Seceding The Canadian Way

Hilliard Aronovitch

Publius: The Journal of Federalism, vol. 36, issue 4, 541-564

Abstract: The Canadian Supreme Court's 1998 decision on whether Quebec has a right to secede was initially lauded for granting both the federal government and secessionists their due. The Court found there to be an implicit Constitutional right for Quebec to secede, but by negotiation of the terms, not one-sided action. It thus deemed secession both a legal and a political phenomenon. This paper critically reassesses the decision in light especially of recent discussions about constitutionalizing secession. It argues that while a right to “nonunilateral” secession is warranted on general moral-political grounds, it should not be encoded or interpreted as a constitutional right, nor should it be called upon except to avoid systematic injustice. Copyright , Oxford University Press.

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