Clarity Act

The content of the act was based on the 1998 secession reference to the Supreme Court of Canada made by the federal government of Prime Minister Jean Chrétien.

In French, the question on the ballot asked: Acceptez-vous que le Québec devienne souverain, après avoir offert formellement au Canada un nouveau partenariat économique et politique, dans le cadre du projet de loi sur l'avenir du Québec et de l'entente signée le 12 juin 1995 ?In English, the question on the ballot asked: Do you agree that Quebec should become sovereign after having made a formal offer to Canada for a new economic and political partnership within the scope of the bill respecting the future of Quebec and of the agreement signed on June 12, 1995?Trilingual ballots were issued in communities in which Indigenous languages were commonly used.

Against the first assertion, Dion argued that the vast majority of international law experts "believe that the right to declare secession unilaterally does not belong to constituent entities of a democratic country such as Canada.

International experience demonstrates that the borders of the entity seeking independence can be called into question, sometimes for reasons based on democracy.

[citation needed] On 20 August 1998, the Supreme Court answered, concluding that Quebec cannot secede unilaterally under Canadian or international law.

The court stated that: Nobody seriously suggests that our national existence, seamless in so many aspects, could be effortlessly separated along what are now the provincial boundaries of Quebec.

Quebec sovereigntist leaders were granted a prominent role in the conference and used their floor time to denounce Canadian federalism before an international audience to the great annoyance of their federalist host.

On 7 December 2005, in the midst of a federal election, New Democratic Party leader Jack Layton too announced that he backed the act.

This was in contrast to comments made in the 2004 election where he said that Canada should recognize a declaration of Quebec independence if sovereigntists win a referendum.

Finally, Article 13 clearly responds to the Canadian federal Clarity Act by stating: "No other parliament or government may reduce the powers, authority, sovereignty or legitimacy of the National Assembly, or impose constraint on the democratic will of the Québec people to determine its own future."