Democratic institutions under threat | The Press

Disinformation coming from the United States could have an impact in Canada, analysis finds

Joel-Denis Bellavance
The Press

(OTTAWA) The misinformation swarming in the United States and making its way to Canada via social media risks weakening public institutions in the country in the long term, argues in a confidential document on the state of health of democratic institutions presented to the federal Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, Dominic LeBlanc, last October.

Canadians’ confidence in their public institutions remains high, despite an erosion of satisfaction with democracy noted in several regions of the world, particularly among our neighbors to the south.

Significant historical events, including the 2008 financial crisis, climate change threats as well as the COVID-19 pandemic, have strained the ability of democratically elected governments to win public trust and build trust in democratic institutions, the document states.

The widespread use of social media by populist leaders like Donald Trump in the United States has accelerated this worrying phenomenon, it is also pointed out.

“The instability and violence observed after the 2020 US presidential elections show that a rollback of achievements is even possible in long-standing democracies. What happened in the United States should serve as a warning,” the 87-page document, obtained by The Press under the Access to Information Act.

“Given the importance of the United States and the influence it wields globally, its difficulties with democratic governance standards and trust can have a particularly damaging effect on democracy in the rest of the world. “, we add.

A taste…

In January, a few months after the drafting of the document submitted to Minister Dominic LeBlanc, Canada had a taste of the consequences of misinformation when a convoy of truckers headed for Ottawa. Conspiratorial groups have joined this “Freedom Convoy” which demanded the end of health measures and the resignation of the Trudeau government. Protesters noisily paralyzed downtown Ottawa for three weeks, shutting down businesses and disrupting residents’ lives. The Trudeau government invoked the Emergency Measures Act to end the occupation.

If Canada has fared better so far, according to the document, it is because it is characterized by a political system that relies on the multiparty system, an independent electoral system, a lesser degree of social division, a level of confidence in the electoral process which remains high, freedom of the press and confidence in the media.

“These institutional pillars play a major role in limiting the attempts to destabilize Canadian democracy that we observe in the United States and elsewhere,” it is argued.

But that does not mean that we can sit idly by, especially in the face of the growing disinformation campaigns.

“While Canada’s media ecosystem is closely intertwined with that of the United States, Canadians are also vulnerable to disinformation attempts that target American audiences. However, this can be a problem when misconceptions that are disseminated from the United States to undermine democratic integrity reach the Canadian public. More generally, political ideas have long been circulating from the United States to Canada. Many of the groups associated with the disinformation distilled from the United States find an echo – and sometimes even a foothold – in Canada. »

“Urgency to act”

Professor at the School of Media at the University of Quebec in Montreal (UQAM), Jean-Hugues Roy has studied the phenomenon of disinformation in recent years. He believes that Canada is doing better so far than the United States because political leaders have so far refrained from relaying false information as Donald Trump did abundantly, for example.

“Canadians are exposed to the same social networks. How to explain that disinformation is not as important as in the United States? Two things explain it. First, there isn’t a major outlet like Fox News that has tipped to appeal to a certain segment of its audience. Then there are very few politicians who buy into these theories and there is not a leader of a major party who promotes them, although Pierre Poilievre scares me a bit,” he said. to analyse.

Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez is one of the ministers tasked by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to lead the fight against misinformation. In an interview, he said that it was urgent to act to counter the harmful effects of disinformation on democracy. Recently, it launched a call for proposals totaling $2.5 million to fund activities that will help people identify misinformation and disinformation online.

” It is urgent to take action. Canadians will not tolerate disinformation and propaganda. Democracy was not built by accident. You have to fight for it,” he said.