André Arthur

Both Arthur's father, René, and uncle, Gérard Arthur, were radio hosts. René and Gérard were Armenian immigrant children who came from Constantinople to Montreal in the 1910s, fleeing the Armenian genocide, with their parents and siblings, via New York City. According to Arthur, the family was mistakenly considered to be Jewish by some Montreal residents at the time, because their last name contained the name Isaac, thus being victims of antisemitism. Consequently, the family changed its name to Arthur, a French-sounding name, which was also André Arthur's grandfather's first name (he was alternatively known as Arthur Isakian or Arthur DerSahag, Sahag meaning Isaac in Armenian).

Arthur's mother was a Québécoise by the name of Tanguay, a name that originally came from Brittany to Quebec in the 17th century.

As a young adult, Arthur worked as a hockey referee. According to Arthur, this experience taught him how to accept being heavily criticized.

Arthur was divorced and has two children.

Arthur began his radio career at CHRC in 1970. He has also appeared on CJRP, CKAC, CKVL, CJMF-FM, CJMS, CHOI-FM and, most recently (until December 22, 2005), at CKNU-FM and CIMI-FM, all French-language stations. In 2007, Arthur was briefly part of a morning show on CHEQ-FM with Marie Saint-Laurent as well as the web radio station Rockik.com.

Arthur's 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 Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) and the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council regarding several on-air statements he made which led 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 RNC Media, which declined to renew his contract.

On November 17, 1998, during a broadcast on CKVL, Arthur attacked taxi drivers in Montreal, especially those who were "Arab and Haitian". According to the summary of facts presented in the Superior Court, Arthur denounced "their incompetence and filthiness, while suggesting they get their licenses by corruption and are somehow responsible for the deplorable state of this mode of transport in the city."[5] On February 17, 2011, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Arthur.

In January 2018, he was fired from BLVD 102.1 FM for referring to a road in the LGBT district of Quebec City as "AIDS Boulevard".[4]

For several years, Arthur opened his radio show with the theme song from The Muppet Show.

From 1972 to 1979, in addition to being heard on CHRC, Arthur was a news anchor for the local evening news program at Télé-4 (CFCM-TV, a TVA affiliate) in Quebec City. On August 20, 2008, it was announced that Arthur would host a talk show on the TQS network, starting September 29;[6] however, a federal election was called in the meantime, delaying the starting date. Arthur successfully ran for MP in the 2008 election.[7]

TQS announced the show's cancellation on August 5, 2009.[8]

André Arthur was a self-described libertarian, and his political views are generally in line with the libertarian ideology. He generally opposed the concept of government intervention in the economy, and supported tax cuts (as opposed to subsidies) as the most efficient way to promote economic growth and respect individual liberty.

He was also a noted admirer of the United States, which he perceived to be less intrusive in people's lives. Arthur claimed that if he were an American citizen he would never vote for George W. Bush as President – one factor being Arthur's opposition to the Iraq War. Nonetheless, Arthur considered George W. Bush (as well as Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper) to be very consistent, a quality that he admired.

Arthur was a federalist. He is known for his opposition to Quebec sovereignty, not so much because of any profound attachment to Canada, but because he feared independence would increase what he saw as the socialist tendencies of Quebec as a political entity. According to a number of Parti Québécois analysts, Arthur's influence was a significant cause of the lower-than-expected "Yes" vote in the Quebec City area in the 1995 referendum.[10]

Arthur first ran for office as an Independent candidate in the Louis-Hébert district in the 1994 Quebec provincial election. He finished second with 29% of the vote, behind Parti Québécois candidate Paul Bégin (39%).

In 1997, Arthur ran for the office of mayor of Sainte-Foy against incumbent Andrée Boucher. Boucher was re-elected and Arthur finished second, with 33% of the vote.

While a Member of Parliament, Arthur worked as a tour bus driver for Intercar. He claimed that his position as an independent MP freed him from the obligation to attend caucuses and partisan social events, going as far as suggesting all MPs should get a second job to put them in touch with ordinary people. This earned him the criticism from his opponents, who noted Arthur had been absent from Parliament for nearly one-third of the votes since 2006, something for which Arthur was unapologetic.[17]

• André Arthur – Parliament of Canada biography