STEPS TO AUTONOMY CANADAS GROWING AUTONOMY During the

STEPS TO AUTONOMY

CANADA’S GROWING AUTONOMY - During the 1920 s, Canada took major steps toward full autonomy - Autonomy: control over own affairs - Canada was being recognized for its contributions to WWI - war supplies, soldiers, role in Allied victories, signed the Treaty of Versailles - Canada had a new sense of national maturity - Mackenzie King became Prime Minister in 1921

CHANAK AFFAIR, 1922 - Dispute between Britain and Turkey at Chanak (small town between the Aegean and Black Seas) - Turkey threatened to take over the area - Britain asked Canada to help if war developed

CHANAK AFFAIR, 1922 - Mackenzie King knew that most Canadians did not want to get involved in another European war - King replied that only Canadian Parliament could decide whether to send troops - King made it clear that Canada would make its own foreign policy

HALIBUT TREATY, 1923 - Canada and the United States worked out an agreement on the fishing season for Halibut in the north Pacific - In the past, Britain always signed treaties on Canada’s behalf - This time, Mackenzie King insisted that only representatives from Canada and the US should sign - Eventually, Britain agreed Canada won the right to sign treaties with a foreign country on its own

THE KING-BYNG CRISIS, 1926 - Governor General Julian Byng refused to dissolve Parliament and call an election when Mackenzie King requested - King accused Byng of ignoring advice of the elected government - The Prime Minister argued that this was a breach of the principle of a responsible government - At the next Imperial Conference, King was determined to clarify the role of the governor general

THE BALFOUR REPORT, 1926 - King was determined that Canadians should make their own decisions about foreign policy, no British interference - Balfour Report Canada and the other Dominions would be declared self-governing and independent nations - But agreed to remain part of a new Commonwealth of Nations - Commonwealth Nations equal in status, united by common allegiance to the British Monarch

THE BALFOUR REPORT, 1926 - The Governor General would be now be a representative of the Crown, not the agent of the British government - As a sovereign nation, the Canadian government should communicate with the British government directly, not through the Governor General

NEW FOREIGN EMBASSIES, 1927/28 - In 1927, Canada opened its own embassy in the United States - Vincent Massey - Canada’s first foreign diplomat - In 1928, Canadian embassies opened in France and Belgium

THE STATUTE OF WESTMINSTER, 1931 - Passed by Britain - Made recommendations of the Balfour Report into law - Canada was made completely self-governing, bound by no laws other than its own - Britain could no longer make any laws for Canada

RANK FOR HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE - Chanak Affair, 1922 - The Halibut Treaty, 1923 - The King-Byng Crisis, 1926 - The Balfour Report, 1926 - New Foreign Embassies, 1927/28 - The Statute of Westminster, 1931