Clarity Act - Key Points

Key Points

The key points of the legislation included the following:

• Giving the House of Commons the power to decide whether a proposed referendum question was considered clear before the public vote;
• Specifically stating that any question not solely referring to secession was to be considered unclear;
• Giving the House of Commons the power to determine whether or not a clear majority had expressed itself following any referendum vote, implying that some sort of supermajority is required for success;
• Stating that all provinces and the First Nations were to be part of the negotiations;
• Allowing the House of Commons to override a referendum decision if it felt the referendum violated any of the tenets of the Clarity Act;
• The secession of a province of Canada would require an amendment to the Constitution of Canada.