Antonio Lamer

In honour of the passing of former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Antonio Lamer, a link to what he has been quoted as saying was the most important decision issued during his tenure: Reference re Sucession of Quebec. I've seen current Chief Justice Beverly McLachlin speak before, and she has said the same thing. The decision was authored by "The Court", as opposed to crediting a single author as a symbol of the unanimity of the court and the significance of the decision. The case discusses the structure of the Constitution and the jurisprudential basis of informing constitutional analysis with unwritten underlying constitutional values and principles (in contrast with the textualism/originalism doctrine applied by some US Supreme Court justices such as Antonin Scalia). The decision attempts to answer the question of whether our constitutional system contemplates the unilateral sucession of Quebec by the National Assembly. The Court found that a clear majority vote on a clear question by the people of Quebec for sucession did not allow unilateral sucession, but gave rise to an obligation on the part of Government of Canada to negotiate in good faith with Quebec. This decision was the basis of Stephane Dion's Clarity Act. The first section of the decision deals with the constitutional authority of the federal Parliament to enact a provision in the Supreme Court Act that allows the Supreme Court to answer reference questions from Parliament (this was not a case per say, but a non-binding advisory opinion). This section is little dry and heavy on the application of doctrines of federalism and statutory interpretation. The part that answers the question on the sucession of Quebec starts at paragraph 32. Enjoy.