MONTREAL- A federal challenge to the law governing the terms of Quebec sovereignty has drawn a strong rebuke from the province’s intergovernmental affairs minister.
“It was very shocked,” said Alex Cloutier, who spoke at a press conference in Quebec City. “Obviously the federal government is trying to invalidate one of the most important laws adopted by the Quebec government.”
Cloutier is referring to Bill 99, which is the law that allows for Quebec sovereignty if 50 per cent plus one of the province’s electorate vote for independence. The law is a piece of legislation that straddles the Two Solitudes and has existed in apparent defiance of conflicting federal and constitutional law.
It was originally passed in 2000, during the last Parti Québécois administration, in response to the Clarity Act. The Clarity Act was a federal measure spearheaded by Prime Minister Jean Chretien which sought to set the terms for any future sovereignty referendums by offering voters a clear question and requiring a “clear majority.”
But the problem with those terms, says Concordia University politics professor Harold Chorney, is that they were never clearly defined.
The Supreme Court “left it deliberately vague, because they didn’t want to make a final decision wisely thinking that politics in the end would settle this issue.”
Now a decade later, that issue hasn’t been resolved. Neither has the challenge to Bill 99, which was originally filed in 2001 by Keith Henderson, a member of Montreal’s old Equity Party. The challenge has been languishing in the court system and was all but forgotten until Harper’s government intervened. Harper’s government is asking a court to “read down” the law.
“The law would still be on the books if it were read down,” said Brent Tyler, the lawyer representing Henderson. “But it wouldn’t mean what the PQ said it was supposed to mean.”
Tyler is hoping the challenge will settle the issue of Quebec sovereignty – and how to achieve it – once and for all.
“It’ll be a stake driven through the heart of this myth that’s been governing Quebec political life for the longest time,” he said.
A court date is set for Dec. 19 to determine when the challenge will be heard. Tyler says he believed that will be sometime in the middle of next year.
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