It's difficult to say what would happen to women and women's issues under a Conservative Quebec government led by Éric Duhaime for one simple reason: he has not made any electoral commitments in this area.
His party platform is silent on these issues.
We know, however, what his positions were during his years as a radio host.
Éric Duhaime believed, and still believes, that the women's cause is a closed matter, that equality is a given in Quebec, relegating the demands of feminists to the rank of "old tape from the 70s," as he liked to say when he was a radio host.
The leader of the Conservative Party of Quebec is not a feminist and never has been. Many of his past statements, when he was a radio host known for his provocative and polemical tone, attest to this.
Today, he aspires to become Quebec's premier. He does not deny his past positions on women, nor any of his on-air or social media statements from that time, when he did not hesitate to fuel sexist prejudices and ridicule the feminist movement.
"I don't think it discredits me to be premier because I occupied that role for a few years," he said recently in an interview with The Canadian Press on his campaign bus.
The demands of feminists "have been reached in all respects," said Duhaime.
He believes that the time has come for women to "celebrate the fact that we have one of the most egalitarian societies in the world, rather than trying to create a conflict between the genders."
STANDING OR SITTING?
In the past, the aspiring premier did not hesitate to fuel the "gender conflict," as he puts it. Notably, he has accused feminists of wanting to control how men relieve themselves when they go to the bathroom.
On Twitter in December 2016, he noted that "men are urinating sitting down more and more in Quebec," before questioning whether this was "another victory for feminists?"
He laughed when asked to explain the relevance of such a debate, saying that it should be taken "in the second degree," that it was all done in "a tone of humor."
Duhaime added that when he was a radio host, he liked to deal with "the banal matters of life." He admits that he liked to take the opposite view of his co-host when she defended women, "like a couple's quarrel."
For years, one of his pet peeves was International Women's Day on March 8. On air, he lectured female listeners: "On this Women's Day, I wish you ladies had the courage to demand the abolition of such a day, as well as the Council on the Status of Women or the Status of Women Ministry or all other discriminatory organizations and events."
"Me, I'd abolish it all for you," he said, and not in a humorous tone, on May 18, 2016.
A year earlier, on Twitter, again on the margins of International Women's Day, he attacked "leftist anti-oil and anti-austerity feminists."
If he becomes premier, Duhaime maintains he would abolish the position of Minister for the Status of Women and replace it with a Minister of Equality with a "broader" mandate, including the defence LGBTQ+ rights.
THE WAGE GAP
Statistics Canada reminds us that, each year, the wage gap between men and women remains significant. The most recent survey put the gap at 11 per cent in 2021 for both full-time and part-time employees.
But Duhaime believes that wage catch-up is a thing of the past. He points to the fact that women are now "hyper-represented" in medical and law schools.
There are "many, many indicators in employment that show us that women are not in a position to be disadvantaged" on the job market, he said.
While on the air, he also spoke against women drivers, "who pass at 101 for someone who is driving at 99," drawing the ire of male motorists who follow them and find themselves stuck in traffic.
While on the radio, Duhaime also once compared a woman who left her door unlocked and was sexually assaulted to a motorist who had his car stolen after forgetting to lock the doors.
QUEBEC CONSERVATIVE PARTY ATTRACTS MORE MEN
Of the five major parties, the Conservatives, which have made no commitment to gender parity -- a goal that its leader once compared to an "ornament" -- has the lowest proportion of women candidates at 37 per cent.
According to polls, Duhaime, whose popularity continues to grow, attracts an overwhelmingly male electorate, at a ratio of about two men to one woman.
He says he doesn't know the reason for this gap.
"It's true that we are more popular with men. It's no secret. I'm used to it. When I was on the radio, I had about the same ratio too. I don't know why."
This report was first published in French by The Canadian Press on Sept. 11, 2022.
