If we accept the definition of populism formulated in 2004 by the political scientist Cas Mudde as being “an ideology which considers that society is separated into two homogeneous and antagonistic groups, the pure people and the corrupt elite, and which maintains that policy should be an expression of the general will of the people” (as quoted by Pascal Perrineau in his essay Populism, PUF), I remain convinced that there is currently no real danger of a resurgence of populism in the political landscape in Quebec. But we must remain vigilant as to a possible populist contamination carried by the discourse of the Conservative Party of Quebec (PCQ) in the years to come.
The most significant populist rhetoric remains that of Éric Duhaime, leader of the PCQ. But this rhetoric which, during the election period, found a grip with anti-scientist ideology and speeches against health measures in times of pandemic lost its power of populist contagion with the end of the pandemic. Moreover, Éric Duhaime has not resumed his speech against health measures since the election of October 3.
I appreciated the distinction suggested by sociology professor Jean-François Côté between “populist tendencies” and “organized populist movement” in his To have to of philosophy published on October 8th. For example, the Convoi de la liberté, an operation to occupy downtown Ottawa organized in the winter of 2022 by Canadian, Quebec and even American truckers (United States) — an operation which extended to other cities in Canada (Windsor, Ontario; Coutts, Alberta) and even led to a temporary blocking of certain borders between Canada and the United States — which remained, in my opinion, a significant political event, but still ephemeral .
These actions by truckers demanded an end to health measures related to COVID-19; they also took the form of an anti-government and anti-Trudeau movement; they demanded the “freedom of the people,” etc. These words of protest emerged in a context of extreme social isolation. This is the public expression of real hidden “populist tendencies”. But it seems to me that we are still far from an organized populist movement as can be in France, for example, the National Rally of Marine Le Pen, a real political party with its own history, its ideology, its hierarchical organization, etc.
Of course, these anti-establishment may cause some concern. This can be seen as a “weak signal” that should not be overlooked, but we are still far from an organized political movement. One thing is certain, we must closely follow, in 2023 and in the next four years, the organizational, political and ideological development of the Conservative Party of Quebec and that of the Conservative Party of Canada.
Faced with the current apparent arrogance of the Legault government at the same time as the relative paralysis of the opposition parties (as much the Liberal Party of Quebec as Quebec solidaire and the Parti Quebecois) in terms of a significant increase in the number of their members, it It is not excluded that it is the Conservative Party of Quebec which increases the most the number of its members between now and the next provincial election.
Populist rhetoric indeed expresses a buried and justified frustration in the Quebec and Canadian population with regard to the winning elites of globalization. In a context of a crisis in political representation, an “erosion of the civil sphere”, to use the words of Jean-François Côté, and a lack of confidence in its leaders, it would become worrying to see the populist rhetoric of Éric Duhaime or Pierre Poilievre gradually contaminate Quebec political culture.