Meixia Maltais placed second with 6,740 votes, or 19.7 per cent. CAQ incumbent and cabinet minister Mathieu Lévesque finished third with 5,652 votes, or 16.5 per cent, followed by Conservative Denis Charron with 5,471, or 16.0 per cent.

The region's closest race was in Papineau. Pontiac, Gatineau and Hull were projected within the first hour of polls closing, while Chapleau followed in the next hour. Papineau remained too close to call until shortly after 11 pm.

The PQ's Isabelle Millette won with 11,181 votes, or 30.2 per cent, 556 votes ahead of Liberal Isabelle Sabourin, who received 10,625 votes, or 28.7 per cent. Conservative Michel Kadri received 8,143 votes, or 22.0 per cent, the party's highest result in the region. The CAQ's Linda Gauthier placed fourth with 4,167 votes, or 11.2 per cent, in a seat left open when CAQ MNA Mathieu Lacombe did not seek re-election.

Millette is the first PQ candidate elected in the Outaouais since 1976, when the party won both Papineau and Hull. She is also the first woman to represent Papineau in the National Assembly.

Turnout varied by riding. Élections Québec figures show turnout of 57.0 per cent in Hull and 61.4 per cent in Gatineau. The final turnout was 66.15 per cent province-wide in 2022.

Élections Québec will release the formal proclamation of winners in most ridings on October 14.