{"id":7564,"date":"2026-03-02T06:45:31","date_gmt":"2026-03-02T11:45:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ssencressc.ca\/?p=7564"},"modified":"2026-03-02T11:51:27","modified_gmt":"2026-03-02T16:51:27","slug":"retrouver-lengagement-citoyen-a-lere-de-la-mefiance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ssencressc.ca\/fr\/retrouver-lengagement-citoyen-a-lere-de-la-mefiance\/","title":{"rendered":"Retrouver l\u2019engagement citoyen \u00e0 l\u2019\u00e8re de la m\u00e9fiance"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Retrouver l\u2019engagement citoyen \u00e0 l\u2019\u00e8re de la m\u00e9fiance<\/h1>\n

Jennifer Williams, deuxi\u00e8me vice-pr\u00e9sidente du RESSC<\/p>\n

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R\u00e9cemment, j\u2019ai assist\u00e9 \u00e0 un \u00e9v\u00e9nement \u00e0 Calgary rappelant les salons r\u00e9volutionnaires fran\u00e7ais \u2014 petits rassemblements favorisant les discussions anim\u00e9es. Notre petit groupe s\u2019est donn\u00e9 rendez-vous dans une maison priv\u00e9e pour r\u00e9fl\u00e9chir \u00e0 l\u2019avenir de la d\u00e9mocratie au Canada. La discussion \u00e9tait anim\u00e9e par Sabreena Delhon, directrice du Centre Samara pour la D\u00e9mocratie<\/a>, et le pr\u00e9sident du conseil d\u2019administration de l\u2019organisme Zain Velji. Ils ont guid\u00e9 les participants dans un \u00e9change mettant l\u2019emphase sur trois th\u00e8mes essentiels: \u00e9largir la participation des jeunes \u00e0 la d\u00e9mocratie (incluant l\u2019id\u00e9e d\u2019abaisser l\u2019\u00e2ge du droit de vote), encourager la participation citoyenne au sein des communaut\u00e9s de la diaspora gr\u00e2ce au leadership des jeunes et s\u2019assurer de la compr\u00e9hension des Canadiens \u00e0 l\u2019\u00e9gard de la signification de l\u2019engagement citoyen.<\/p>\n

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En tant qu\u2019enseignante de sciences sociales, je milite depuis longtemps pour favoriser l\u2019engagement des jeunes. En effet, un th\u00e8me omnipr\u00e9sent dans mes lectures et mes conversations est celui de notre engagement citoyen. John Stuart Mill affirmait d\u2019ailleurs que \u201cle fait de vivre en soci\u00e9t\u00e9 rend indispensable que chacun adopte une certaine ligne de conduite \u00e0 l\u2019\u00e9gard des autres \u00bb (Mill, On Liberty<\/em>, 1859). La d\u00e9mocratie ne d\u00e9pend pas seulement des institutions ou des droits, mais aussi du respect mutuel institu\u00e9 comme une habitude quotidienne.<\/p>\n

Malheureusement, ces habitudes citoyennes semblent s\u2019effriter. Alors que les technologies num\u00e9riques promettaient de d\u00e9mocratiser la communication, elles ont au contraire amplifi\u00e9 l\u2019indignation et la m\u00e9fiance, minant ainsi le capital social requis par la vie d\u00e9mocratique. Comme l\u2019ont soulign\u00e9 les experts de la politique num\u00e9rique, les r\u00e9seaux sociaux peuvent favoriser l\u2019hostilit\u00e9 partisane qui \u00e9rode la confiance envers les institutions (Iyengar & Westwood, 2015). Historiquement, des sch\u00e9mas semblables de polarisation ont ouvert la voie \u00e0 un recul de la d\u00e9mocratie.<\/p>\n

Aujourd\u2019hui, le pluralisme c\u00e8de la place au populisme. Les dirigeants en qu\u00eate de pouvoir se positionnent souvent en tribuns du \u201cpeuple\u201d s\u2019opposant aux \u00e9lites pr\u00e9sum\u00e9es et aux ennemis \u00e9trangers, discr\u00e9ditant ainsi les institutions m\u00eame qui sont con\u00e7ues pour prot\u00e9ger les citoyens (M\u00fcller, What Is Populism?<\/em>, 2016). La rh\u00e9torique populiste se nourrit de divisions, d\u00e9ploie une imagerie patriotique ou militaire afin de rallier des partisans et \u00e9carter les voix dissidentes. Lorsque les citoyens perdent de vue l\u2019interd\u00e9pendance qui sous-tend la citoyennet\u00e9, le pluralisme est fragilis\u00e9 et la d\u00e9mocratie risque de se transformer en comp\u00e9tition \u00e0 saveur identitaire plut\u00f4t qu\u2019en une d\u00e9lib\u00e9ration ax\u00e9e sur les \u2019id\u00e9es.<\/p>\n

La p\u00e9rennit\u00e9 de la d\u00e9mocratie repose donc sur notre capacit\u00e9 \u00e0 tol\u00e9rer les divergences d\u2019opinions. Comme le plaide Peter MacKinnon dans Confronting Illiberalism: A Canadian Perspective<\/em> (2025), \u201cNous pouvons nous plaindre d\u2019orateurs dont nous n\u2019appr\u00e9cions pas le point de vue, des livres que nous trouvons offensants ou encore de personnes que nous ne souhaitons pas c\u00f4toyer. Dans notre vie priv\u00e9e, nous sommes libres de nous gouverner en cons\u00e9quence en ignorant les discours, en \u00e9vitant les livres et en ne fr\u00e9quentant que les personnes que nous voulons avoir pr\u00e8s de nous. Mais notre vie publique croise celle des autres, et nous n\u2019avons pas le droit d\u2019\u00e9viter leur pr\u00e9sence ou leurs paroles et comportements l\u00e9gitimes dans les espaces publics. La tol\u00e9rance envers les droits et libert\u00e9s des autres est fondamentale pour le lib\u00e9ralisme.\u201d <\/p>\n

L’ancien Gouverneur G\u00e9n\u00e9ral David Johnston (2017) a \u00e9galement soulign\u00e9 : \u201cLa d\u00e9mocratie exige que les gens se fassent confiance les uns les autres et, surtout, plus particuli\u00e8rement que la population accorde sa confiance \u00e0 ses institutions.\u201d (Western News). Cette confiance peut \u00eatre cultiv\u00e9e par des gestes quotidiens \u2014 aider un voisin ou faire du b\u00e9n\u00e9volat par exemple. L\u2019engagement citoyen, sous toutes ses formes, demeure notre meilleure d\u00e9fense face \u00e0 l\u2019\u00e9rosion de la confiance en la d\u00e9mocratie.<\/p>\n

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References<\/h3>\n

Iyengar, S., & Westwood, S. J. (2015). Fear and Loathing Across Party Lines: New Evidence on Group Polarization. American Journal of Political Science, 59(3), 690\u2013707.<\/p>\n

Johnston, D. (2017, March 17). Answer Call for a New Era of Civic Engagement. Western News.<\/p>\n

MacKinnon, P. (2025). Confronting Illiberalism: A Canadian Perspective. University of Alberta Press.<\/p>\n

Mill, J. S. (1859). On Liberty. London: John W. Parker and Son.<\/p>\n

M\u00fcller, J.-W. (2016). What Is Populism? Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

R\u00e9cemment, j\u2019ai assist\u00e9 \u00e0 un \u00e9v\u00e9nement \u00e0 Calgary rappelant les salons r\u00e9volutionnaires fran\u00e7ais \u2014 petits rassemblements favorisant les discussions anim\u00e9es. Notre petit groupe s\u2019est donn\u00e9 rendez-vous dans une maison priv\u00e9e pour r\u00e9fl\u00e9chir \u00e0 l\u2019avenir de la d\u00e9mocratie au Canada<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":7561,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"

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Reclaiming Civic Engagement in an Age of Distrust<\/h1>

Jennifer Williams, Second Vice-President of SSENC<\/p>

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Recently, I attended an event in Calgary reminiscent of the French Revolutionary salons\u2014small gatherings fostering spirited discussion. Our small group met in a private home to reflect upon the future of democracy in Canada. The discussion was anchored by Sabreena Delhon, CEO of the Samara Centre for Democracy<\/a>, and Board Chair Zain Velji, who guided participants through a conversation that focused on three essential themes: expanding youth participation in democracy (including lowering the voting age), encouraging civic participation within diaspora communities through youth leadership, and revitalizing Canadians\u2019 understanding of what it means to be civically engaged.<\/p>

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As a high school social studies teacher, I have long been an advocate for youth engagement. Yet the theme that continued to echo in my readings and conversations is our state of civic engagement. John Stuart Mill asserted that \u201cthe fact of living in society renders it indispensable that each should be bound to observe a certain line of conduct towards the rest\u201d (Mill, On Liberty<\/em>, 1859). Democracy depends not merely on institutions or rights but on the daily habits of mutual respect.<\/p>

Unfortunately, those civic habits appear to be fraying. While digital technologies promised to democratize communication, they have instead amplified chronic outrage and mistrust, undermining the social capital that democratic life requires. As scholars of digital politics have noted, social media environments can foster partisan hostility that corrode trust in institutions (Iyengar & Westwood, 2015). Historically, similar patterns of polarization have paved the way for democratic backsliding.<\/p>

Today, pluralism is giving way to populism. Leaders seeking power often position themselves as tribunes of \u201cthe people\u201d against alleged elites and foreign enemies, discrediting the very institutions designed to protect citizens (M\u00fcller, What Is Populism?<\/em>, 2016). Populist rhetoric thrives on division, deploying patriotic or militaristic imagery to rally supporters and dismiss dissenting voices. When citizens lose their sense of civic interconnectedness, pluralism becomes fragile, and democracy risks devolving into a contest of identities rather than a deliberation of ideas.<\/p>

The durability of democracy, then, rests on our collective capacity to tolerate disagreement. As Peter MacKinnon argues in Confronting Illiberalism: A Canadian Perspective<\/em> (2025), \u201cWe may complain about speakers whose views we don\u2019t like; books we find offensive, or people we don\u2019t want around us. And in our private lives we are free to govern ourselves accordingly by skipping the speech, avoiding the books and socializing only with those we want nearby. But our public lives intersect with others, and we do not have the right to be free from their presence in the public commons or from their lawful words and conduct. Tolerance for the rights and freedoms of others is foundational to liberalism.\u201d<\/p>

Former Governor General David Johnston (2017) has similarly emphasized: \u201cDemocracy requires that people have trust in one another and, especially, that the population trusts its civil institutions\u201d (Western News<\/em>). This trust can be cultivated through everyday acts\u2014helping a neighbour or volunteering. Civic engagement, in all its forms, remains our most resilient defense against the corrosion of democratic trust.<\/p>

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References<\/h3>

Iyengar, S., & Westwood, S. J. (2015). Fear and Loathing Across Party Lines: New Evidence on Group Polarization. American Journal of Political Science, 59(3), 690\u2013707.<\/p>

Johnston, D. (2017, March 17). Answer Call for a New Era of Civic Engagement. Western News.<\/p>

MacKinnon, P. (2025). Confronting Illiberalism: A Canadian Perspective. University of Alberta Press.<\/p>

Mill, J. S. (1859). On Liberty. London: John W. Parker and Son.<\/p>

M\u00fcller, J.-W. (2016). What Is Populism? Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.<\/p>

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