In response to the Quebec governmentâs unilateral amendment to the BNA Act, 1867; and, to Justin Trudeauâs view that the province is well within its rights to amend its constitution in such a fashion, Anthony Housefather argues:
âIn legal terms, Quebec wants to add two new subsections (90Q.1 and 90Q.2) to the portion of the Constitution that governs provincial jurisdiction (Section 90). To do so, Quebec is relying on Section 45 of the 1982 Constitution Act, which says that any province can pass a law in its provincial legislature to amend its constitution."
I do believe Housefather is incorrect because the amendments are to s. 90 BNA Act, 1867, which lists the four provinces and defines them; not to s. 92, which governs provincial powers. The Quebec government is defining Quebec as a ânationâ; and declaring the French language as its âonly and soleâ official and âcommonâ language.