Introduction
From west to east, Canada has ten provinces. Quebec province is one of them, and the only province agitating for its sovereignty due to several factors such as ethno-nationalism character, religious differences, and assimilation (Duerr). Parti Que'necois is the primary mainstream political vehicle for the movement which has governed by Quebec on multiple occasions formed in the late 1960s after several distinct political groups amalgamated into a provincial political party to spearhead the agitation for independence (Duerr). The party appealed for constitutional negotiations on provincial sovereignty matters since 1968. For instance, it held two provincial referenda which were put forth by parti Que'be'cois leader Rene Le'vesque (Albert 399). Virtually 60 percent of the Quebec's voters rejected their idea.
Canadian Prime Minister's Perspective
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was pressured severally to elucidate under what circumstance Quebec could separate from Canada after United Kingdom decision to secede from European Union. Justin Trudeau wholly sided with the Supreme Court ruling, which ruled that Quebec cannot separate from Canada unilaterally since it is not in conformity with either the Canadian laws or the international laws (Leclair). In any occasion Quebec votes in favor of separation, then it would embark on negotiations with the federal government and other provinces which Trudeau cannot accept such move.
Supreme Court's Ruling and Implications
The nine justices, three from Quebec province made it crystal clear that separation will be not only difficult, painful but also costly (Greene). It also found that there is no right to unilateral in international law apart from colonies and oppressed people which does not apply to Quebec. Constitutionally, the court warned that the international community would term the action as illegitimate. The Canadian's court set very good precedence to other nations seeking for self-determination. Other politicians who hail from Western Canada urged the federal government to elucidate the rules for separation and demanded that other provinces be included in the decision about Quebec's posterity.
Clarity Act and Requirements for Secession
The same Supreme Court opined that democracy is more than simple majority rule that will create an obligation to negotiate secession (Leclair). In case of partition, other tribes such as Northern Indians and the Cree could be affected since they have stated that they want to remain in Canada. Mr. Trudeau, vehemently opposed the 50 percent plus one majority vote as he said only one vote is not enough to break up the country into two. It is worth noting that the Supreme Court has issued 74 references since 1892.
In the year 2000, the Canadian parliament passed an act duped clarity act after the country's supreme court lay down provincial secession governing principles. The most outstanding feature of the act is the insistence of the secession of a provincial can take place only through a constitutional amendment (Leclair). This implies that Canada cannot be divided by 50 percent plus one majority votes in a provincial referendum. It knows it requires the house of Commons to state in advance whether the provincial secession referendum is on a clear question thus amount to "separation yes or no." The question separation yes or no should not consist of puzzling and additional conditions about the mandate to negotiate or enter into a new relationship with the motherland(Canada). This clause was derived from the Quebec referendums of 1980 and 1995 respectively in which question asked was long, complicated and difficult to be comprehended by a large number of voters.
Importance of Clear Majority and Other Considerations
Another part of the clarity act tackles the issue of a clear majority. The acts demand the house of commons to clarify after referendum if there has been a clear expression of a will by a clear majority of that province that they want to secede (Cochrane). The act also seeks to root out elections malpractice such as arbitrarily ballots rejection and gagging of voters from exercising democratic rights allegedly occurred in the 1995 Quebec referendum.
Views on the Act and Separatist Movement
Justin Trudeau has on several occasion defended the act noting that the famous 50 percent plus one majority vote on any referendum should not suffice to separation. This is contrary to the New Democratic Party(NDP) who believes in the only simple majority of 50 percent plus one vote is quite enough for Quebec to cease from Canada (Jacobs). The clarity act is prudent since those who will vote to divide Canada must be made cognizant of what they are doing if either befits or affect them. The separatist is a term used to describe individuals agitating for the Quebec to separate from Canada and become a country on its own(Jacobs). The separatist coalesced and formed the separatist movement. It's drawn from the sizable minority of more conservative Quebecers supporting the parti Que'necois due to sovereignty matters despite reservations about its social democratic political agenda.
Reasons for Quebec Separatism
Separatists cite the current relationship between Quebec province and the others does not exemplify their best social, political and economic development interest(Jacobs). For instance, historically ethnic-nationalistic character religious differences and assimilation by other Canadian languages. Both groups within the separatist movement are seeking to gain their sovereignty through peaceful means, negotiation-based diplomatic intervention though other groups have advocated and used violent methods which tend to left many casualties (Albert). Justin Trudeau though he adores peaceful and diplomatic intervention applied by the separatist he is not in tandem with them in seeking for the Quebec's province sovereignty.
Process and Challenges of Quebec Independence
The movement began in Quebec in 1960's with the aim of breaking Canada to form their own independent country. In May 1980 the first referendum election was held, separatist's garners 40 percent of the vote cast in Quebec. Its favor of separation rose to 49 percent in October 1995 referendum. A couple of days after the 1995 referendum, the separatists have organized to declare independence and gain recognition of the new country from the United States and France. However, federal officials and Justin Trudeau hold a diverse opinion (Jacobs). They believe that separatists who have controlled Quebec for not less than 20 years have misled the voters into thinking that it would be easy and quick.
Conclusion
Veritably, separatists and sovereignties have justifiable reasons to secede; ranging from ethnic-nationalistic in character, ethno-nationalistic social policies, religious differences and assimilation by other tribes. In their quest for sovereignty, Quebec separatists were loathed and assisted in equal measures. For instance, different tribes supported them while others did not (Jacobs). The clarity act that was passed by parliament in the year 2000, put stringent measures for any province attempting to secede since the house of commons is required to state in advance whether the provincial secession referendum is on a clear question thus amount to "separation yes or no."
Similarly, Canadian Supreme Court ruling hindered Quebec independence (Morton). This means that Quebec's votes in favor of separation will be necessary for negotiation to take place with the rest of the provinces and there must be a clear majority and not 50 percent plus one. Conclusively, all the processes towards Quebec independence were costly, painful and not readily achievable.
Work cited
Albert, Richard. "The Conventions of Constitutional Amendment in Canada." Osgoode Hall LJ 53 (2015): 399.
Cochrane, Christopher, Perry Rand Dyck, and Kelly Blidook. Canadian politics: Critical approaches. Nelson Education, 2017.
Duerr, Glen ME. Talking with nationalists and patriots: An examination of ethnic and civic approaches to nationalism and their outcomes in Quebec and Flanders. Kent State University, 2012.
Greene, Ian. The Charter of Rights and Freedoms: 30+ years of decisions that shape Canadian life. James Lorimer " Company, 2014.
Jacobs, Jane. The question of separatism: Quebec and the struggle over sovereignty. Vintage, 2016.
Leclair, Jean. "Legality, Legitimacy, Decisionism and Federalism: An Analysis of the Supreme Court of Canada's Reasoning in Reference Re Secession of Quebec, 1998." (2016).
Morton, Ted. "No Statecraft, Questionable Jurisprudence: How the Supreme Court Tried to Kill Senate Reform." Browser Download This Paper (2015).
