“It is likely that this progression of the extreme right will give fuel to the extreme right movements here,” says David Morin, professor of political science and specialist in radicalization at the University of Sherbrooke, adding that these movements already talk to each other and collaborate to different degrees.
According to Ruth Dassonneville, professor specializing in political behavior at the University of Montreal, public opinion in Canada and Quebec is not that different from that in Europe, particularly on immigration issues. “There could be support for far-right parties here, and it could happen quite quickly,” she adds.
However, “Canada has a history of governance at the center of the political spectrum,” according to Martin Geoffroy, specialist on the far right and director of the Center of Expertise and Training on Religious Fundamentalism, Political Ideologies and Radicalization (CEFIR), which emphasizes that far-right parties exist in Canada, but are much more marginal than in Europe. “There is no institutionalized far-right party today, with the exception of the People’s Party of Canada and a few provincial parties,” confirms David Morin.
Because Canada offers less oxygen to radical right parties due to its electoral system, explains Ruth Dassonneville. “In a majority voting method like ours, it is much more difficult for these parties to obtain a good score,” underlines the researcher, specifying that the proportional voting method of the European Parliament offers more chances to the parties of the radical right to obtain good results.
The radical right therefore occupies a marginal place on the Canadian political scene, but this “does not prevent a progressive normalization of some of its ideas, such as on immigration,” comments David Morin. According to the researcher, these ideas simply circulate differently. “This extreme right is mainly present on social media, but also tends to mobilize in the social space itself.”
The amplification of radical right speeches could cause traditional right parties to take an extreme turn, argues Ruth Dassonneville. “What we might see happening is that more mainstream right-wing parties are moving more and more towards such a position, because they feel like that’s where public opinion is.” , comments Ruth Dassonneville.
To gain ground, the radical right is also infiltrating traditional right-wing political parties, explains David Morin. “We saw that this worked well in the United States with the Republican Party which has moved very to the right since the Trump administration. »
Radical right parties tend to favor protectionist economic policies, underlines Martin Geoffroy. Thus, for international trade, a more right-wing European Parliament could have a harmful influence on Canada, in particular by “leading to a questioning of our free trade treaty with Europe”.
Indeed, the election results demonstrate a desire to strengthen the borders of the European Union, according to Ruth Dassonneville. “But I think that it would have more impact on an issue like immigration than on an issue like free trade,” nuances the researcher.
A stronger presence of the far right in the European Parliament could undermine efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, according to Martin Geoffroy. “In the environment, the playing field is not national, but global, so if you have a third of Europe not collaborating, that complicates things. »
If the European Parliament is torn by issues such as purchasing power and immigration, the environment could be pushed to the back burner, according to Ruth Dassonneville. “I think the bigger risk is that we ignore global warming a little bit and push back all the targets for reducing greenhouse gases a little bit,” adds the researcher.
However, the advance of the far right in the European Parliament could, however, help environmentalist parties to be heard within coalitions. “If the far right has won seats, perhaps the other groups will need environmentalists to pass certain laws. It would put them in a position to put more pressure,” explains Ruth Dassonneville.