After the release of MLI’s Commentary Secession and the Virtues of Clarity, MLI author Stéphane Dion followed up with an op-ed for the Ottawa Citizen entitled “Why 50% plus one isn’t enough” on May 28, 2011.
In the op-ed, Dion explains why 50% plus one in a referendum is insufficient to secure Quebec’s secession from Canada. He outlines two fundamental reasons why negtiations for secession should be based on a clear majority. First, “serious and irreversible decisions that affect future generations should be made by consensus…not on the basis of a result which might have been different if the vote had been held the day before or the day after.” Second, “what must not happen is that, while negotiators are working on a separation agreement, the majority should change its mind and decide to oppose secession.”
