This summer, The duty takes you on the side roads of university life. A proposal that is both scholarly and intimate, to be picked up like a postcard. Today, we are interested in the populism that is on the rise on the political scene, but also in the attitudes of a growing number of Canadians.
In the words of French historian Pierre Rosanvallon, the XXIe century could well be for liberal democracies the “century of populism”. For good reason, populism has imposed itself for twenty years as the ascendant ideology in the West, and it seems that Canada is no exception.
The meaning of populism is in several respects ambiguous, as the term is used as a catch-all word in the political and media sphere to describe, and above all denounce, a wide range of politicians associated with the radical right and their speeches deemed xenophobic, demagogic or authoritarian. Despite this semantic vagueness, social science research has recently given this notion a conceptual rigor that abandons its pejorative meaning and makes it a rigorous analytical tool, making it possible to account for several political phenomena that manifest themselves not only on the right but also on the left of the political spectrum.
If we stick to the definition of political scientist Cas Mudde, which is currently the most widely accepted, populism is “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 politics should be an expression of the general will of the people”.
Donald Trump in the United States, Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil or Jean-Luc Mélenchon in France are some examples of these politicians who base their speech on the idea that the political, economic and media establishment would act in their interest to the detriment of that of the people. They generally reject by this very fact the traditional institutions of liberal democracy, under the pretext that they are the instruments of domination of these elites, and present themselves as the only faithful representatives of the people who can act politically in their name.
Populism in Canada
In Canada, although populism is a constant in the country’s history with the appearance and disappearance of populist parties (such as the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation or the Social Credit Party, for example), it was admitted until very recently that Canadian democracy represented a bastion resistant to this new populist wave that has been hitting Western democracies for the past twenty years. However, several recent events have cast doubt on this Canadian uniqueness.
First, the creation of the People’s Party of Canada, in 2018, by Maxime Bernier signified the return of a populist party to the party system that had been exempt from it since the disappearance of the Reform Party of Canada at the turn of the last century. Next, the new, resolutely populist strategy adopted by the Conservative Party of Canada since the election of Pierre Poilievre as its leader last September marked a first in Canadian politics, namely the emergence of a populist offer from a traditional party. This could be an unprecedented opportunity for a populist party to reap electoral success in Canada, whereas this type of party had hitherto established itself on the margins of the partisan system, making their electoral growth difficult.
But even more, it was the Freedom Convoy at the beginning of 2022 that brought to light the adherence of a part of Canadians to this anti-elite ideology. Beyond its denunciation of health measures, this protest movement revealed the deep feeling of political dispossession that drives a segment of the population. And even if this event brought together only a minority of them, it certainly reflects a broader disaffection, to varying degrees, of many Canadians towards their institutions, which no longer meet their demands.
Populism in Canada is therefore not only in the form of political parties, but is also rooted in the attitudes of individuals. Moreover, while the convoy event may seem isolated and could be seen as a weak signal of populism at home, the experience of Trumpism in the United States is a reminder that this political resentment is often unheard and understated until a politician and his party manage to channel it and give it a voice. These events could thus constitute the beginnings of a large-scale Canadian populism.
Populism beyond the threat
This recent rise of populism in Canada has been highlighted by many commentators. However, this highlighting has often been done under the sign of threat. While it is true that populism can pose a danger to democracy and the rule of law by fostering mistrust of political institutions, condemning it does not prevent it. We must rather seek to understand what makes this ideology so attractive in order to then be able to envisage a way out.
To take populism seriously is therefore to take seriously the demands that underlie it. Because although the populists present a simplistic and often erroneous reading of the functioning of the political system, this ideology nevertheless reflects a real feeling of deprivation of political voice vis-à-vis an elite deemed disconnected from the concerns of so-called ordinary people. Thus, the democratic challenges raised by populism cannot be overcome by showing that it is “wrong”. Populism doesn’t care about truth and facts; it feeds on the perceptions of individuals.
Part of the appeal of populism certainly lies in the democratic ideal it carries beyond its anti-elite protest dimension. Indeed, at the heart of this ideology lies the promise of the resumption of political power by the people, which reconnects with the ideal of a government of the people, by the people and for the people. Populism therefore offers the powerful vision of a democracy that would be in line with the popular will.
In short, even if it is much less developed than it is in many other democracies, the populism that is taking shape in Canada today highlights the inability of Canadian democracy to offer a political voice to a significant portion of the population. By taking note of the rise of this ideology in the country, it is possible to begin a collective reflection on how to remedy this problem. To prevent this sense of political dispossession of many Canadians from leading to a deeper social divide, the solution is not to directly confront the populists. Rather, it is necessary to find the means to maintain a social solidarity that can respond to the demands of these citizens who too often feel forgotten.