Tapping into pandemic rage, upstart Quebec Conservative Party leader surges in the polls
CBC
The leader of the Conservative Party of Quebec, Éric Duhaime, is basking in the glow of poll results this week that show continuing steady gains for his party and place him as the second-most-popular party leader in Quebec.
Duhaime was elected leader of the party last April. The party, nearly dead not long ago, now counts 52,000 members — more than any other provincial party in Quebec.
To his detractors, Duhaime — a former "shock jock" radio host who's quickly gained attention as a party leader by condemning most public-health restrictions — is too tightly connected to the radical anti-vaccine movement to achieve widespread success.
But people who know Duhaime told CBC he's a brilliant political strategist with a particular gift for communicating.
Former Liberal deputy premier Nathalie Normandeau worked with Duhaime as his co-host on Quebec City radio station FM93.
"Éric Duhaime, when he became leader last year, found himself with a party that was unknown in Quebec with barely any members," Normandeau told CBC in an interview.
"In very little time, he created 'the Duhaime effect' — the conditions to channel the anger and frustration of a significant portion of the electorate. It's enormous," Normandeau said.
Duhaime was an adviser to former Canadian Alliance Party leader Stockwell Day when Day was running for leadership of the federal party in the early 2000s.
Day said it would be a huge mistake for Duhaime's political opponents to underestimate him.
"Be afraid. Be very afraid," he said.
"As a politician, if you're on the other side of him: you should be afraid that he will be able to communicate his message better than you communicate yours," said Day.
"He has the ability to sense and then crystallize what matters most to people."
The Conservative Party of Quebec held a convention last fall and adopted a platform focused mostly on traditional fiscal conservatism.
Duhaime favours more private intervention in health care, and he wants to reopen oil and gas exploration in Quebec. He's generally for less government and less red tape.
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