Commentary circulating online following the Alberta referendum court ruling is incorrectly claiming that provinces cannot legally hold referendums on separation or sovereignty.
That is not what Canadian constitutional law says.
Columnist Andrew Coyne claimed Canadians “can’t lawfully hold a referendum” on “the sovereign territory of Canada.”
But Canada has already held two provincial sovereignty referendums in Quebec, in 1980 and 1995.
Neither referendum was declared illegal.
In fact, the federal government responded to the 1995 referendum by asking the Supreme Court of Canada to clarify the legal framework surrounding secession in the 1998 Secession Reference decision.
The court concluded that a province cannot unilaterally separate from Canada under existing constitutional law. However, it also held that a clear vote on a clear question in favour of secession would create a constitutional obligation for governments to negotiate.
That framework later formed the basis of the Clarity Act.
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