In the

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

province of

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

, trash radio () refers to a type of

shock jock A shock jock is a radio broadcaster or DJ who entertains listeners and attracts attention using humor or melodramatic exaggeration that may offend some portion of the listening audience. The term is used pejoratively to describe provocative or ...

radio stations that have existed since the 1970s. Originally stemming from

Québec City Quebec City is the capital city of the Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Census Metropolitan Area (including surrounding communities) had a population of 839,311. It is the twelfth -lar ...

, trash radio stations are known to espouse

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

views on topics including immigration and multiculturalism.

Personalities

Radio host

André Arthur André Arthur (December 21, 1943 – May 8, 2022) was a Canadian radio host and politician. He was the Independent politician, independent Parliament of Canada, Member of Parliament for the riding of Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier from 2006 to 2011. ...

(1943 – 2022) has been credited as the "godfather" of ''radio poubelle''. Beginning in 1970, Arthur emerged as a popular radio hot in Québec City, where derogatory comments about

Arab Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...

drivers and

Creole languages A creole language, or simply creole, is a stable form of contact language that develops from the process of different languages simplifying and mixing into a new form (often a pidgin), and then that form expanding and elaborating into a full-fl ...

led him to face legal scrutiny in the 1990s. During the 1990s, Arthur was noted for having "a particular venom about Quebec separatists", including

Bloc Québécois The Bloc Québécois (, , BQ) is a centre-left politics, centre-left and list of federal political parties in Canada, federal political party in Canada devoted to Quebec nationalism, Quebecois nationalism, social democracy, and the promotion o ...

' then-leader

Lucien Bouchard Lucien Bouchard (; born December 22, 1938) is a Canadian lawyer, diplomat and retired politician. A minister for two years in the 24th Canadian Ministry, Mulroney cabinet, Bouchard then founded and led the Bloc Québécois and became Leader ...

. Arthur was ultimately dropped from the airwaves following public outcry over homophobic comments in 2018. Jeff Fillon, who has credited American radio personalities

Rush Limbaugh Rush Hudson Limbaugh III ( ; January 12, 1951 – February 17, 2021) was an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative political commentator who was the host of ''The Rush Limbaugh Show'', which first aired in 1984 and was nati ...

and

Howard Stern Howard Allan Stern (born January 12, 1954) is an American broadcaster and media personality. He is best known for his radio show, ''The Howard Stern Show'', which gained popularity when it was nationally syndicated on terrestrial radio from 1 ...

as influences, has been described as one of the leading ''radio poubelle'' personalities. Fillon was described as "the king of trash radio in Quebec" by ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...

'' in 2005.

Recent history

In 2012, the ''sortons les radios-poubelles'' ('take out the trash radio') coalition formed in opposition to trash radio. Public scrutiny of trash radio intensified in 2017 following the

Quebec City mosque shooting The Quebec City mosque shooting () was an attack by a single gunman on the evening of January 29, 2017, at the Islamic Cultural Centre of Quebec City, a mosque in the Sainte-Foy, Quebec City, Sainte-Foy neighbourhood of Quebec City, Canada. S ...

. Following the attack, which resulted in the deaths of six worshippers at the

Islamic Cultural Centre of Quebec City The Islamic Cultural Centre of Quebec City (, CCIQ; ) is an organization dedicated to meeting the spiritual, social and economic needs of the Muslim community residing in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. Its main place of worship is the Great Mosq ...

, trash radio was accused of promoting a "culture of intolerance in Quebec". A Quebec City school board's effort to prohibit drivers from listening to talk radio stations in the aftermath of the attacks was ultimately cancelled. Nevertheless, it was reported in 2018 by the ''

Montreal Gazette ''The Gazette'', also known as the ''Montreal Gazette'', is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper which is owned by Postmedia Network. It is published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is the only English-language daily newspape ...

'' that trash radio's popularity and political impact was as strong as ever a year after the attacks. During the

COVID-19 pandemic in Quebec The COVID-19 pandemic in Quebec was part of the global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), a novel infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Until 2021, Quebec had reported the hi ...

, ''radio poubelle'' broadcasters were critical of mitigation measures undertaken prime minister

Justin Trudeau Justin Pierre James Trudeau (born December 25, 1971) is a Canadian politician who served as the 23rd prime minister of Canada from 2015 to 2025. He led the Liberal Party from 2013 until his resignation in 2025 and was the member of Parliament ...

and premier

François Legault François Legault (; born May 26, 1957) is a Canadian politician serving as the 32nd premier of Quebec since 2018. A founding member of the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ), he has led the party since it began in 2011. Legault sits as a Nationa ...

Political impact

In the 2006 federal election, Arthur leveraged his on-air popularity to win a seat in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

, becoming an independent MP for

Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier (; formerly known as Portneuf) is a federal electoral district (Canada), electoral district in Quebec, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1867. Its population in 2001 was 87,141 ...

Éric Duhaime Éric Joseph Duhaime (; born April 15, 1969) is a Canadian conservative columnist, radio host, and politician serving as leader of the Conservative Party of Quebec since April 17, 2021. During his radio career, he has been associated with '' r ...

, a radio commentator associated with the ''radio poubelle'' genre, was elected leader of the

Conservative Party of Quebec The Conservative Party of Quebec (CPQ; , PCQ) is a provincial political party in Quebec, Canada. It was authorized on 25 March 2009 by the Chief Electoral Officer of Quebec. The CPQ has gradually run more candidates in successive elections, wi ...

in the 2021 leadership election.{{Cite web , last=Hackett , first=Alexander , date=2022-02-18 , title=Opinion {{! Support for the Conservatives in Quebec has risen sharply during the last months of pandemic lockdown , url=https://www.thestar.com/opinion/contributors/2022/02/18/support-for-the-conservatives-in-quebec-has-risen-sharply-during-the-last-months-of-pandemic-lockdown.html , access-date=2023-07-02 , website=The Star , language=en

References

Politics of Canada Politics of Quebec

Personalities

Recent history

Political impact

See also

References