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Rimouski is an eight-hour drive from Parliament Hill, or six hours by plane from nearby Mont-Joli (including a stopover in Montreal).
This riding is located on the south shore of the lower St. Lawrence River, between Trois-Pistoles and Rimouski, and borders New Brunswick and the state of Maine to the south.
Except for the strip of well-cultivated land, a few kilometres wide, along the St. Lawrence, this riding is mostly covered in forest. The Appalachians run through the center of this riding as they move towards the Gaspé peninsula.
This riding is largely francophone, with over 98% of the population speaking French as a mother tongue.
In Témiscouata it is estimated that nearly 30% of residents have Acadian roots.
About 1.5% of the riding’s population are immigrants.
Approximately 2% of the riding’s population identify as Aboriginal.
Average individual income is $37,720.
The largest festival in the region, Les Grandes Fêtes Telus, is held in July at Beauséjour Park in Rimouski.
Rimouski is also home to the International Scrabble Festival, a French-language competition held every year.
The first bike path to connect New Brunswick with Quebec is a 134-kilometre-long crushed stone trail that travels from Rivière-du-Loup to Edmundston. Known as the Petit-Témis Interprovincial Linear Park, the trail was built from an old railway line.
The University of Western Ontario’s French immersion program in Trois-Pistoles is Canada’s oldest, dating to 1932. Every spring and summer, 600 students from across Canada descend on this town of 3,600.
The name of Trois-Pistoles refers to three French coins – not three guns.
NHL superstar Sidney Crosby played his junior hockey with the Rimouski Océanic of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.
Forestry has been hit hard over the last 15 years, but innovation in marine resources and technologies has been a bright light for the region. The world-renowned Institut des sciences de la mer is in Rimouski, as is the Institut Maritime du Québec. Students can earn up to a BSc from the Université du Québec through the school’s programs.
Rimouski is an administrative hub for the area for private enterprise and both federal and provincial governments.
The windmill farms in Saint-Mathieu-de-Rioux, Sainte-Françoise, and Saint-Médard have a total of 68 windmills producing 225 megawatts of power, making the riding a major player in wind energy. Another project located in St-Honoré-de-Témiscouata produces 75 megawatts of electricity.
The haunted house of Trois-Pistoles is a popular tourist stop. Neighbours talk of seeing lights that appear suddenly, and strange noises in the middle of the night. Legend has it that a sailor killed in a knife fight was buried in the basement of the house. His ghost, upset about the corpse not being buried in a proper cemetery, haunts its occupants and anyone who dares to visit.
