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MONTREAL — It has been more than 20 years since Quebec’s last sovereignty referendum nearly tore the country apart, and most of the political players from that time have faded from view.

But in a Montreal courtroom this week, the tumultuous post-referendum period will be revisited as a challenge of a Quebec law asserting its right to unilaterally secede finally comes to trial.

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The passage of Bill 99 — an Act Respecting the Exercise of the Fundamental Rights and Prerogatives of the Quebec People and the Quebec State — was a last gasp of Parti Québécois premier Lucien Bouchard as he tried to rekindle the sovereigntist passion that brought the Yes side so close to victory in 1995.

Bouchard was livid after Ottawa, in the wake of the 1995 close call, introduced the Clarity Act setting ground rules for any future referendums. The Clarity Act gave Parliament the power to judge whether a referendum yielded a clear majority on a clear question. Only then could negotiation begin on secession, on subjects mandated by the act.