Is 50% plus 1 enough? Talk of referendums in Quebec and Alberta reignites old debate

Added: 2026-05-31

[00:00:07][applause] >> That's the second time [music] this month that the National Assembly has reaffirmed its power and autonomy following any future referendum on Quebec independence.

[00:00:17]>> This all comes as Albertans will vote on their future [music] in the Canadian Federation this fall and Quebec is fast approaching a general election. The Parti Québécois, which has been at or near the top of polls for years, has promised to hold a referendum on independence in its first mandate.

[00:00:37]>> MNAs reacted to Marc Carney's [music] intervention. For them, Ottawa cannot interfere with the result of a referendum in Quebec.

[00:01:11]>> Former federal liberal minister Stéphane Dion drafted the Clarity Act following a Supreme Court of Canada referral on the secession of Quebec at the end [music] of the 1990s. After all these years, he still believes that a 50% plus one vote isn't enough. [music] >> It's not the reasonable rule for this kind of very crucial decision.

[00:01:38]>> Dion wants people to realize the consequences and the responsibility of a future secessionist government.

[00:01:45]>> We need to be sure that the support will be clear and firm enough because it may take months if not years to negotiate such a complex issue like secession.

[00:01:55]>> [music] >> Brexit took 3 years and there was an election in in the meantime.

[00:01:59]>> Mr. Dion is a citizen.

[00:02:02]He can express his own opinion.

[00:02:04]>> But then the justice minister was quite firm.

[00:02:07]>> It will be 50% plus one.

[00:02:13]Point final.

[00:02:15]>> Quebec adopted its own legislation in response to the Clarity Act at the end of 2000. Bill 99 specifies that when Quebecers vote in the referendum, the winning option is the one that gets 50% of the valid votes cast plus [music] one.

[00:02:32]>> Mr. Carney right now is going against a consensus in Quebec [music] that unites federalists and sovereignists on these matters.

[00:02:41]>> The federal government is not the only one facing [music] challenges with possible referendums in Alberta and Quebec. Recent polls show that the Parti Québécois [music] could win a majority in the fall, but those polls also suggest that support [music] for independence in the province is well below what would be required to [music] win a referendum by any measure.