Bloc Québécois MPs are calling on Prime Minister Mark Carney to drop the Clarity Act, arguing it complicates secession referendums by adding conditions beyond a simple majority vote. Carney, however, said the Clarity Act does not apply to the current Alberta independence question and defended the Act’s requirements.
During Question Period in the House of Commons on Tuesday, Carney said the 50 per cent “plus one” threshold, a standard measure of majority support, does not automatically apply to questions of provincial independence, as set out in the Clarity Act.
The Act, passed in response to a 1998 Supreme Court ruling on Quebec secession, states that even if a majority votes to leave the federation, Parliament must determine whether the result reflects a “clear majority,” taking into account factors such as voter turnout and the size of the margin.
Bloc MP Christine Normandin pressured Carney in the House of Commons on Tuesday after he declared that he would use the Clarity Act to interfere in an Alberta referendum to separate from Canada.
“Any province or Quebec has the right to ask its citizens the question of its choice in a referendum. Citizens have the right to answer freely, and the majority wins with 50% of the votes plus one,” Normandin said in French. “ This concerns only two groups, the government that asked the question and the citizens who answered it. That is democracy. It’s that simple.”
Carney stated that the current question before the Alberta government is a “question on the question” and the Clarity Act wouldn’t apply, but that a “clear majority” on a secession question would need to be recognized by parliament for a province to leave confederation.
Hellbound and Down 