Quebecers feel that the social climate has deteriorated in recent years, according to a Léger poll commissioned by the Centrale des syndicats du Québec (CSQ).
The results, released Thursday, reveal that 67 per cent of the population believes that the level of violence in society has increased compared to five years ago.
This negative perception also taints the future, as more than half of those surveyed — 57 per cent — believe that the problem will worsen over the next five years.
Overall, 75 per cent of Quebecers are concerned about the current social climate.
The president of the CSQ, Éric Gingras, considers that “we are at a crossroads.”
“We can see very clearly that we are at an important moment in our society where incivility and violence are public health issues,” he said Thursday morning at a press conference in a Montreal hotel, where 250 CSQ delegates from across the province are meeting until Friday in a general council, whose theme also addresses violence as a social issue.
Gingras insisted that “this is not a union issue,” even though the findings of this survey are consistent with what he hears from workers in the public networks, who are in direct contact with the population on a daily basis.
“The networks in which we are – early childhood, higher education, health – are the first to raise the flag, most likely because they are on the front line, very often with a population that is sometimes destitute, sometimes in need,” he said.
The president of the CSQ maintains that it is necessary to “form a broad common front against violence” and that “everyone gets on board.”
“We need to adopt common positions, make them known, put them forward and work on common mechanisms to counter this scourge throughout society. And at the dawn of an election campaign, it is also time to put forward a collective project for a better society,” said Gingras.
–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews
