The poor vote little, if at all. They are people like Serge, crossed at the entrance of a grocery store while he sticks cans in the throat of a shredder to make him spit out a few dollars. “I’m not going to vote,” he says. For me, it’s all the same. »
They are also people like Michel, who The duty met at the laundromat, sitting watching her laundry go through the washing machine, trapped in the rinse cycle like many others are in poverty. “It’s always the most liars who win,” he said with spite. He too will not go to the polls, convinced that democracy works mainly for the wealthy.
According to Statistics Canada, in 2020 Quebec had some 1.9 million Serge and Michel, people earning less than $25,000 per year.
The two men reflect the electoral disinterest that undermines the democratic participation of the less privileged. An article published last year in the Electoral and parliamentary research papers from Université Laval quantifies the phenomenon. According to this analysis, the participation rate reached 80% among university graduates in 2018, but fell to 60% among less educated citizens. Income also had a strong impact on voter turnout, as 60% of people with incomes below $20,000 shunned the ballot box.
“There is no class vote in Quebec or in Canada, the poorest do not necessarily vote for the more left-wing parties”, analyzes Valérie-Anne Mahéo, assistant professor in the Department of Political and Social Sciences at the Laval University. “As a rule, parties don’t care about poor people because they vote less. It has major consequences on democracy and on the value of representativeness because public policies are shaped without them in the National Assembly. It is a vicious circle that can perpetuate the cycle of poverty. »
“Where are they going to cut? »
Despite inflation, the beautiful days of September do not cost more than before: Jean-Pierre Boudreau and Claude Dion take the opportunity to chat on the sidewalk, cigarettes in their mouths.
The first is 55 years old and works as a waiter a stone’s throw from the Château Frontenac; the second has been living on welfare since his doctor declared him disabled.
Claude’s income reaches roughly $1,500 per month, well below the monthly amount deemed viable for Quebec City, estimated in 2022 at around $2,400 net by the Institute for Socio-Economic Research and Information ( IRIS). The 61-year-old man’s room, located in the heart of the Saint-Sauveur district of Quebec, at $550 a month, eats up a third of his budget. “At least the cable and the Hydro are provided,” says Mr. Dion. For the rest, he has to deal with around thirty dollars a day.
“By being careful, we end up closing the two ends,” he says. The electricity rate freeze advocated by the Liberals would not be of much help to it, since it is the landlord who pays the bill. Ditto for the temporary suspension of the gas tax promised by the Conservatives: Claude does not have the means to have a car.
Beside him, Jean-Pierre Boudreau exhales the smoke from his cigarette. “I’m still a bit off, too,” he admits. The pleasures of yesteryear are increasingly taking on the appearance of small luxuries for this man who, unlike his companion, went to school beyond high school. Leisure is becoming increasingly rare and certain expenses, such as the purchase of a car, have had to be postponed pending financially better times.
Yet Jean-Pierre works full time — and at more than $20 an hour including tips. “My 1 and a half went to $650. If the rent went up again next year, I would have a hard time absorbing it. »
The tax cuts wanted by the CAQ, the Liberals and the Conservatives could help him: yet, despite his financial situation, which he says is precarious, he does not want it. “They talk to us about lowering taxes, but where are they going to cut? In health ? In education? It’s not the place: it’s our future,” says Jean-Pierre.
Despite their dwindling purchasing power, the environment and the defense of French are the priorities of the two friends. Claude Dion will vote for the PQ “for everything that party has done for Quebec”; Jean-Pierre Boudreau for the CAQ, because “François Legault has enough conviction” and that “he can do good for the province and for the French, too”.
Depression and unemployment
A few streets away, Adjo Vicencia Akafé returns from the market, celeriac in the bottom of his bag. The 51-year-old lives in Vanier, near the peaceful Saint-Charles River, but her life has been in a lot of turmoil since a depression that left her jobless since 2020.
“Staying at home to receive money from the government is difficult for me… but I have no choice,” sighs this Togolese woman of origin.
She calculates that her various benefits give her about $450 a week. Mme Akafé and his 22-year-old son are sharing a 4 and a half at $940. Her daughter, a CEGEP student in Montreal, also needs financial help.
“At least we are safe, greets the single mother. Here, if you don’t have food, there are places where you can get some. It helps us a lot. In 2022, 1.3 million people suffered from moderate or severe food insecurity in Quebec, according to a report recently published by the Quebec Observatory of Inequalities.
Mme Akafé hopes that the next government will consider increasing aid for the poorest. A victory for the CAQ or the PQ could grant his wish, since these two parties promise to send a check to Quebecers if they take power. The CAQ would give between $400 and $600 to people earning less than $100,000; the PQ allowance could reach $1,200, but would be reserved for people whose income is less than $80,000.
“Always the same ride”
At the entrance to the Salvation Army, Vanier branch, a couple and a lady fill the trunk of a car with food and utensils.
“I asked him for a cigarette,” says Anne Douville, 33, pointing to the woman who could be her mother. “I told her that I was in a bit of trouble and she agreed to help us. ” His boyfriend, George Ouellet, 35, tells us about their setbacks. “I lost my job two weeks ago in Montreal. I gave up everything to come here. I sleep in the woods, it’s the first time in my life that I’ve done that. »
George left school in 3e secondary. Since then, he has dragged his past as a repentant drug addict like a ball and chain. At the corner of his right eye, a tear is tattooed, mark of a life of which some episodes seem sad to cry. “I live in homelessness sometimes, I have bad times, he says. I don’t vote because it’s always the same ride. »
However, he has already campaigned alongside Benoit Charette in his political debut, when the latter ran for the Parti Québécois. Faith is now lost. “One party or another is lacrosse. »
The establishment of a guaranteed minimum income could avoid the pangs of the street to the couple in the prime of life. The PQ and QS are the only formations to advocate the measure, as is the increase in the minimum wage to $18 an hour.
By their side, the lady, Lucie Hudon, explains that she took the couple under her wing after seeing them begging in the street. His choice, on October 3, will go to Québec solidaire. “I want to take care of people who are not well, because they don’t have any help,” she concludes.