Located on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River, east of Montreal, Verchères comprises of the municipalities of Calixa-Lavallée, Contrecœur, Saint-Amable, Sainte-Julie, Varennes and Verchères.
The four candidates from parties serving in the National Assembly at dissolution:
Coalition Avenir Québec: Suzanne Dansereau
Parti Québécois: Stéphane Bergeron
Quebec Liberal Party: Agnieszka Wnorowska
Québec Solidaire: Jean-René Péloquin
The incumbent in this riding was Parti Québécois MNA Stéphane Bergeron. He won the 2014 election with 42 per cent of the popular vote.
He has represented the riding since the 2007 general election. He was public security minister from 2012 to 2014.
The Parti Québécois stronghold was the riding of former premier Bernard Landry.
History
The riding of Verchères is located in the northern part of the Montérégie.
Verchères refers to the Verchères seigneury, granted in 1672 by the intendant Jean Talon to François Jarret de Verchères, a military instructor and lieutenant.
He was a native of Vignieu, a commune in the Isère department in southeastern France.
The daughter of the Sieur de Verchères, Marie-Madeleine Jarret de Verchères, is famous for having defended the fort of Verchères almost single-handedly in 1692.