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The drive to Parliament Hill from LaSalle is just over two hours.
Flights to Ottawa from Montreal are less than an hour. VIA Rail has a stop in Dorval, making the train an attractive alternative.
Located on the southwest corner of the Island of Montreal, this riding has the Saint Lawrence River and Lachine Rapids sweeping by its front doorstep. The river at LaSalle is home to a wide variety of fish: pike, walleye, muskie, smallmouth bass, brown trout, rainbow trout, sturgeon, and perch. At one time, Atlantic salmon came as far as Montreal, but industrialization and its accompanying pollution have put and end to that.
The riding is largely francophone, with over 57% of the population speaking French as a mother tongue.
About 22% of the riding’s population are immigrants, with some of the largest populations born in China, France, and Italy.
Spanish, Mandarin, and Italian are the most common non-official mother tongues in the riding.
Approximately 1% of the riding’s population identify as Aboriginal.
Average individual income is $37,259.
The Lachine Rapids offer a challenge for anyone who enjoys white-water kayaking. There are companies that offer rafts and even jet boat rides on the river. The rapids are also a destination for surfers, especially La Vague à Guy at Parc des Rapides.
After decades of neglect, the Lachine Canal was cleaned and opened to the public, offering boaters the opportunity to travel from the Old Port to LaSalle. The canal is also a popular spot for cyclists looking to head downtown.
The 1970s Quebec super group Ville Émard Blues Band only had one member actually from Ville Émard (Bill Gagnon). But since they used his home to rehearse, the name followed. The band, which had as many as 20 musicians on stage at the same time, was the first Quebec rock group to headline at the Montreal Forum.
Professional wrestling legends the Vachon brothers – Maurice “Mad Dog” and Paul – grew up in Ville Émard. Actress Marina Orsini is also a native.
Former Prime Minister Paul Martin represented the riding of LaSalle-Émard for 20 years (1988 to 2008).
Much of this riding is residential. Many people who live here work elsewhere in the city.
The area around the Lachine Canal was an industrial hub before trade liberalization and globalization took hold. The canal’s revitalization in the early 2000s offered new opportunities. Labatt’s continues to operate a plant in LaSalle. The Douglas Mental Health Institute and CÉGEP André-Laurendeau in Verdun are also major employers.
To encourage citizens to think more about the environment, the Borough of LaSalle is offering to plant a tree for every newborn or newly adopted child in the city.
Designed as a 19th-century British park, Angrignon Park is one of the city’s largest at 97 hectares; it includes some 20,000 trees. It is a mecca for area birders and includes a community garden, where some 110 people tend to their own flowers and vegetables.
After the First World War and again at the end of the Second World War, many Italians settled in Ville Émard. Today some 10% of the city’s Italian-Canadians call Ville Émard home.
