Constitutional Referendums and the Democratic Challenge : Canada as a Role Model ?

Abstract

There is no explicit legal justification for unilateral secession in Canada. But the Supreme Court of Canada went on to establish that the underlying principles of Canadian federalism mean that if Quebec citizens were to support secession on the basis of a clear question, and with a clear majority vote (neither of which is specified clearly), then there would be a constitutional obligation on the part of the other federal partners to negotiate a new relationship. In effect, the Supreme Court ruled that Canada is divisible – and thus it became one of the few countries in the world in which a constitutional right to secession has been recognized.

Gagnon, A-G. (2016). « Constitutional Referendums and the Democratic Challenge : Canada as a Role Model », Revista Internacional de los Estudios Vascos. RIEV Cuadernos, numéro spécial : Naciones y Estados en el Siglo XXI : Democracia y Derecho a Decidir, no 11, p. 18-31.