The text of the editorialist Alexandre Sirois of January 3 on citizen cynicism towards politicians and the electoral process1 deserves additions to refine the awareness that it undoubtedly wants to arouse.
First, we must not ignore the primary responsibility of those in power with regard to the political institutions that initially determine the interest in electoral participation. Voting methods are not neutral, do not all have the same democratic value and do not all generate the same political impacts. Knowing our electoral system and especially recognizing its weaknesses are fundamental when we want to encourage greater citizen participation.
By signing in May 2018 the transpartisan electoral pact which promised the rapid establishment of a modern electoral system of proportional type developed after the Second World War in Germany and then among others in New Zealand and Scotland, François Legault supported the sad fact that with us, with the voting system in place since 1792, each vote does not count. General elections are not fair! It was the same observation made in 2015 by Justin Trudeau by promising to discard the old British voting system.
As wrote in Press, on December 28, political science professor Julien Verville2, author of a study on the reform of the voting system in Quebec awarded with a prize from the National Assembly, “during the 2018 general election, 54.5% of Quebec voters voted for candidates who were defeated […]. Citizens who support a defeated candidate may feel they are unrepresented or that their vote is lost (or wasted) […]. This aspect discourages people from going to vote. Equity in representation was one of the fundamental values in the project to reform the voting system, ”which was cavalierly renounced by François Legault two days before Christmas and also hypocritically renounced in 2016 by Trudeau junior.
We know through the bearer of the bad news in Quebec, a senior political advisor to Prime Minister Legault, that the reason for the abandonment of the reform project is that it displeased a majority of CAQ deputies who had nevertheless supported the political program and the multiple promises of their leader.
Regarding cynicism, it should be remembered that during the first public demonstrations of the reluctance of the Caquist deputation in the spring of 2019, François Legault had publicly declared that renouncing the electoral commitment for this reason would be to encourage the cynicism of the people in the country. place of elected politicians. He then swore he wouldn’t do that! But, he did, like Trudeau before him.
At the beginning of last December, a major international summit for democracy was held, organized by the American government of Joe Biden. As a contribution to discussions and reflections, the Canadian government of Justin Trudeau published on December 9 a virtuous document to promote democracy and fight against authoritarianism in which it is written in black and white that the first essential step for a democracy progress is the holding of free and fair elections.
However, what can be said when Justin Trudeau and François Legault renege on their promise to change the current unfair voting system in order to retain the possibility of remaining in power as long as possible with the support of a minority of the population. Authoritarianism is not found only in violent and loathsome dictatorships. Its seeds are also found under our skies when the leaders renounce their commitment to guarantee fair elections to maintain a position of command and lead without sharing, in defiance of the electoral choices of the populations who voted mainly for parties other than their own. .
In this context, which has been established for generations, how can we be surprised by citizen cynicism and electoral stalling? And what about the hope of doing politics differently?