At the 80th anniversary of D-Day in France a month ago, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau issued a warning about the state of democracy.
“We’re still under threat today. … Threatened by invaders who want to redraw our borders. Threatened by demagoguery, misinformation, disinformation, foreign interference,” he said in Juno Beach. said.
As Canadians prepare for at least three provincial elections this fall and a federal election next year, concerns about the strength of our democracy are heightened on multiple fronts.
But is Canada’s democracy really under threat? Political scientists say that while Canadian politics and institutions face myriad concerns, the overall situation is not dire. There is.
“From a comparative perspective, Canada’s democracy is very strong, meaning that our elections are generally perceived to be fair,” said Daniel Behrand, director of the Institute for Canadian Studies at McGill University. And it’s very powerful from an institutional perspective.”
“But again, it depends on what you’re looking at.”
Some of the most prominent concerns arise from allegations of foreign interference.
Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poièvre accused Trudeau of “acting against Canada’s interests” in his response to the allegations, while National Democratic Party Leader Jagmeet Singh said Trudeau was “acting against Canada’s interests.” “We accept this,” he said, undermining democracy and weakening society. Canadian confidence.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Trudeau and the NDP accused the Conservatives of undermining democratic institutions in May by trying to oust Speaker Greg Fergus.
A cybersecurity attack on a British Columbia government email address also occurred in April, and the province said it was likely the work of an attacker “of the province or sponsored by the province.”
Prime Minister David Eby asked Trudeau this month for access to information from Canada’s spy agencies to protect the province’s people and democratic institutions.
B.C. will go to the polls on Oct. 19, while New Brunswick’s election is scheduled for two days later and Saskatchewan’s election is scheduled for Oct. 28. In Nova Scotia, Premier Tim Houston is questioning whether he will stick with fixed elections. The date has been set for next summer, amid speculation that the election could be held early.
Democracy watchdog Freedom House’s 2023 report gave Canada a near-perfect score of 98 out of 100, but Canada received a near-perfect score of 98 out of 100, despite Quebec’s Bill 21, which bans some civil servants from wearing religious symbols. , the only points deducted were inequalities faced by Indigenous and Black communities.
Germany’s Sustainable Governance Indicators Project ranks the quality of Canada’s democracy 10th in the world, citing inequality with Indigenous communities and “cash-for-access” between politicians and donors. He once again pointed to the meeting as a matter of concern.
Patrick Fafard, a social science professor at the University of Ottawa’s School of Public and International Affairs, said the international rankings are encouraging, but it’s clear there are areas that need to be addressed to maintain a high-quality democracy.
Fafard said one of the most visible changes in Canadian politics is the increasing pressure on politicians to engage in the partisan rhetoric of “short-term news chasing,” which reflects public demand for government. In addition to undermining trust, he said, it could expose the company to the following risks: False alarm.
“I think I can confidently say that I’m more worried now than I was, say, 10 or 20 years ago,” Fafard said. “The challenge is always that politicians are tempted to raise slogans or work on simple solutions, but the problems are complex.
“The current controversy over foreign interference is a great example of that,” he said.
The problem “is not one that can be solved by pointing fingers or trying to apportion responsibility,” he said.
“Politicians need to think in the medium to long term and ask, “What can we do to address the problem first and maintain public trust in elections?”
“And that’s a different question than, ‘How can we turn this into a short-term advantage?'”
Robert Boswell, professor emeritus of history at the University of Toronto, said the angry, almost vitriolic language in Canadian politics shouldn’t be a cause for concern. He said this is not a new phenomenon and there have been more controversial rhetoric in other eras.
“If you look back at World War I, Canadian politics was incredibly divisive and very messy,” Boswell said. “Cartoons were published in newspapers in which people accused each other of treason and deserved to be called racist.”
Fafard agreed that populist rhetoric and misinformation is nothing new. What’s new is that it’s “coordinated and funded in a way we’ve never seen before.”
He said trends in other regions, particularly the U.S. presidential election in November, are also having an impact on Canada’s political landscape.
Donald Trump’s efforts to return to power coincide with election denialism in the US Congress.
A new report released last month by States United Action, a group that tracks election denialists, found that nearly one-third of U.S. members of Congress support or support overturning the results of the 2020 presidential election. They say they support President Trump’s efforts to question his credibility in some way. of the election. Several more are hoping to join them, running in this year’s House and Senate elections.
“This is a very worrying phenomenon in the American context, where politicians go out of their way to raise public doubts about elections and election interference,” Fafard said.
But he noted that Canada does not have the same level of cynicism toward public institutions, and that similar tensions about democracy should not emerge in the short to medium term.
“Long term, we don’t know,” Fafard said. “The longer this continues in the United States, the more influence you will have over time. But at least in the short term, there is some isolation from the extreme that our elections are impossible. I believe that you are trusted. ”
Fafard said it’s important for Canada to address the “root causes” of mistrust. He said the angry political rhetoric of World War I and before World War II was caused by economic turmoil, and that policymakers were trying to respond to the current feelings of many in the country. said the economic vulnerability of the country needs to be addressed.
Behrand said that while there are concerns about democracy abroad, there may be solutions beyond Canada’s borders when it comes to preserving democracy.
He said compulsory voting in Australia is an example of an electoral reform Canada could consider.
“We should look at the reforms that have been adopted in other countries to address democratic flaws and clear democratic crises and see whether these policies are working,” Behrand said.
“And if they are working, we can consider adapting some of these policies so that we are unique and our problems are different from others. You don’t really have to start from the point of view that it doesn’t exist in that location.
With files from Associated Press
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 29, 2024.
