Brash radio host to sit as Independent MP
When the next session of Parliament opens, a former shock jock from Quebec will be among the sitting MPs.
Outspoken Quebec City radio personality André Arthur has been elected as the single Independent MP, representing the riding of Portneuf-Jacques-Cartier.
The popular and controversial radio star, known to his fans as King Arthur, successfully courted voters disenchanted with the federal government during the campaign and won almost 40 per cent of the vote in his predominantly francophone riding. His closest rival was Bloc Québécois candidate Guy Côté, who won the seat in 2004.
Arthur told CBC News that he is ready to be a "common-sense" voice for his constituents in Ottawa.
"I think it's quite a challenge, and I think that all things considered, this is quite fun," the 62-year-old said.
During the campaign, he said, members of the public told him "how fed up they are with rotten politics, and the disrespect they get from the political parties."
Throughout his radio career, Arthur had been the target of several defamation lawsuits, as well as reprimands from the country's broadcast regulator, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission.
In 2004, he was included in the reasoning for the CRTC's decision to deny the licence renewal of radio station CHOI-FM. The CRTC cited offensive on-air remarks, including Arthur's statement that international students at Laval University were the children of wealthy "plunderers" and "cannibals" from the Third World.
After the results were announced Monday evening, the federalist Arthur told reporters he would not censor himself just because he was headed to the House of Commons.
"At 62, you don't change," he said, according to the Montreal Gazette.
In addition to his duties as an MP, Arthur said he also plans to keep his job as a part-time bus driver and may even look for another gig in radio.
"I think that any member of Parliament should have a real job," he told CBC News. "Maybe if they all had a real job, they would less sound like Martians when we listen to them."