Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has deplored “the rise of the populist right” that he sees in the French legislative elections, but without naming the National Rally (RN) party of Jordan Bardella and Marine Le Pen.
“I think we are seeing a rise of the populist right across the world, in all our democracies,” said the head of the Canadian government during his visit to Montreal on Wednesday.
He was responding to a question about the results of the first round of the French legislative elections, in which the far right came out on top. “There are some who see that people are anxious, and they decide to amplify these anxieties, in France and elsewhere,” Justin Trudeau offered by way of analysis. “Controversy and fury, that generates clicks and headlines. But the work that needs to be done in all our societies […] is what we are seeing everywhere in the world in the efforts of progressive parties.”
The Prime Minister did not endorse any particular “progressive party,” unlike Quebec MP and deputy leader of the New Democratic Party (NDP), Alexandre Boulerice, who invited French nationals living in Montreal to vote for the New Popular Front (NFP), a coalition of left-wing parties. “The far right is on the verge of power in France,” he warned on his social media.
Solidarity MP in the Quebec National Assembly Ruba Ghazal announced the distribution of NFP flyers in the Montreal metro, which earned her an accusation of “interference” from a defeated National Rally candidate.
The public inquiry commission led by Judge Marie-Josée Hogue on the subject of foreign interference, however, limits this concept to the malicious secret activities of States, excluding from the outset the expression of political opinions coming from abroad.
In France, some NFP candidates who came third in the first round of the legislative elections have decided to withdraw in view of the second round in order to block the RN, as have candidates from President Emmanuel Macron’s camp. In the country, during the vote next Sunday, however, it is these two parties that will face off for the seat of the first constituency of French people living outside France, which includes Canada and the United States.
The National Rally candidate in the constituency, Aurélien Nambride, was eliminated in the first round, failing to collect more than 12.5% of the votes. Contacted by The dutyhe did not want to react to the comments made by Justin Trudeau on Wednesday.