Claudia MaheuxClaudia Maheux • 3rd+3rd+Candidate Vaudreuil – Canadian Party of QuebecCandidate Vaudreuil – Canadian Party of Quebec23h • 23 hours ago • Visible to anyone on or off LinkedInFollow
What Does Democracy Actually Mean?
Quebec’s nationalists and separatists love the word “democracy.” They invoke it constantly — but only when it serves them.
50%+1 is enough to break up a country, they say. A bare razor-thin majority — in a single vote, on a single day — should be sufficient to dissolve a nation, strip millions of their citizenship, and override the rights of minorities. That’s their definition of democracy.
But when the courts rule against them? Suddenly the judiciary is “undemocratic.” When Ottawa intervenes at the Supreme Court to defend Charter rights? “Undemocratic interference.” When Canadians from coast to coast express a legitimate interest in whether their country survives? “Undemocratic meddling.”
Here is what democracy actually means.
Democracy is not simply majority rule. A majority can pass a law that is wrong. A majority once supported slavery. A majority once denied women the vote. The tyranny of the majority is a real and documented danger — which is precisely why democracies have constitutions, charters of rights, and independent courts. The judiciary exists to protect individuals and minorities from the overreach of temporary majorities. That is not a flaw in democracy. That is democracy working as designed.
True democracy means rights are guaranteed — not voted on. It means minorities are protected — not outvoted. It means courts are independent — not subordinate to whichever party holds power today.
These are not radical ideas. They are the foundational principles of every mature liberal democracy on earth.
Which brings us to the CAQ’s claim to a democratic mandate. In 2018, the CAQ won its majority government with just 37.7% of the popular vote — the lowest in Quebec history for a majority-winning party. In 2022, they won again under the first-past-the-post system with 41% — meaning the majority of Quebec voters chose someone else. Both times. François Legault resigned in January 2026 amid polling numbers in freefall.
On that mandate, they invoked the notwithstanding clause — pre-emptively, before any court had even ruled — to strip religious minorities of Charter rights. They passed Bill 96, imposing sweeping language restrictions. They tabled a Quebec constitution with no meaningful opposition support. They did all of this while claiming to speak for “the Quebec nation.”
They don’t speak for the Quebec nation. They speak for 37 to 41% of it — and they used every tool available to ensure that courts, the federal government, and the minority communities most affected had no recourse.
That is not democracy. That is majoritarianism.
As someone deeply committed to the Canadian Charter, to federalism, and to the protection of minority rights in Quebec, I believe this distinction matters — not just politically, but morally. The word “democracy” deserves better than to be weaponized selectively by those who reject its core principles the moment those principles inconvenience them.
