Big year… for the left

Why was 2024 so painful for the left, here and elsewhere? Our columnist discussed it with solidarity MP Manon Massé, who has a hard time digesting the accusations of “wokism” and took the opportunity to respond to Boucar Diouf, Bernie Sanders and Paul St-Pierre Plamondon.

“Trump is a multi-billionaire who surrounds himself with billionaires and makes the poorest believe that he is going to save them,” exclaims Manon Massé.

“Well, let’s see!” »

The supportive MP suddenly raises her arms in the air, in a gesture which seems to reflect both her irritation and her disbelief.

“What he wants to save is his wealth, then the wealth of his friends! “, she continues.

Manon Massé is a little upset… and it's my fault.

I met her at the Sfouf café on Ontario Street in Montreal, near her constituency office.

I wanted to have his opinion on the misfortunes of the left.

Because the year 2024 has been particularly painful for progressive forces.

Here as elsewhere.

From the bitter setback for Kamala Harris in the United States to the failures of Québec Solidaire on this side of the border, including the difficulties encountered by several left-wing parties in Europe, times are tough.

The day before my interview with Manon Massé, Pierre Poilievre was named media personality of the year by The Canadian Press. The previous week, the magazine Time had offered Donald Trump the same distinction.

“What scares me is that this means that their speech is getting through. They are therefore perceived as being close to the people,” she replies when I mention these successes.

“Eille!” Donald Trump, anti-establishment! What do you want me to tell you? », she exclaims again.

“And it works!” “, laments the politician.

Manon Massé is convinced that the Republican president, contrary to what he promised, does not intend to defend the Americans who are struggling.

But that's not the only thing that scares him.

“It’s scary because I look at Trump, with all his exclusionary speeches, often very oriented towards the most vulnerable, with his speech which breaks equality between men and women…” she adds.

But if the right dominates, it is necessarily because its ideas now appeal to more people than those of the left, right?

I remind him that some people point the finger at progressive forces on this subject.

Starting with Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders.

After Donald Trump's victory, he criticized the Democratic Party for abandoning the working class and for “failing to understand the pain and political alienation that tens of millions of Americans are experiencing.”

“From the outset, I want to say: no, the left, in Quebec, has not abandoned the workers. Far from it,” replies Manon Massé.

“But what the left in Quebec perhaps fails to position in the public space is that collective wealth benefits everyone… and that individual wealth benefits the person to whom it benefits. »

I go further by quoting a recent column by Boucar Diouf, who accused the left of digging its own grave. Among other things because, according to him, it “promotes communitarian closure by increasingly fragmenting the population according to race, religion, sex, gender and ethnolinguistic origin.¹ ».

“I think I'm due for a good coffee with Boucar. Because when I talk about the minimum wage, it has no age, it has no gender, it has no skin color,” says Manon Massé, who also cites her fight for free lunches. in all schools and for universal dental insurance.

The problem, according to the solidarity MP, is that this discourse is nowadays put forward very effectively by the right. Its representatives, almost everywhere within our democracies, are placing less emphasis than in the past on the economy and are increasing debates around issues such as secularism, immigration, gender, etc.

In doing so, they have trapped the left, which is forced to react, says Manon Massé.

“From the moment the right changed its discourse to the discourse of identity, it is certain that we, the left, will protect the world who are on the verge of losing their rights. It’s obvious that we’re going to do that. It’s not because we want to put that forward,” says the politician.

“I'm not telling you that we're perfect, that's not the idea,” the former co-spokesperson for Québec solidaire takes care to add.

She is therefore convinced that the priorities that her training puts forward do not receive the attention they deserve due to this context.

Especially since the pandemic served as a catalyst for the legitimization of identity discourse, believes the woman who is still the Member of Parliament for Sainte-Marie–Saint-Jacques.

“People were weakened,” she recalls. Our generations had never experienced this, an event like this. » Then economic insecurity set in as inflation rose.

“When we are vulnerable, there is a human reflex to curl up and tell ourselves that we will get through it on our own. »

A little later during the interview, she herself mentions the word “wokism”, which was used to denounce Québec solidaire. Notably by the leader of the Parti Québécois, Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, in the wake of the controversy over Haroun Bouazzi's comments on racism in the National Assembly (which certainly did not contribute to what we are talking about public policies recommended by QS!).

“What does wokism mean?” Firstly, there is no one who has the same damn definition. Then secondly, do you want to tell me how it is that I am insulted because I defend people's rights? “, she says.

Manon Massé does not have thirty-six thousand solutions to turn the tide. “We have work to do on the ground. We have a lot of work coming up with our members on the program. We took note of the last election,” she explains.

She therefore promises to continue to fight for equal rights, while hoping that the left will be able to better “unmask attacks from the right”.

At the very end of the discussion, she compares the left to feminism, which remains a constant struggle.

“These are fights that will continue,” she said. And we must continue to walk and move forward, regardless of what happens. »

1. Read the column “This left that digs its own grave”

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