Comparing The Balfour Report And The Statute Of Westminster

In 1914, Canada was a British colony as it had been a part of the British Empire ever since the 1600’s, with a majority of Canadian citizens being of British descent. But, with Canada’s participation in World War I on the front lines and domestically, Canada repeatedly proved that “colony” is not something that should be used to describe itself. Despite some of the costs, Canadians took it upon themselves to show the Allies and the Germans who they truly are. We emerged from the war, as not only independent of British control, but also as a major global superpower due to the Allies’ military dependence on us, the economy developing skyward and full jurisdiction in foreign affairs.

It was in the weary war years of Mackenzie King in the 1930’s when the development of Canadian foreign policy started to take shape. Before that period Canada did not have an independent foreign policy with no international presence whatsoever and Canadian people saw themselves as part of the British dynasty. The first period in the formulation of Canadian foreign policy was in fact the ‘absence’ of policy and it was World War 1 which gave birth to foreign policy. Sixty thousand Canadians were lost which left Canadians wary of international development especially when there were very few military objectives. Canada had minimal control over her own troops and negotiations with the British were a challenge. Our troops were under control of the British and negotiating with the British was challenging. Looking back, there was almost a sense of absurdity about WW1. Therefore, Canadians came out of WW1 with a stronger than ever desire for independence. The Statute of Westminster, 1931, was the last of the Imperial Acts of the Parliament of Great Britain applicable to all dominions. It granted Canada,

When it comes to Canadian History, perhaps the most controversial and widely disputable topic of debate would have to be one of Canada’s greatest wars: The War of 1812. A wide array of views are held on many aspects of the war ranging from who won to what ramifications the war would ultimately sire. In yet another discussion on the ever so controversial War of 1812, a new question was posed and deliberated by five historians: whose war, was it? Like any other question posed about this war a multitude of ideas would ultimately arise in each of their differing viewpoints. In their roundhouse discussion, the historians would ultimately serve to paint the War of 1812 as a war that transcends much further than the nationalistic view. A view that, though an important part of Canadian history, has been exaggerated to the point of choking out the many voices who fought and continue to fight for inclusion in the narrative. In their remembrance of the War of 1812, society unwittingly failed history in their lackluster commemorations which exclude important narratives and voices and stand tainted by the misuse of history to serve the nationalistic agenda.

Ever since I moved to Canada, I have constantly been taught about arguably the single most important event in the country's history - Confederation. In 1867, the Fathers of Confederation helped ratify the first British North America Act, the culminating product of a hard-fought political process which united Upper and Lower Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick. The study of the Dominion of Canada's formation is typically fixated on the politicians' roles (3), and this deficient scope is a significant reason as to why Andrew Smith's monograph, British Business and Canadian Confederation, manifested itself so clearly to me. As I am studying Canadian history through a business context, this book seemed quite appropriate Instead of focusing on the usual suspects, such as the American threat or Anglophone-Francophone relations, Smith seeks to analyze the often neglected influence that British businessmen had on Confederation. As such, the piece's overriding argument is that had there not been support from prominent British investors, Canada's landmark federal unification would not have taken place, whether on July 1, 1867 or otherwise (3). By overtly and exhaustively presenting the prevailing contention in the opening paragraphs, Smith leaves no doubt in the reader's mind as to what the following chapters contain and validate.

In the year of 1867 the nation we know as Canada came into being. The Confederation in this year only came about after things had been overcome. Many political and economic pressures were exerted on the colonies and a federal union of the colonies seemed to be the most practical method of dealing with these pressures and conflicts. While Confederation was a solution to many of the problems, it was not a popular one for all the colonies involved. In the Maritime colonies views differed widely on the topic. Some were doubtful, some were pleased, others were annoyed and many were hopeful for a prosperous future.1

The Statute of Westminister allowed Canada to make their own laws and regulations. Britain couldn’t rule Canada, but the Privy Council in Britain is still higher than Supreme Court of Canada. The document was signed in Britain, since Canada was still part of British Empire at the time. British Empire passed the Statute of Westminister on Dec. 11, 1931 and Canada gained complete independence. This Statute effected not only Canada but five more dominions, the Commonwealth of Australia, the Irish Free State, the Dominion of Newfoundland, the Dominion of New Zealand, and the Union of South Africa.

During the 1920’s and 30’s, Canada gained political, economic, and social autonomy through several crucial events. To begin with, Autonomy is defined as a nation's independence from another countries obstruction in its domestic affairs, which could simply mean having the power to govern oneself and make one’s own decisions. During the Interwar period, Canada was involved in several events. However, this time around Canada was not just around as Britain’s puppet, but there as a conscious being aware of its own actions. The one similar aspect is that Canada was still quite influenced by Britain and now even America. Otherwise, Canada had started to build up its own autonomy throughout these events in the political, social, and economical properties,

The first major event that impacted Canada’s legacy, as a whole, was the sacrificial battle of Vimy Ridge. Vimy Ridge was proven to be essential to the foundation of Canada as it signified the birth of a new nation and it was considered to be the greatest battle fought, in World War One. Firstly, the Battle of Vimy Ridge established Canada’s emergence as a newly born nation from under the shadow of Britain and gave a verification of Canada’s prominence on the international level. For instance, after successfully regaining the ridge, it displayed to the British superpower, that Canada are worthy of independence, that must be granted upon as a reward for a significant victory (Fonseca). As a result, the Battle of Vimy Ridge, marked the end of British soldiers commanding Canadian troops, as Canada showed tremendous resilience internationally, and also proved that we are independently, capable of leading a well-organized attack against other countries (Fonseca). This milestone was a huge accomplishment for Canadians, as eventually this was the catalyst for total autonomy of Britain (“History Now”). Secondly, the Battle of Vimy Ridge gave Canada justified independence on the international stage. As a result of winning the complicated battle, Canada was deservedly permitted to their own independent seat and signature at the peace talks after the war. This then allowed Canada, to participate in voicing their thoughts, and plans as a newly independent country. This was seen to be,

Independence, the state of being free from outside control, and not subject to another’s authority. The 1920s and 1930s were a time for Canada to leave its British roots behind and forge its own identity, as well as take control of all matters relating to the preservation of the country and its people. However, this was not the case. Canada, although receiving some leeway from the British, remained a dependent country under the thumb of outside forces due to the fact that they were still under the British North American Act, thereby not having their own constitution, as well as the English monarch remaining as the head of state, and because it moved its economic dependence off the shoulders of one nation and unto another’s. Although the Chanak Affair showed that Canada’s military was no longer obligated to fight

Its often said that because of the events of the Second World War that Canada grew as a country. Even noted in the London Daily Telegraph when they said “no country has grown in international stature so swiftly and markedly as Canada has done... hers has often been a lonely voice of reason,”12. This statement defines Canada's actions in its development as a middle power – the voice of reason in many international affairs. This is true especially of these two crises that Canada dealt

As time goes on, some countries become more relevant in the global sphere while others start to fade away. Canada is a country that only becomes more relevant as time goes on. Since being granted full sovereignty, Canada has had a growing role as a major world player. Much of their international growth has to do with its close ties to the United States and the United Kingdom. However, the country has also undergone huge change and refocusing on a domestic level. With influence from both Europe and the United States, Canada has a very unique system of governing. This paper will focus on a few major areas of Canada. It will look into the history of Canada, the structure of its government, its politics, and many of the major issues it faces today.

The most important aspect of this proposal deals with the aftermath of the Canadian insurrections. This will be of extreme to significance to the reader as the aftermath of the rebellion would change the destiny of Canada. After learning of the uprisings in the Canadian colonies the British parliament sent a commission to study the causes. Lord Durham was named governor on May of 1839 and was in placed in charge of establishing an inquiry into the rebellions. From this inquiry came a list of recommendations submitted to the parliament in London (Outlett, 275). Two recommendations in this report became extremely significant to Canadian history.

Far from the shores of England, and to a large extent independent from the mother country, Canada remained reliant upon Britain, at least for its military expertise. Although Britain was largely preoccupied with the Napoleonic Wars in Europe, its military support of Canada, especially in the later phases of the war, proved to be decisive in the defeat of the Americans. Perhaps this is only appropriate given that Britain’s policy of impressment of American vessels and sailors was a principal cause of the War of 1812(Black, 185). To be fair though, American expansionist sentiment, embodied in the cries of the War Hawks leading up to the War of 1812, and that later manifested itself in the form of Manifest Destiny contained in the Monroe Doctrine, was also a cause of the war. Also contributing to the start of the War was the growing expansionist sentiment in the United States that was based on the idea of American superiority over Canada(185). This sense of superiority was rooted not only in the ideology of the American revolution, that republicanism and democracy were superior to monarchy and despotism, but also in the comparative advantage in population, manpower, financial and industrial strength enjoyed by America (Creighton,108). To the Americans, Upper Canada was an appealing and exceedingly vulnerable province by virtue of its geography, small population and perhaps even more so because of the composition of that population that included many recent

Canada was founded on 1st July, 1867. Before that it was just a colony for France and Britain. It became a country after being undercontrolled for years. The independence of Canada relates to the novel, The Wars, written by a Canadian novelist, Timothy Findley. In the novel, innocence was a major theme. As a colony, Canada was a symbol of innocence. It was forced to join many wars and went through trade between other countries. In the novel, innocents were also being affected by the outside world. Timothy Findley tried to teach us that being innocent will only create chaos around us. We should acknowledge the dangers of the world and grow up.

Graeme Garrad, author of the article and a senior lecturer in history at Cardiff University evokes the event of War of 1812. He writes a beautiful article entitled “The saviour of Canada” which was printed in the journal History today in October 2012. This article is about how Canada defended Britain from United States in the War of 1812. He tells about the consequences of the war and describes how Canada helped Britain. I am going to review his article on the basis of language, images, content, facts, His style of writing, how he concluded the argument, what title lead us to expect from the article, bias or not.