referendum

Definition: A referendum is the process of referring a political question to the general electorate. Voters are asked to answer yes or no to a written question. The results of a referendum in Canada are binding. Referendums can be held at any level of government, but are more common at the provincial or local level.

Canada has had only three federal referendums:

• referendum on prohibition in 1898
• referendum on conscription in 1942
• referendum on the Charlottetown Accord in 1992.

Although all provinces in Canada have held referendums, the two best known, and possibly most divisive, were the Quebec referendum in 1980 in which the Quebec provincial government asked for a mandate to negotiate sovereignty association and a second Quebec referendum in 1995 on the sovereignty issue.