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Constitutional Amendment, Constitutional Conventions, Constitution of Canada, Referendum, Jennings Test, Patriation Reference, Secession Reference, Senate Reform Reference, Charlottetown Accord, Meech Lake Accord
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The Conventions Of Constitutional Amendment In Canada, Richard Albert
The Conventions Of Constitutional Amendment In Canada, Richard Albert
Osgoode Legal Studies Research Paper Series
Commentators have suggested that the unsuccessful national referendum to ratify the 1992 Charlottetown Accord has created an expectation of popular participation requiring national referendal consultation in major reforms to the Constitution of Canada. In this Article, I inquire whether federal political actors are bound by a constitutional convention of national referendal consultation for formal amendments to the basic structure of the Constitution of Canada. Drawing from the Supreme Court of Canada’s Patriation Reference, I suggest that we cannot know whether federal political actors are bound by such a convention until they are confronted with the question whether or not to …