It is finally the columnist and ex-politician Luc Ferrandez who will take the place left vacant by Bernard Drainville at the microphone of 98.5 FM on weekday lunchtimes. As of August 22, the former mayor of Plateau-Mont-Royal will slip into the role of radio host for the very first time and will take the helm of a new public affairs program entitled Without reservation.
The news was revealed by The Press Friday morning and confirmed shortly after by the radio station during the unveiling of its fall lineup.
“Luke [Ferrandez] had already told us of his interest in growing up, doing something else in the resort, and why not try animation. So it was a natural choice for us to turn to him when we suddenly had to find a replacement for Bernard Drainville,” explained Julie-Christine Gagnon, program director at 98.5 FM, in an interview.
Recall that Bernard Drainville resigned on June 2 to redo the leap into provincial politics with the Coalition avenir Québec (CAQ). His show Drainville PMthe most listened to in its time slot, thus came to an abrupt end.
Even if Luc Ferrandez has never hosted a radio show before or even performed a replacement in this role, “he is THE right person to host this new show”, assures Mme Gagnon. “He is very cultivated, charismatic, very human,” she underlines. He is curious and he wants to understand things in depth. »
She adds that he still has experience behind the microphone: for three years he has written a column on Paul Arcand’s morning show – which he will continue by the way – as well as on Patrick’s show. Lagacé in the afternoon. Not to mention his collaborations with Noovo Info and Radio-Canada.
“At the beginning, I liked the idea of targeting subjects, doing my research, deepening and dissecting everything,” explains Luc Ferrandez, in an interview with The duty. “After three years, I realized that I had enough knowledge and depth to make connections, that I had the desire and the ability to touch on a greater number of subjects. »
Still, we do not improvise host overnight, by the admission of the main interested party. “I have done practices in the last few weeks in front of trainers and boss from 98.5 FM. I’m not good yet, and I’m not going to be great from the start. I have a lot to learn and I’m going to follow a learning curve over several months before I’m completely comfortable,” admits the man who is much more accustomed to answering questions than asking them.
In form, the show will remain substantially the same as in Bernard Drainville’s time: Luc Ferrandez prefers to do his classes before “changing everything” and imposing his way of doing things. To progress, he intends in particular to rely on the experience of his team and his collaborators with varied interests. Among them: host and columnist Meeker Guerrier will talk about sport from a social angle; journalist Marie-Ève Tremblay will bring a different perspective to subjects such as racism, sexism, sexual exploitation and education. We will also find Luc Lavoie and Christian Page. “They have different ideas and concerns than mine. I’m sure they’ll contradict me if they have to and I love that. »
“A person who polarizes”
“Of course Luc has more left-wing ideas, which he doesn’t hesitate to display. But he has this concern to balance with his collaborators and stakeholders to have a real dialogue, ”argues Julie-Christine Gagnon.
The program director of 98.5 FM has no doubt that listeners will “get on board”. “Luc is a polarizing person. But people have already come to know him in recent years, they know his positions. And over time, there are more people who like it than the other way around, ”she continues.
To be loved ? Luc Ferrandez cares little. “I polarize yes, but it does not matter. I’m not going to stop myself from giving my opinion and people have the right to disagree with me”. His goal, he says, is to nurture “respectful and enriching” discussions with his speakers so that listeners come away from his show having learned a lot about the week’s news.