We see them in the United States in partisan events, but less in Quebec. Should we hope for greater involvement of artists in politics?
Political scientist André Blais of the Université de Montréal calls their presence “both refreshing and disturbing.” On the one hand, it’s clear that they help generate enthusiasm. On the other, Blais wonders why an artist’s political point of view would be more important than that of a plumber or a teacher.
The Coalition avenir Québec (CAQ) acknowledges having difficulty attracting artists.
“Yes, we’re getting there, but they still have a certain fear for their careers,” said Brigitte Legault, the party’s president. “I think they’re calculating that it’s not necessary for them. When you’re Taylor Swift and you’re a Democrat, if there are a few Republicans who don’t buy your albums, you don’t really care. But in Quebec, artists don’t have a large audience to appeal to.”
“Honestly, when you are a party in Quebec that is centre, centre-right, and that is federalist… it’s a little harder, I think,” also says Rafael P. Ferraro, president of the Quebec Liberal Party (PLQ), who can only note that an issue like sovereignty has always been more mobilizing.
PHOTO PHILIPPE BOIVIN, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Émile Bilodeau in show
Québec solidaire (QS) boasts, on the contrary, of being able to attract artists. Klô Pelgag, Émile Bilodeau, Clay and Friends, Valence, Emma Beko, Fanny Bloom, Les Appendices, Luis Clavis and LaF are among those who have participated in the party’s events in recent years.
“Artists are experts in bringing people together,” illustrates Québec solidaire press attaché Charles Castonguay. “In creating a political movement, it’s just as important to convince people with their heads as with their hearts. We’re trying to attract people, to make them believe in something, to make them take action.”
To inspire enthusiasm for politics, we find it important that people recognize themselves in a project. And there is little better way to recognize yourself than to see someone you listen to in your headphones get on stage with a political leader.
Charles Castonguay, press attaché for Québec solidaire
Actor Pierre-Luc Brillant is vice-president of the Union des artistes. He himself ran in the 2022 provincial elections in Rosemont under the banner of the Parti québécois (PQ). However, he notes that this type of involvement is increasingly rare.
PHOTO SARAH MONGEAU-BIRKETT, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Actor Pierre-Luc Brillant tried his hand at politics in the last provincial elections.
Generally speaking, artists are increasingly afraid to speak out in Quebec. There is a kind of omerta that has set in over the years. People are immensely afraid of being catalogued, of being labelled, even of losing their job, as soon as they open their mouths.
Pierre-Luc Brillant, actor and vice-president of the Union of Artists
Mr. Brillant argues that the fact that the environment is small and highly subsidized contributes to the artists’ reluctance. According to him, the fact that Québec solidaire succeeds in attracting artists can be explained by the mobilization around the environmental cause.
“There is not much risk in tackling an issue like this,” he believes.