During the last episode of the show The world upside down on April 28, we learned that, according to a non-scientific poll, Quebeckers think — in a very large proportion — that we don’t know how to debate.
I must admit that my first reaction was far from a surprise. To this end, let’s start from two very well-known microcosms, namely the National Assembly and social media, and transport ourselves to question period in the Blue Room. Starting with a question from one member to another, let’s follow his trajectory. Very quickly, it will veer off to the person who asked the question, eventually leading to an unanswered question. The original debate turns into a personal attack so much so that the original question has joined the cloud of time.
Now let’s go to the social media side. Very quickly there too, we will reach a conclusion of the type “this person thinks like that, therefore he is stupid”. As the idea of the person who expresses it does not correspond to that of his vis-à-vis, the one who posed it is automatically substituted for his idea.
In these two cases, we are miles away from the debate which presupposes that each of the interlocutors must respect the position of the other even if he does not share it. […]
I am not claiming, in this text, that there is no public forum in Quebec where real debate is possible. However, it is clear that some, like some radio stations, have a long way to go before they manage to generate a real debate with their listeners!
To see in video