Anti-cyclist radio rant crossed line: watchdogs

More than a year after the event, Quebec City radio personality André Arthur has been cited by the province’s press council and the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council after he suggested that cyclists who ride in the winter should be “hit.”

In separate decisions made public this week, Quebec’s press council as well as the CBSC both ruled that Arthur had crossed the line when, during a broadcast on BLVD 102.1, aired on March 27, 2017, he said: “the definition of an idiot is someone who rides their bicycle in winter. … Today, someone on a bike, hit them, relieve them, do something.”

The press council received complaints from nearly 70 persons concerning Arthur’s remarks while the CBSC received 1,112.

Arthur apologized for his remarks the day after the broadcast. The press council felt however the apology “was not proportional to the gravity of the words said.”

The council ruled that it had “no doubt” the remarks “constitute an incitement to hatred and to violence against cyclists who ride in the winter.”

The CBSC was somewhat more magnanimous, saying that while it found Arthur had violated the broadcast code of ethics, “the (investigating) Panel did not doubt the sincerity of his subsequent apology and did not require the station to announce the breach finding on air.”

Arthur was fired from BLVD 102.1 last January after making comments perceived as being homophobic.