Voters in Saint-Hyacinthe–Bagot–Acton choose a federal MP on Dec. 7 as four candidates make their pitch
Farm costs, supply management and the Honoré-Mercier emergency are shaping the race in the riding that sits at the heart of Quebec's agri-food industry.
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Voters in Saint-Hyacinthe–Bagot–Acton go to the polls Monday, December 7, 2026, in a federal byelection, and four candidates are making their case. The vote was set when Prime Minister Mark Carney called six federal byelections that day, three of them in Quebec.
The seat opened when Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay of the Bloc Québécois left federal politics to run provincially for the Parti Québécois, which he won in October. The regional hospital, Hôpital Honoré-Mercier, is the riding's other pressure point: on November 12, 2026, its emergency was overcrowded, with patients waiting to be seen. Santé Montérégie-Est says the expanded emergency opened June 7, 2023, with its project budget adjusted, fully funded by the Ministry of Health (MSSS).
Agriculture is the riding's central issue. Farmers here face rising production costs, farmland access problems and uncertainty from U.S. trade tensions.
The Liberal candidate, Chantal Soucy, sat as a CAQ MNA for Saint-Hyacinthe from 2014 until October's provincial election. She is the daughter of an agricultural producer; the family dairy farm still operates. "I know how important supply management is for producers," she said, "in fact, for our entire economy."
The Bloc Québécois is running Caroline Émond, who has worked in agriculture and international negotiations. The Conservative candidate, Luc Brodeur-Jourdain, is a former Montreal Alouettes lineman who went on to coach the team's offensive line. Mathieu Boisvert, for the NDP, previously worked for three MPs in Ottawa.
In 2015 the riding's winner took the lowest share of the vote in its history. Polls open Monday, December 7.
