Canadian federal election results in Western Montreal

Regional Profile

Montreal boasts some of the most highly polarized political geography in Canada. While the sovereigntist Bloc Québécois dominated the mostly francophone East End for 20 years, the largely anglophone and Jewish western portions of the city have been a Liberal and federalist fortress for over six decades, being to the Liberals what rural Alberta is to the Conservatives. The region is home to some of the safest Liberal ridings in the nation (e.g. Mount Royal and Saint-Laurent—Cartierville). Even in the surge of support for Brian Mulroney in Quebec in 1984 and 1988, the Liberals took the most seats in this region. This continued amid the Liberal meltdown in Quebec in 2006, although one seat at the eastern end of the area was lost to the Bloc. Before 2011, 1984 was the only election in recent memory in which traditional Liberal dominance was seriously threatened in this region. Two former Prime Ministers, Paul Martin and Pierre Trudeau, represented ridings in this area.

Nevertheless, in 2011, several Liberal bastions, such as Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Lachine, LaSalle—Émard (Martin's former riding), and Pierrefonds—Dollard, fell to the New Democratic surge felt throughout Quebec. Additionally, the Conservatives came very close to taking Mount Royal (Trudeau's former riding), which has been in Liberal hands since 1940. Ultimately, the NDP took five of the region's nine seats, with the Liberals holding the remainder. The region reverted to form in 2015, with the Liberals taking every seat here except Outremont, the riding of NDP leader Tom Mulcair.