Ottawa—Vanier (provincial electoral district)

For the Ottawa—Vanier federal electoral district, please see Ottawa—Vanier.

Ottawa—Vanier (formerly known as Ottawa East) is a provincial electoral district in Ontario, Canada, that has been represented in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario since 1908.

It is composed of the eastern part of downtown Ottawa.

The riding is represented in the Legislative Assembly by Liberal Madeleine Meilleur. She defeated Conservative Bruce Poulin, who was acclaimed as the Ontario Progressive Conservative candidate for Ottawa-Vanier for the October 10, 2007 provincial election.

The riding, with a large Franco-Ontarian population in Vanier, Overbrook, Lower Town, and in adjoining neighbourhoods, has been one of the most solidly Liberal in the country in recent years, having elected Liberals both federally and provincially in every election since 1971.

A sizable minority of the riding is in the former city of Vanier, which was merged with Ottawa in 2000. Vanier has long been home to much of Ottawa's francophone population, but between 1992 and 2001, the size of this linguistic group has fallen by almost 50%. Since 2003, the population of the entire riding has fallen by almost 10% at a time when the rest of the nation's capital increased by approximately 5.2%. The riding now has the second oldest population in Ottawa.

In many ways the riding which used to be known as a French riding with an English face has become a largely English-speaking riding (65%) with a French face. The riding also contains the wealthiest part of Ottawa, Rockcliffe Park, which gives some support to the Progressive Conservatives, but also to the Liberals. The neighbourhoods with higher proportions of anglophone residents, including Sandy Hill and New Edinburgh also tend to vote Liberal, but with significant support for the Ontario New Democratic Party. The riding is characterized by below average voter turn-out and an annual loss of approximately 1% in voter support for the provincial Liberals since 1987 thereby reducing their support from approximately 74% to 50% (1987–2007).

Geography

In 2003, it was redefined as the part of the City of Ottawa east and north of a line running south along the Rideau Canal from the interprovincial boundary to Mann Avenue, northeast to Nicholas Street, southeast to Highway No. 417, and east to the abandoned Canadian Pacific Railway to the hydroelectric transmission line, north to Innes Road, northeast to Blair Road, northwest to Montreal Road, east and northeast to Regional Road No. 174, northeast to Green's Creek, north to the Ottawa River.

History

The provincial electoral district was created in 1908 as "Ottawa East". The name was changed to "Ottawa—Vanier" in 1999.

Members of the Legislative Assembly/Members of Provincial Parliament¹

This riding has elected the following members of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

1. Donald McDougal, Liberal (1908–1911)
2. Napoleon Champagne, Conservative (1911–1914)
3. Joseph Pinard, Liberal (1914–1929)
4. Louis Côté, Conservative (1929–1934)
5. Paul Leduc, Liberal (1934–1940)
6. Robert Laurier, Liberal (1940–1945)
7. Aurele Chartrand, Liberal (1945–1955)
8. Jules Morin, Progressive Conservative (1955–1971)
9. Albert Roy, Liberal (1971–1985)
10. Bernard Grandmaître, Liberal (1985–1999)
11. Claudette Boyer, Liberal/Independent (1999–2003)
12. Madeleine Meilleur, Liberal (2003–present)

¹ In 1938, the title of members of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario was changed from "Members of the Legislative Assembly" (MLAs) to "Members of Provincial Parliament" (MPPs).

Election results since 1977

2007 electoral reform referendum

External links

• Elections Ontario 1999 results and 2003 results
• Map of the Riding (pdf)
• Ottawa-Vanier Greens
• Ottawa-Vanier Liberals
• Ottawa-Vanier NDP
• Ottawa-Vanier Progressive Conservatives