CAN A PROVINCE SUCH AS ALBERTA LAWFULLY SECEDE FROM CANADA?

Secession is the effort of a group or section of a state to withdraw itself from the political and constitutional authority of that state, with a view to achieving statehood for a new territorial unit, recognized internationally. In a federal state, secession typically takes the form of a territorial unit seeking to withdraw from the federation. The process may begin with a group proclaiming an act of secession or unilateral declaration of independence.

Many of the historical examples of secession were violent:

• The withdrawal of 11 southern states from the United States of America in 1860-61 which led to the American civil war (1861-1865)

• The Irish Republic leaving the United Kingdom which led to the “Irish War of Independence” (1919–21) and decades of civil insurrection an guerrilla warfare in Northern Ireland (“the Troubles” 1916-1998)

• Finland voting to leave Soviet Russia in 1917, setting off the Finnish Civil War

• Biafra leaving Nigeria, and then returning after losing the Nigerian Civil War (1968-1970)

A peaceful secession is a legal act as much as a political one. Although the Constitution of Canada neither expressly authorizes nor prohibits secession, an act of secession or a unilateral declaration of independence would purport to alter the governance of Canadian territory in a manner which would be inconsistent with our current constitutional arrangements. The secession of a province from Canada must therefore be considered, in legal terms, to require an amendment to the Constitution.

What then is the Canadian law on this subject?