Alberta referendum question does not fall under Clarity Act: Carney
Posted May 26, 2026 2:45 pm.
Prime Minister Mark Carney says the federal government believes the Clarity Act will not apply to the separation referendum question Albertans will be asked in October.
“As premier, you have to respect the advice of experts,” Carney said Tuesday during Question Period in the House of Commons.
“I just received advice from experts regarding the applicability of the Clarity Act, and it does not apply.”
That comment represents a change of course for Carney, who, until recently, maintained any question about provincial sovereignty would be subject to the Clarity Act, under which federal elected officials determine whether the wording of the question and the majority are clear.
On Tuesday, the Bloc Québécois renewed its call for Ottawa to repeal the act, which it considers “undemocratic.”
“A clear majority is 50 per cent of the votes plus one. The prime minister knows this; all his laws are passed by 50 per cent plus one. His majority rests on 50 per cent plus one,” declared Bloc parliamentary leader Christine Normandin.
But the Canadian prime minster says under the Clarity Act, a clear majority “is not 50 per cent plus one.”
“We must respect democracy, we must respect the laws of Parliament and the decisions of the Supreme Court of Canada,” he asserted.
During the exchange, Bloc Québécois justice critic Rhéal Fortin stood up and retorted that “there is no place in a democracy for a law that does not respect the will of the people expressed by 50 per cent plus one vote.”
The Clarity Act was passed in 2000 by Jean Chrétien’s government in response to the Supreme Court’s opinion on secession of Quebec. It sets out the preconditions for the federal government to negotiate the separation of a province.
–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews
