The convoy of truckers or the controversy around the n-word are all manifestations of a radicalization of the poles on the left and on the right, according to journalist Hélène Buzzetti. An American-style slippage about which she worries, even going so far as to launch, not without provocation, a Plea for the extreme center. The title of a short but courageous essay in which the political analyst confronts certain taboos head-on, scouring his own profession in the process.
Even before the release of her book, Hélène Buzzetti drew criticism on social networks. Because on the left of the left, “the extreme center” is a pejorative term used to describe the inaction of governments in the face of the major issues of the time. But this is not where Hélène Buzzetti wanted to come from by pleading for the extreme center. It is rather a nod to the rise in the country of what she considers to be the far right and the far left, in the spirit of returning to a more peaceful debate.
“The polarization in Canada, in Quebec, is not what it is in the United States. I’m not saying we’re going to have a Canadian Trump tomorrow morning, but what’s happening right now is worrying. Me, what I hope is that we come back a little more to the center. I know that historically there have always been pendulum swings, we go from one extreme to the other, then we come back to the center. But when I see the Americans, I don’t know how they are going to reconcile. Is this the example we want to follow? I’m afraid it’s too late to put the genie back in the bottle”, continues the one who was parliamentary correspondent in Ottawa from To have to for 22 years.
Today a political analyst in the columns of the daily newspapers of the Coops de l’information, Hélène Buzzetti has observed for several years a certain rise in extremes on both sides. But the whole Freedom Convoy saga was the spark plug for writing this book. Then came the election of Pierre Poilievre as leader of the Conservative Party and the coming to power of Danielle Smith in Alberta, two politicians she associates with the populist right. And during this time, the political journalist witnessed a certain left that locked itself in semantic debates and in the culture of cancellation.
Loud Minorities
Can we therefore speak of polarization? The CAQ was re-elected in October with a historic majority in terms of deputies. The sovereignist-federalist divide no longer structures political life. In fact, the Quebec electorate never seems to have been so little divided. So what’s the point of pleading for the far center if people are already there?
“It’s true that the average citizen does not identify with either the identity left or the populist right. And this is what partly explains the popularity of François Legault, because he understood the need for a political offer more or less at the center in the population. But the fact remains that the public forum is well and truly fueled by these two extremes, which respond to each other. And it upsets everyone. It also creates two fringes of society that are at odds with the rest, ”she analyzes.
Two minority fringes therefore, but not marginal, that some will qualify as “woke” on one side, and “conspiratorial” on the other. Terms that are no doubt simplistic, but the fact remains that Hélène Buzzetti rejects all extremes. In Plea for the extreme center, she focuses mainly on this new right that we have seen emerge during the pandemic in the country, which she does not endorse, but which she considers to be treated unfairly by her peers in the media. A contempt which reached its climax during the Freedom Convoy, according to her, and which only fuels this populist right, however hated.
“Right-wing concerns are further removed from the media. Their very abrasive, aggressive methods: I don’t agree with that at all. But I try to understand what led them to be so at odds with society. I may look like I’m taking their edge, but I’m just trying to rebalance. […] From Washington to Paris, via Ottawa, journalists failed to see Trump, the yellow vests and the truckers. There is food for thought, ”drops Hélène Buzzetti, who recognizes a left-wing bias in the mainstream media.
Blame it partly on the media
The slippages of the identity left are therefore not treated with as much severity as the excesses of the populist right. Hélène Buzzetti knows that she will not make friends among journalists by rebuffing the media in this way, but she does not deviate from this, and supports her statements with very concrete examples. She quotes in particular all these columnists who protested that opponents of health measures compare Justin Trudeau to a dictator. But in Stephen Harper’s time, the former Conservative Prime Minister was also compared to the worst autocrats by left-wing activists during demonstrations. What were the media saying at the time, wonders Hélène Buzzetti?
Admittedly, journalists tend to belong to a sociology of the left. But this is far from being the only reason that explains this double standard in the media, she insists: “it is not necessarily always out of conviction. I’m not saying we’re all woke activists. Some topics are not addressed, because we think it would be too complicated. We are afraid of certain groups. There are also certain subjects that require tact, nuances, and we are short of time, so we prefer not to touch on them. »
This lack of time faced by journalists, Hélène Buzzetti has suffered on a daily basis since the advent of news channels, and especially social networks, which need to be constantly fed with news. With social media also comes buzz culture. Another factor that fuels radicalization, as it is extreme opinions that attract the most clicks.
“Do we need to go that fast? Now that the viability of the media is a little better ensured thanks to subsidies, can we afford to slow down? asks Hélène Buzzetti candidly, even though she knows too well that this one-upmanship is inextricable.