Chicoutimi-Le Fjord voters choose Conservative MP

Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer, right, and Saguenay-Le Fjord candidate Richard Martel take a eat poutine at the famous Boivin cheese counter, Thursday, June 14, 2018 in Saguenay Que. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jacques Boissinot)

Richard Martel is the newest MP from Quebec.

The conservative candidate won more than half of the votes in the riding of Chicoutimi-Le Fjord in Monday's by-election, getting 5,000 votes more than Liberal rival Lina Boivin.

Almost 24,000 people voted Monday -- just over one-third of those eligible.

Martel was the former coach of the Chicoutime Sagueneen hockey team and was well known in the riding.

The Conservative Party and its leader Andrew Scheer campaigned hard in the riding and have been actively courting nationalists and former separatists.

Scheer toured the riding last week with Michel Gauthier, a former Bloc Quebecois MP who joined the Conservative party last month, saying he believed the Conservative Party was best served to promote Quebec's interests within Canada.

The riding has shifted several times over the past 20 years, going from Bloc Quebecois, to NDP in 2011, to Liberal in 2015.

MP Denis Lemieux stepped down last year citing family reasons, prompting Monday's vote.