View source for Bill 99

{{Short description|2000 Quebec law}}
{{Infobox legislation
|short_title            = Bill 99
|legislature            = [[Quebec Legislature]]
| image          = Coat of arms of Quebec.svg
| imagesize      = 130px 
|image_upright          = 
|imagealt               = 
|caption                = 
|long_title             = Act respecting the exercise of the fundamental rights and prerogatives of the Québec people and the Québec State
|citation               = 
|territorial_extent     = 
|date_enacted           = February 28, 2001
|date_passed            = <!-- Pick one of date_enacted or date_passed as appropriate in jurisdiction. -->
|royal_assent           = <!-- Pick none or one of date_assented, royal_assent or date_signed as appropriate in jurisdiction. -->
|date_effective         = <!-- Pick one of date_commenced or date_effective as appropriate in jurisdiction. -->
|date_of_expiry         = 
|date_repealed          = 
|administered_by        = Minister responsible for Canadian Relations and the Canadian Francophonie
|bill                   = Bill 99
|bill_citation          = 
|bill_date              = 
|introduced_by          = <!-- Name of member introducing the bill in the chamber. -->
|1st_reading            = 
|2nd_reading            = <!-- Specify date range for multi-day readings. -->
|3rd_reading            = 
|conf_committee_passed  = 
|committee_report       = 
|date_conf_committee    = 
|white_paper            = 
|amends                 = <!-- Citations of other notable legislation that this legislation amends; wikilink or external link where possible. -->
|repeals                = <!-- Citations of other notable legislation that this legislation repeals; wikilink or external link where possible. -->
|amended_by             = <!-- Citations of other notable legislation that amends this legislation; wikilink or external link where possible.  -->
|repealed_by            = <!-- Citation of the legislation that repealed this legislation; wikilink or external link if possible. -->
|related_legislation    = <!-- Names and citations of any other related legislation; wikilink name and external link citation where possible. -->
|summary                = 
|keywords               = 
|status                 = In force
}}
'''Bill 99''' (R.S.Q., c. E-20.2) is a [[Quebec]] law concerning the consequences of any future referendum on independence; it was enacted in 2000 in response to the enactment of the federal ''[[Clarity Act]]'' by the [[Parliament of Canada]]. The full official title of the law is "An Act respecting the exercise of the fundamental rights and prerogatives of the Québec people and the Québec State" ({{langx|fr|link=no|Loi sur l'Exercice des droits fondamentaux et des prérogatives du peuple québécois et de l'État du Québec}}). It has no formal [[Short and long titles|short title]] and so is commonly referred to as "Bill 99", the designation under which it was introduced in the Quebec legislature by the [[Parti Québécois]].

==History==
The bill was introduced by [[Joseph Facal]] to the [[National Assembly of Quebec]] in an emergency session{{clarify|date=December 2021}} on 15 December 1999, two days after the introduction of the ''Clarity Act'' in the [[House of Commons of Canada]]. It was adopted on 7 December 2000, by a vote of 69 to 41. The bill was opposed by Liberal leader [[Jean Charest]], who preferred the National Assembly pass a [[Motion (parliamentary procedure)|motion]] rather than a law.<ref>''Canadian Annual Review of Politics and Public Affairs 1999'', p. 151.</ref>

Whereas the federal act states that, in the case of a [[referendum]] about the [[secession]] of a Canadian province, the House of Commons has the power to determine afterwards whether the question was clear enough and whether the obtained majority was large enough for the result to be accepted, the provincial act stipulates that Quebecers may determine unilaterally how to exercise their right to choose their political regime, including sovereignty, and that the winning option in a referendum is whichever obtains 50% of the votes plus one. Both acts are mandates given to their respective governments.

While opposed to Bill 99, the opposition Liberal Party tabled a motion agreeing with many of its central provisions, including the right of Quebec to decide any referendum question and the 50%-plus-one rule.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.assnat.qc.ca/fr/travaux-parlementaires/assemblee-nationale/36-1/journal-debats/20001207/9425.html|title=Journal des débats de l'Assemblée nationale - Assemblée nationale du Québec|website=www.assnat.qc.ca}}</ref>

The motivation for Bill 99 was to ensure that, even in the absence a referendum, Quebec's political fate would result only from decisions made by Quebecers and not by other Canadians.  The constitutional validity of both the ''Clarity Act'' and Bill 99 has been questioned, however, with respect to the ''[[Constitution Act 1867]]''{{'s}} allocation of legislative powers between the federal and provincial government.

==Legal challenge==

In August 2007, three justices of the [[Quebec Court of Appeal]] unanimously held that Keith Henderson, former leader of the [[Equality Party (Quebec)|Equality Party]], an English-language rights group, had standing to challenge the legality of the statute, which the Quebec Superior Court dubbed "Bill 99" in the absence of a short title for it.<ref name="canada.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/editorial/story.html?id%3D940b6480-253f-47c0-836f-d5d8aed3361e |title=Bill 99 ruling puts stick in hornets' nest |accessdate=2007-09-03 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20121102140140/http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/editorial/story.html?id=940b6480-253f-47c0-836f-d5d8aed3361e |archivedate=2012-11-02 }}</ref> In 2018, the [[Quebec Superior Court]] ruled that Bill 99 was constitutional, as its wording did not actually authorize a unilateral declaration of independence.<ref name="MyUser_Cbc.ca_August_15_2017c">{{cite news |url=https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/court-upholds-quebec-law-on-self-determination |title=Court upholds Quebec law on self-determination but says it doesn't give unilateral right to secede - National Post |date= April 19, 2018 |author=Graeme Hamilton |newspaper=National Post |accessdate= April 20, 2018}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://canlii.ca/t/z25 Text of the act]
*[http://ssjb.com/files/uploads/2017/06/2018-04-19-CS-Jugement-Henderson-c.-PGQ-et-PGC-500-05-065031-013-Version-nume%CC%81rique.pdf ''Henderson c. Procureur Général du Québec'' (18 April 2018)]

{{Quebec sovereignty movement}}

[[Category:Quebec provincial legislation]]
[[Category:Canadian election legislation]]
[[Category:Referendums in Quebec|*]]
[[Category:2000 in Quebec]]
[[Category:2000 in Canadian law]]
[[Category:Quebec sovereignty movement]]
[[Category:Independence]]
[[Category:Interprovincial and interterritorial conflicts in Canada]]
[[Category:Secession]]
[[Category:Consequences]]