Two referenda have been held in the Quebec province of Canada to form a new country, in 1980 and 1995, both by the separatist Parti Québécois. The 1980 referendum was defeated fairly handily, but the 1995 referendum finished with a very narrow 50.58% No vote from a 93.5% turnout.

Just as Scotland emphasized that there'd still be ties between an independent Scottish state and the rump United Kingdom, Quebec was interested in what's been called "sovereignty-association". To summarize a rather vague idea, Quebec would be an independent nation but would retain formal ties with the rest of Canada. Canada and the Country of Quebec would have a customs union, a common currency, probably an open border, and even a few common legal institutions.

As in the recent Scottish case, cooperation from the rest of Canada was completely taken for granted in the sovereignty-association scheme. Many provincial premiers were against the idea and there was a lot of grassroots opposition in the rest of Canada. There was no pre-existing agreement between the rest of Canada and the Parti Québécois as to what would happen in the case of a Yes vote. The Canadian government believed Quebec needed a large majority to separate; the PQ believed that 50% plus one was enough. The Canadian government even objected to the question on the referendum in 1995. The wording:

Do you agree that Quebec should become sovereign after having made a formal offer to Canada for a new economic and political partnership within the scope of the bill respecting the future of Quebec and of the agreement signed on June 12, 1995?

...was considered too vague and confusing, leading to the Clarity Act of 2000.

Sorry, we don't allow throughout history questions. These tend to produce threads which are collections of trivia, not the in-depth discussions about a particular topic we're looking for. If you have a specific question about a historical event or period or person, please feel free to re-compose your question and submit it again.