The Pearson Centre recently met with Stéphane Dion, former federal Liberal leader and Cabinet Minister, and Corey Hogan, a current Member of Parliament for Calgary, for a conversation about the legal and political dimensions of Canadian separatist movements, and what Canadians should do about it. Among democratic nations, Canada is unique. It is one of the only countries in the world that formally acknowledges the legal possibility of provincial secession, through a constitutional process contingent on clear popular support for separation. Comparable democracies such as in France or the United States are indivisible, with no option for secession. However, as Dion emphasized, this secession process cannot occur unilaterally. The Clarity Act, shaped in large part by Dion’s political contributions after the 1995 Quebec referendum, establishes that any future referendum question must be clear and have a clear majority in favour to initiate negotiations. What is now happening in Alberta and Quebec is testing the limits of that framework, and exposing the risks of treating secession as a routine political instrument rather than the profound constitutional act it is.