The Quebec Secession Reference by key legal advisor Warren J. Newman

York U. Centre for Public Law and Public Policy Publishes Definitive Work on Quebec Secession Ruling by Supreme Court

TORONTO, November 5, 1999 -- The Centre for Public Law and Public Policy at York University, Osgoode Hall Law School, has published the definitive chronicle to date on the events leading up to and including the August 20, 1998 Supreme Court of Canada ruling on the legality of Quebec's secession from Canada.

In a book entitled The Quebec Secession Reference: The Rule of Law and the Position of the Attorney General of Canada (le Renvoi relatif ý la sÈcession du QuÈbec: la primautÈ du droit et la position du procureur gÈnÈral du Canada) author Warren J. Newman outlines the key events that led the federal government to seek a comprehensive opinion from the Supreme Court on the legality of unilateral secession. He also analyses the Supreme Court's findings on the state of constitutional law and international law with respect to the secession of a province from Canada. Newman is a senior constitutional lawyer with the Department of Justice who acted as co-counsel for the Attorney General of Canada in the Court's proceedings.

This incisive account by a key legal advisor comes at a time when the federal government has stated that the principle of clarity set out in the Supreme Court ruling will be respected. The ruling states that Canada would be obliged to enter into negotiations on secession if Quebecers vote in favour of it by a clear majority on a clear question.

While a great deal has been written about the various aspects of the October 1995 sovereignty referendum in Quebec -- a narrow miss for the separatists -- no one has attempted to document the entire story, from the election of the Parti Quebecois government in 1994 to the Supreme Court decision in 1998. "Mr. Newman's book is a comprehensive account from someone who was directly involved in the process and is an important contribution to our understanding of this critical period in our history," said York Law Prof. Patrick Monahan, who is also Director of the Centre for Public Law and Public Policy.

Osgoode Hall Law School Dean Peter Hogg praised the book as "an excellent legal account of the last referendum from the perspective of a member of the federal government's legal team. It will serve as an important reference work for lawyers and policy makers interested in the 1995 referendum campaign, as well as in any similar exercise in the future," said Dean Hogg.

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For further information, please contact:

Prof. Patrick Monahan
Osgoode Hall Law School
York University
(416) 736-5568

Joanne Rappaport
Osgoode Hall Law School
York University
(416) 736-2100, ext. 77562

Susan Bigelow
Media Relations
York University
(416) 736-2100, ext. 22091
YU/118/99