To better understand the rise of populism in the country, sometimes denied, York University in Toronto is launching the very first university observatory of populism in Canada.
The research center will particularly focus on the role of populism on social networks and in Canadian parliamentary debates, explains to Duty its director, Emily Laxer. “We are going to address several questions. Which parties and leaders are most likely to use it? To what extent does the populist formulation of key political issues resonate with the Canadian people? »
The observatory has already carried out a first project, that of analyzing the presence of distrust in the speeches made by Canadian parliamentarians since 2019 on X (formerly Twitter), a context often associated with populism. Result: there is “clearly” an increase.
Supply and demand
The rise of the phenomenon can be caused both by the “demand” of members of the population and by the “supply” of populist speeches, indicates Mme Laxer. “The hardships caused by rising inflation, here as elsewhere, have become an important source of demand for populist solutions. » The “worsening of cultural divides surrounding diversity and immigration, LGBTQ+ rights […] fuel populist inclinations.” As for the supply, it depends on “the degree to which political leaders, political parties, movements try to take advantage of these economic and cultural divisions to gain influence”.
According to Mme Laxer, the denial of the rise of populism in Canada has also delayed understanding of the phenomenon. “Until recently, there was a tendency to present Canada as unique in the face of the global rise of populism,” says the associate professor of sociology at Glendon University College, the bilingual campus of York University.
Until recently, there was a tendency to present Canada as unique in the face of the global rise of populism
Now, “the rise of parties, leaders and movements that use populist rhetoric to mobilize votes and obtain the approval of the Canadian population indicates that there is an urgent need to rethink this conception.” “It’s not that we thought it didn’t exist, but in 2016, during the election of Donald Trump, we saw a lot of publications in the media claiming that in Canada, we didn’t have as much as elsewhere a rise in populism, especially right-wing populism. »
However, starting in 2016, searches on Google about populism in Canada increased, notes the professor. “It’s clear that there is a significant interest for the Canadian public, for the international public, to understand it. »
A poorly understood concept
Even today, “we tend to attribute several meanings to this concept,” notes the holder of the York research chair on populism, rights and legality.
“It is common to see “populism” as a pejorative term, almost synonymous with demagoguery and propaganda,” we can read on the observatory’s website. However, in scientific literature, it is rather a “set of ideas, discourses, strategies” which are located on a “spectrum”, M wants to clarify.me Laxer. “This is fundamental for us, as well as for many researchers. […] It is not an ideology in its own right, like conservatism or socialism. »
Thus, a politician from both the left and the right can demonstrate populism.
If the concept can manifest itself in different ways, it is always “in the service of a common objective, which is that of dividing the world into two groups: a homogeneous, disadvantaged people, and a so-called corrupt elite, which undermines the general will ”, she notes.
The main collaborators, Rémi Vivès, of Glendon College, and Efe Peker, of the University of Ottawa, will look at all political parties – at the federal level, for the moment – to understand “where and under what circumstances we observe the rise of populist strategy discourse”. “We don’t start with the answer, we start with the question,” summarizes Mme Laxer.
This report is supported by the Local Journalism Initiative, funded by the Government of Canada.