A polarizing figure who railed against pandemic restrictions and wants to break Quebec’s consensus on carbon pricing could be days away from claiming a long-coveted seat in the provincial legislature.

The stakes are high for Éric Duhaime, the former shock-jock at the helm of Quebec’s Conservative party. Despite four years on the job, Duhaime has not yet been able to get any members of his party elected.

But if he comes out on top in a Monday byelection in the central Quebec riding of Arthabaska, Duhaime’s unabashedly right-wing presence in Quebec’s national assembly will shift the political landscape in a province that has not elected a Conservative party member in 90 years.

"It could be a huge breakthrough," Duhaime said in an interview. "And it could change politics in Canada (through

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