Bloc Québécois formally calls for repeal of referendum Clarity Act

A young woman participates in an independence rally in Montreal, Saturday, Oct. 25, 2025, during an event to mark the 30th anniversary of the 1995 Quebec referendum. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press)

The Bloc Québécois is launching a new parliamentary initiative aimed at consigning Canada’s referendum Clarity Act to the dustbin of history.

On Tuesday, the party introduced a bill to pressure other parties in the House of Commons to take a clear stance.

• READ MORE: ‘A very different landscape’: New generation reshapes Quebec’s sovereignty debate

The Clarity Act, passed at the turn of the 2000s, grants the federal parliament the authority to determine if a majority of residents in a Canadian province have expressed, by answering a clear referendum question, their desire to leave the Canadian federation.

Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet stated that the bill introduced on Tuesday contains a single clause, repealing what sovereignists say gives federalists the right to interfere in a debate that must be decided solely by the people of Quebec.

“I believe there is a very broad consensus among Quebecers that it is up to Quebecers to make the decision regarding their future according to the rules of democracy, where 50 per cent plus one defines a majority,” he said in the House lobby.

Contrarily, last week, Prime Minister Mark Carney made it clear that he disagrees with Blanchet.

“It’s not 50 percent plus one,” he stated in the House of Commons.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre refused to answer journalists on Tuesday as they asked him for his stance on the future of the Clarity Act.

• READ MORE: Quebec referendum? Parties pushing government to answer: yes or no

Instead, he took the opportunity to blame, once again, successive Liberal governments for the pro-sovereignty momentum.

With information from Michel Saba.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on June 2, 2026.