Nearly a third of Quebecers believe that neither the body responsible for elections, nor the judicial system, nor the public media are independent of political power, according to a CROP survey conducted online last June. The survey also reveals that one in four respondents believe that this is also the case for the police.
“The percentage of confidence in institutions which are so important for social cohesion is therefore very low,” laments Malorie Flon, general director of the Institut du Nouveau Monde (INM). It was this non-partisan organization that asked the CROP firm to carry out the survey.
The division and disinformation that are rampant could partly explain these results, says the woman who holds the reins of the organization whose objective is to increase citizen participation in democratic debate.
The latter is deteriorating almost everywhere, revealing several clues coming from abroad, states Mme Flon. She therefore considers it relevant to analyze democratic life in Quebec, in particular by examining this survey. This one fits in the book The state of Quebec 2024published by Somme tout/Le Devoir under the direction of Josselyn Guillarmou and Sandra Larochelle.
Launched on Friday, the work of 24 texts signed by different collaborators is intended to be a tool to better inform the population and allow them to take part in the public debate, specifies Mme Larochelle. Malorie Flon adds by emphasizing the importance of reflecting on the current state of democracy while the media – which is one of its pillars – is going through a “crisis” forcing the abolition of positions and thus undermining access to the information.
No “danger in the home”
Quebecers’ doubts about the independence of institutions from the State are undoubtedly the “most depressing” figures from the survey carried out among 1,000 adults, maintains Alain Giguère, president of CROP. However, there is no “danger in the house”, according to him.
As such, he mentions that 52% of Quebecers believe that democracy is doing “rather well”, while 17% say it is doing “very well”. On the contrary, 17% of respondents believe that she is doing “rather badly”, 6%, that she is doing “very badly”, and 8% don’t know. He believes that these results demonstrate “healthy” and balanced criticism of the system. “Yes, we are satisfied, but we express ourselves on the subject with very moderate enthusiasm,” he notes.
Quebec society is complex, continues Mr. Giguère, so it is impossible to please everyone. “There are several pressure groups, institutions and people who have particular needs and who are all asking the government to invest here or there, to change this law or to be more attentive to their cause,” specifies he.
Have an influence
Apart from exercising their right to vote in general elections, one of the ways for the population to have influence in political decision-making is to attend public consultations, underlines Mme Flon. “People can also participate in the work of the National Assembly by sending submissions,” she adds.
The general director of the INM, however, points out the need to create more spaces that allow Quebecers to give their opinion. This is an essential condition for democratic “vitality” in the territory, according to her. In this regard, she also notes that only 37% of survey respondents believe that citizens have a “fairly” or “very” significant influence on the decisions of the federal government, while this proportion rises to 44% for the provincial and 49% for the municipal. This last figure, higher than the other two, is possibly due to the fact that it is “the scale closest to people”, according to her.
Mme Flon is optimistic despite all of these results, which are “fairly weak”. “I find it interesting, because it means that people see all the space that remains to be occupied to influence more, to participate in shaping the future of this society of ours,” she concludes.