Q. “After a heated discussion with friends and research from all sides, I do not find a clear answer to this question: does the Legault government rule on the left or on the right? And how is he left or right? ”
Moshe Old
R. The first thing to say is that it is normal for you to be perplexed because there is no simple answer to your question. We called on two political science professors, Éric Bélanger, from McGill University, and Jean-François Godbout, from the University of Montreal, to help us sort things out.
The main difficulty is that the definition of left and right is evolving. Traditionally, this opposition was mainly around the question of the distribution of wealth. The left essentially argued for more taxes and redistribution, while the right advocated a free market and a reduction in the size of the state.
More recently, what Professors Bélanger and Godbout call a “new left-right axis of identity” has become very present. On this axis, we can associate the left with attitudes favorable to plurality and immigration, while the right conveys a discourse of integration and common values. François Legault’s CAQ is defined a lot along this axis.
To this, we must add the environment, which is becoming an essential issue. This is a generalization, but we can say that the left is more concerned with the environment, while the right tends to prioritize economic questions (even if these issues, in principle, are less and less opposed to each other). ).
Consider the three elements one by one.
On the traditional axis of the distribution of wealth, Professors Bélanger and Godbout place the CAQ “rather on the right”. Obviously, the CAQ does not question the Quebec welfare state. But apart from the Democratic Action of Quebec, which had some proposals in this direction in the 2000s, the researchers point out that no party has gone so far as to tackle it since the Quiet Revolution.
As nothing is simple, there are nuances to be made. We have seen the Legault government grant substantial salary increases to beneficiary attendants, daycare teachers and educators, in particular. Last week, the CAQ even granted $ 52 million to the community to prevent crime. It doesn’t look very “straight”!
Professors Bélanger and Godbout believe that the pandemic has forced the government to spend more and to govern closer to the center than what its platform suggested. “We believe that we must distinguish the governance of the CAQ in the context of a pandemic from the ideological profile of the voters who support the party. And according to our analyzes, they position themselves on the right on economic issues, ”they say.
“The CAQ has a nationalist vision, therefore pro-Quebec, of the economy, add the experts. Some of its decisions may thus appear to promote state interference in the economy, but it is more to protect Quebec industries and strengthen national pride than to promote greater redistribution of wealth. ”
On the identity axis, things are simpler. The CAQ has clearly positioned itself on the side of integration, as opposed to plurality (Law 21 on the wearing of religious symbols is undoubtedly the most striking example). It is interesting to note that on this axis, the CAQ and the Parti Quebecois oppose Quebec solidaire and the Liberal Party of Quebec. If we accept the idea of associating integration with the right, it is clear that the CAQ belongs to this trend.
The environmental question? The CAQ never showed much interest in her before taking power. Things have changed since then, so much so that the party is more progressive on these issues than the Conservative Party of Canada, for example, but without displaying a dominant environmental fiber.
“The party has no choice but to worry about the environment, because we cannot be against virtue,” observe our two experts. But it is a question of priority given to the various issues. The third link clearly shows that the CAQ’s primary concern is economic rather than environmental ”. In this case, the reflexes therefore seem to lean to the right.