Chantal Hebert

which was a way to give not only leverage to a future federal government in the case of another Quebec referendum, in this case, Alberta, but also to send a message to people interested in separation that it was going to be a bit harder to determine the circumstances of the question.

The last referendum question, by the way, was a paragraph long.

It was all but...

It wasn't clear in any way, shape or form.

You had to have a Google to see the references in it and Google back to what it actually meant.

But since then, the UK has had a referendum in Scotland.

And in that case, the Westminster Parliament did approve the question posed to Scottish voters, but it also agreed that if it carried that 50% plus one, there would be negotiations leading to independence for Scotland from Scotland.

from the UK.

So that precedent kind of forces the federal government to say, well, 50% plus one, it's going to be very hard to argue that what's good enough for a Brexit, what's good enough for Scotland independence would not be good enough for a provincial secession result to be recognized.

The Supreme Court has also said that

that it is constitutionally possible to leave Canada.

There is nothing in the Constitution that says you can't have it, but it is also said that you would be obligated to negotiate in the case of a yes victory.

But there is no expectation that it would come to a positive outcome.

So you could talk about, you know, yes, you want to separate, let's discuss the terms.

Everybody comes to the table, but that doesn't mean that you must arrive at a resolution that leads to separation.

But why I'm saying I'm looking at the calendar, I'm thinking if Daniel Smith asked that question for October 19th and Quebec is going to have an election on October 5th,

This means that the federal government would be debating the referendum question in Alberta while the Quebec campaign is ongoing and would be discussing thresholds that may be higher than 50% plus one.

Let me tell you two things.

There is not a provincial party in Quebec, a mainstream one, including the federalist liberals that have backed the Clarity Act in any way, shape or form.

or the notion that the Parliament of Canada would determine the question that could one day be asked of Quebecers, or that would prescribe a threshold other than 50% plus one.