Clarity Act legislated by Parliament of Canada
The Clarity Act (French: Loi sur la clarté référendaire) (known as Bill C-20 before it became law) (the act) is legislation passed by the Parliament of Canada that established the conditions under which the Government of Canada would enter into negotiations that might lead to secession following such a vote by one of the provinces.  The Clarity Bill (C-20) was tabled for first reading in the House of Commons on 13 December 1999. It was passed by the House on 15 March 2000, and by the Senate, in its final version, on 29 June 2000.Although the law applies to all provinces, the Clarity Act was created in response to the 1995 Quebec referendum and ongoing independence movement in that province. The content of the act was based on the 1998 secession reference to the Supreme Court of Canada made by the federal government of Prime Minister Jean Chrétien. Previously in 1996, a private member's bill, the Quebec Contingency Act (Bill C-341) was introduced to establish the conditions which would apply to a referendum regarding the separation of Quebec from Canada, but it did not proceed further than the first reading.
Two days after the act had been introduced in the Canadian House of Commons, the Parti Québécois government passed An Act respecting the exercise of the fundamental rights and prerogatives of the Québec people and the Québec State in the National Assembly of Quebec.Passage and reactions to Clarity Act
The Clarity Act (Bill C-20) was later drafted and presented to the House of Commons on 13 December 1999. This was denounced by all provincial parties in the Quebec National Assembly, the Bloc Québécois, and many federalists. The Progressive Conservative Party, led by former Prime Minister Joe Clark, also opposed the act. The NDP voted in favour of the act.Following its adoption by the Parliament of Canada, an open letter supporting Quebec's right to self-determination was published and signed by numerous intellectuals from Quebec and other parts of Canada.
William Johnson, leader of Quebec's largest Anglophone rights group, Alliance Quebec said the act would prevent the promulgation of misinformation by separatists.Former Prime Minister Chrétien has often stated that the act was among his proudest achievements in federal politics.
In an interview with CTV News aired on 15 May 2005, separatist former premier of Quebec, Jacques Parizeau said that the act "meant nothing" and would be ignored.
On 7 December 2005, in the midst of a federal election, New Democratic Party leader Jack Layton too announced that he backed the act. This was in contrast to comments made in the 2004 election where he said that Canada should recognize a declaration of Quebec independence if sovereigntists win a referendum.
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