Jurist Canada’s Bloc Québécois moves to repeal federal law acting as a roadblock to secession

[Dadparvar]

The nationalist Bloc Québécois party (the “Bloc”) of Canada introduced a bill Tuesday in the Canadian parliament to repeal the Clarity Act, in an effort to make it easier to secede from Canada. The bill is short and succinct, and contains only one section calling for the repeal of the Clarity Act, with its preamble stating that “the decision on [Quebec’s] future within Canada lies with the Québécois nation, not the federal government.”

The Clarity Act (the “Act”), adopted five years after Quebec lost a separation referendum in 1995 by an extremely close margin of 50.58% to 49.42%, states:

The Government of Canada shall not enter into negotiations on the terms on which a province might cease to be part of Canada unless the House of Commons determines, pursuant to this section, that there has been a clear expression of a will by a clear majority of the population of that province that the province cease to be part of Canada.

Speaking to what can be considered “a clear majority” in the above provision of the Act, Prime Minister Mark Carney said last month that a 50% plus one vote does “not” constitute such clear majority. The prime minister’s statement was immediately denounced by members of the Quebec legislature and eventually led to the introduction the present bill in parliament by the Bloc.

Labeling the Act as a “federal government veto” over Quebecers’ legitimate right to decide their future for themselves, Bloc leader Yves-François Blanchet stated at a press conference tabling the bill to repeal the Act:

There are Quebecers who are in favour of sovereignty and Quebecers who are against it. There are some who want it for later and others who don’t know it yet. But I am convinced that there is almost unanimity among Quebecers to the effect that it is up to us to make the decision for our future, regardless of our voting intention in a possible referendum. And this is the odiousness of Mark Carney’s intervention, which denies the right of the Quebec nation to self-determination, which places itself above an entire people, and which gives a parliament outside Quebec the authority to decide for us and redefine the democratic rule of what constitutes a majority. It borders on colonialism…

Our bill aims to repeal a law that has no place in a democracy. The Bloc Québécois reminds Premier Carney and the Liberals that it is not up to them to determine whether or not the referendum question is clear to their liking. It’s only Quebec’s business or any nation called upon to decide its future.

Member of Parliament Christine Normandin, a Bloc member, further criticized the prime minister’s statement that 50% plus one does not constitute a clear majority as unacceptable and “unreasonably paternalistic.”

This bill comes in the wake of a rise in separatist sentiment and movements in Alberta. This is not the first time that the Bloc has attempted to repeal the Act. There was a previous failed attempt that presented the same bill, but it was voted down by all the other federal parties in 2013 by an overwhelming 283-5 vote. However, the Bloc has significantly more seats in parliament today in a deeply polarized atmosphere in Canada in comparison to 2011 when the Bloc lost official party status due to a colossal defeat in parliament. Since 2019, support for Quebec sovereignty and nationalism has remained quite stable in comparison to Alberta although any success on this bill may nevertheless have implications for separatist movements in Alberta.





The post Canada’s Bloc Québécois moves to repeal federal law acting as a roadblock to secession appeared first on JURIST - News.

Continue reading...

Note: We don't have any responsibilities about this news. Its been posted here by Feed Reader and we had no controls and checking on it. And because News posted here will be deleted automatically after 21 days, threads are closed so that no one spend time to post and discuss here. You can always check the source and discuss in their site.