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Parliament Hill is a two-hour drive from Châteauguay and a two-and-a-half-hour drive from the border crossing at Saint-Bernard-de-Lacolle, the riding’s easternmost point.
Located on the St Lawrence River, the riding extends south to Blackpool, east as far as Napierville and west to Sainte-Martine. The border crossing at Saint-Bernard-de-Lacolle on highway 15 along the Montreal-New York corridor is the busiest in the province.
There are nearly 50 public parks in the riding, including Îles-de-la-Paix National Wildlife Area and the Marguerite-d’Youville Wildlife Reserve on St-Bernard Island in Châteauguay. The former provides sanctuary to some 227 species of birds, 22 varieties of mammals and 12 types of reptiles and amphibians.
This riding is largely francophone with almost 68% of the population speaking French as a mother tongue.
About 10% of the riding’s population are immigrants, with some of the largest populations born in France and Morocco.
Spanish, Russian, and Arabic are the most common non-official mother tongues in the riding.
Approximately 2% of the riding’s population identify as Aboriginal.
Average individual income is $40,023.
The island of Saint-Bernard on Lac-Saint-Louis sits at the mouth of the Châteauguay River where it empties into the St. Lawrence. Once an early Iroquois settlement, then a retreat for the Grey Nuns, the convent has been transformed into a resort that offers everything from kayaking, to discovery cruise, to eco-market to apple picking.
Steeped in history, the city of Châteauguay offers a great number of historic tours, some on foot and others by bicycle.
During the Lower Canada Rebellion of 1838, Robert Nelson, general of the Patriotes Army and president of the Republic of Lower Canada, declared Napierville as the capital.
Châteauguay, with its 48,000 citizens, is very much a bedroom community for Montreal. The remainder of this riding is rich, fertile farmland. With its fruits and vegetables, this area supplies food to Montreal, Quebec, eastern Ontario and United States.
The Montéregie Wind Farm is a 44-windmill project built by Kruger Energy that supplies 100 MW of renewable energy. The installation is spread out, with wind turbines in Saint-Isidore, Saint-Constant, Saint-Mathieu, Saint- Michel, and Saint-Rémi. Completed in 2014, the project promises to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 120,000 tonnes per year.
Quebec strongman Louis Cyr was born in Saint-Cyprien (now Napierville) in 1863. One of 17 children, Cyr, born Cyprien-Noé, earned his reputation in Boston – where he could lift a horse off the ground all by himself. His reputation soon spread across the country and around the globe. Cyr was soon crowned the World’s Strongest Man but eventually contracted a kidney ailment known as Bright’s disease, dying at 49.
