The former deputy, polemicist and eminent figure of Quebec radio, André Arthur, died on Sunday May 8 after several days of hospitalization.
“Today, May 8, 2022 at Laval Hospital, I died. I leave to mourn my son René (Jade), my 3 wonderful grandchildren, my daughter Pascale (Louis), my tender Lucy and my brother Louis (Réjane)”, could we read Sunday evening on his twitter account.
Hospitalized for several days, André Arthur would have died at the beginning of the afternoon.
Other tweets as well as a photo were published in the evening via his account.
“I have had the privilege of having had a career as a coach driver, a sports referee, elected to the House of Commons as an independent with no party allegiance, a place in the media which I hope left no one indifferent and that I managed to make you laugh.”
André Arthur was known for his problematic and offensive remarks, in particular homophobic and sexist.
In 2018, he was fired from Quebec City radio station BLVD 102.1 for calling Saint-Jean Street “Aids Boulevard,” “in the heart of the gay neighborhood.”
“King Arthur”, as he was nicknamed, also made his voice heard in politics as an independent MP representing the riding of Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier from 2006 to 2011.
Host on various “junk radios” from CHRC on the AM band, to CJMF on the FM band, he faced various lawsuits for defamation.
On May 5, days before his death, he complained on Twitter about being called “my dear” by hospital staff.
“At the hospital … at the start of the evening, I arrive at my 34th” my dear “of the day. Pronounced with the small voice of a daycare worker, it wears down morale”, had tweeted the polemicist.