MONTREAL – Former political commentator Éric Duhaime has led the Conservative Party of Quebec for five years. Duhaime has never held a political office, and the Conservatives did not win any seats at the last general elections, despite collecting close to 13 per cent of the popular vote.
Early years: Duhaime is an only child and grew up in the Montreal suburb of Laval. His mother was a bus driver and his father worked at a factory. Duhaime began to follow the news in primary school, reading the daily newspaper and watching nightly news broadcasts.
Before politics: Duhaime worked as a talk radio host, political commentator, newspaper columnist and author. He has also worked for the National Democratic Institute, a United States-based non-governmental organization that promotes democratic institutions.
Education: Duhaime studied political science at Université de Montréal for his bachelor’s degree and got a master’s degree in public administration from École nationale d’administration publique.
Family: Duhaime is openly gay and has been in a relationship for many years.
Political record: In the 1990s, Duhaime was a parliamentary aide and researcher for the Bloc Québécois and an adviser to the party’s leader. From 2000 to 2002, he was an adviser to the federal Canadian Alliance leader, Stockwell Day.
In 2003, Duhaime ran for provincial office in a Montreal-area riding as a member of the right-of-centre Action démocratique du Québec, coming third. He then worked as an adviser to the party’s leader until 2008.
Duhaime became the leader of the Conservative Party of Quebec in 2021, winning nearly 96 per cent of the vote in the leadership race.
His party did not win any seats in the 2022 general election.
Duhaime had another shot at a seat at the Quebec National Assembly in the 2025 Arthabaska riding byelection, but lost to the Parti Québécois candidate.
Riding: Bellechasse, south of Quebec City.
Quote: “It’s almost a miracle what we did,” he said after a Conservative candidate came in second place at a byelection in a riding north of Quebec City in February. “A party that has no member in the National Assembly beating badly the government and the official Opposition two (byelections) in a row.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 27, 2026
