Many experts claim that a certain decrease — both in our consumption and in industrial production — should be encouraged by the political class to counter social inequalities and the effects of climate change. However, these concerns do not fit into the platforms of any of the main parties. Rather, they generally advocate “green growth”.
Yves-Marie Abraham, sociologist and professor at HEC Montréal, and Noémi Bureau-Civil, former independent federal candidate “for degrowth”, spoke with The duty to know why this cause that they defend body and soul remains unpopular with Quebec politicians. Both claim, however, that the question should interest and concern a majority of voters.
During the last leaders’ debate, François Legault asked Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois a very simple question that made an impression: “Which businesses, in which regions, do you want to close? “. The supportive spokesperson then firmly refuted the Prime Minister’s allegations that the ecological transition envisaged by his party would involve the closure of businesses and sectors which must “decrease”.
“Stop taking out the Halloween decorations,” he famously replied, marking one of the most heated exchanges of the debate, once again crystallizing the caquiste-solidarity rivalry, imagined by many as an opposition of the economy and environmental protection.
“Degrowth is used by politicians as a scarecrow”, summarizes Yves-Marie Abraham, author of numerous books on degrowth. According to him, the full-bodied exchange between Mr. Legault and Nadeau-Dubois is emblematic of a political instrumentalization of degrowth, without the question being addressed in substance.
“Degrowth remains a revolutionary project, a call for a profound transformation of our societies, aiming to “produce less, share more, and decide together”. […] Politicians must, however, come to terms with an electoralist logic by proposing promises that they can carry out during their mandate, whereas the decrease must take place over the long term”, affirms Yves-Marie Abraham.
“It is understandable that those who lead a good life in our societies are not very sensitive to this call. This is the case for political professionals and no doubt for a large number of journalists,” he adds.
A question missing from the campaign
Besides, what is it really? Does Québec Solidaire really intend to force the decline of certain sectors, or even close businesses or lay off workers? Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois assures, therefore, that not. Rather, he takes it for granted that certain sectors, such as fossil fuels, will necessarily have to “decline”, naturally. Nor does the QS platform offer any real downsizing movement within the entire Quebec economy.
According to Noémi Bureau-Civil, environmental activist, project manager for the municipality of Saint-Valérien, in Bas-Saint-Laurent, and independent candidate “for degrowth” in the 2021 federal elections, none of the main political parties has addressed the issue during this campaign.
“I went to ask questions during debates in my constituency, and I felt that on all sides we were caught up in electoral logic. Political parties see decline as political suicide, but they must see the difference between political suicide and collective suicide,” insists Noémi Bureau-Civil.
What do voters think?
Yves-Marie Abraham and Noémi Bureau-Civil are convinced that Quebec voters would like the issue to be addressed more, but they say that clichés perpetrated by the media and the political class work against them.
Mr. Abraham takes the example of a survey carried out by the French firm Odoxa, carried out in 2019. It reveals that “the attraction for “degrowth” is strong: 67% of French people say they are in favor of it (also 70% of Britons, 62% of Spaniards and 53% of Italians – only the Germans are against it at 54%)”.
“We should start by surveying Quebecers. […] Before concluding, as many politicians and journalists do, that “people don’t want to hear about degrowth”, the “people” should first know what we are talking about when we talk about degrowth, and what are the main arguments in favor of this political proposal”, says Yves-Marie Abraham.
While there is therefore no conclusive data in Quebec, Noémi Bureau-Civil is delighted with the interest aroused by degrowth during her own election campaign: “On the ground, the vast majority of people I I met were interested and had an elaborate understanding of the issues, despite the lack of space given to them by the media”.
Of course, degrowth as conceived by Yves-Marie Abraham and Noémi Bureau-Civil is far from achieving consensus. For the time being, Mr. Abraham explains that his main political proposal can only be summed up as “creating the conditions for a real debate”.