André Arthur
Encyclopedia : A : AN : AND : André Arthur
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| Riding | Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier |
|---|---|
| Political party: | Independent |
| First elected: | 2006 election |
| Profession(s): | Radio host |
André Arthur M.P., is a radio host and politician from Quebec City. He was elected as an Independent Member of Parliament in the riding of Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier in the 2006 Canadian federal election.
Radio career
Arthur began his radio career at CHRC in 1970. He has also appeared on CJRP, CKAC, CKVL, CJMF-FM, CJMS and, most recently (until December 22, 2005), at CKNU-FM and CIMI-FM, all French-language stations. He is known for his outspoken style and anti-statist politics in a province known for mainly supporting left-of-centre policies, but has nonetheless earned widespread popularity, and earned the nickname le Roi Arthur ("King Arthur"). He has 2 children.
His career has been marked by a number of lawsuits. He has been sued for defamation by two Quebec Premiers, Lucien Bouchard and Daniel Johnson Jr. He has also faced penalizing decisions by the CRTC and the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council, perhaps most notably regarding several on-air statements he has made, leading to the non-renewal of the licence of CHOI-FM. His most recent gig, as morning and noon host for CKNU in Donnacona, Quebec, ended on December 22, 2005, soon after Genex Communications announced it was selling the station to Radio Nord, which declined to renew his contract.
For several years, he opened his radio show with The Muppets' theme song.
Politics
André Arthur is a self-described libertarian, and his political views are generally in line with the libertarian ideology. He generally opposes the concept of government intervention in the economy, and supports tax cuts (as opposed to subsidies) as the most efficient way to promote economic growth and respect individual liberty. He is also a noted admirer of the United States.
Arthur is a federalist. He is known for his opposition to Quebec sovereignty, not so much because of any profound attachment to Canada, but because he fears independence would increase what he sees as the socialist tendencies of Quebec as a political entity. There has been speculation that he was one of the causes for the lower than average support for the "yes" in the Québec City area in the 1995 referendum.
He was elected in the 2006 Canadian federal election as an Independent Member of Parliament for the Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier district of Quebec. In winning the riding, Arthur became the first truly independent and non-incumbent candidate to be elected to the House of Commons since Tony Roman won an Ontario district in 1984. With no posters at all, he claims to have spent less than any other elected candidate at this election. Mr Arthur became officially a candidate on January 2nd 2006, three weeks before election day, and spent less than $1000 for his campaign but ran an intensive pre-campaign every day for about 2 months during his morning and noon shows.
On January 25, 2006, in an interview with Anna Maria Tremonti, host of CBC Radio One's morning news program The Current, Arthur stated that he will not join any political party during his term, but he did note that the policies of the governing Conservative Party of Canada best reflect his personal political beliefs and stances on many major issues. He also stated that he enters politics as an independent with the influence and record of non-affiliated MP Chuck Cadman, the last elected independent in the House of Commons, in mind. It was reported in May that he might considering joining the Conservatives [link] however he later denied this saying his comments had been misinterpreted. [link]
Quote
The following is a translation provided by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission of an opinion expressed by André Arthur on 3 November 2003 during a simultaneous broadcast on CHOI-FM and CKNU-FM. Genex, owner of both stations at the time, argued that it was taken out of context.
"All that aside, we're always saying how global we are and taking in foreign students in Quebec at the university, especially students from North Africa. Laval University is one of the biggest universities in North Africa."
"The problem is, people forget that in Africa, in Muslim countries and countries in Black Africa, the ones who are sent abroad to study are the sons of people who are disgusting, the sons of the people who own the country so that they can govern it better. They're the sons of plunderers, cannibals who control certain Third World countries and can afford to send their children to Quebec to go to school, if it's not outright corruption by companies that want to get access to natural resources in Africa and will pay to have the sons of the disgusting people who govern those countries study in Quebec."
"But they're still proud in Laval to accept foreign students. They forget to say that those foreign students, by definition, with some exceptions, are all children of the most disgusting political leaders in the world, people who are sucking their countries dry, people who kill to gain power and torture to keep it. People we call cannibals, people who are extremely cruel."
See also
External links
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Boroughs La Cité (1st) · Les Rivières (2nd) · Ste-Foy--Sillery (3rd) · Charlesbourg (4th) Beauport (5th) · Limoilou (6th) · La Haute-Saint-Charles (7th) · Laurentien (8th) | |||
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Districts Gay · Latin/Old Quebec · Saint-Jean-Baptiste · Saint-Roch Val-Bélair | |||
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See also [Quebec City on Wikitravel] List of presidents of districts of Quebec City · Quebec City Council List of mayors of Quebec City · Agglomeration of Quebec Greater Quebec City Area · Quebec City Area Website about the 400th birthday of Quebec City in 2008 : [http://www.quebec400.qc.ca] |
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