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Was Canada An Independent Country

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Canada was not always an independent country but through many important historical events, Canada was able to become the independent country that it is now. Canada had started off as one of the many colonies of Great Britain, and slowly proved to the world that they weren't just a colony, but much more. Overtime, canadians were gaining more and more power and were being recognized as formidable by others due to the key events that had happened throughout history. Some of the key events that I am going to talk about are The Battle of Vimy Ridge, The Statute of Westminster, NATO, The Nuclear Debate, as well as NAFTA.

The battle of Vimy Ridge and the Statute of Westminster were the first steps to Canada’s road to independence and a major turning …show more content…

After signing the NORAD the North American Aerospace Defense Command, Canada was urged to build nuclear weapons by the United States. Due to the many protests going on, the weapons were never successfully built which had angered the American government. Though America are still pressuring Canada to build the nuclear weapons, the Canadian government had declined and rejected the offer due to the many protests from citizens. If something were to happen to the nuclear weapons, it would cause harm to not only the citizens of Canada, but also the country as a whole. “Its me against the Americans, we are not a puppet.” -John Diefenbaker 1963 (Leskun, 29). This quote states that Canada was capable to make its own decisions and that it would not stand to be controlled by others. In this situation, it meant that even if America had pressured Canada to build nuclear weapons, if the citizens of Canada did not want it then they would not be built. This was another example of Canada being independent from the United States of America and it also showed that Canada was not just a shadow of America nor was Canada always a step behind the United States. Although Canada had refused to install the nuclear missiles, it did not change the close relationship between Canada and the United States of …show more content…

Canada, Mexico and the United States were all involved in NAFTA, the North American Free Trade Agreement. This agreement had really helped improve Canada’s economy and raised the standards of living in Canada. NAFTA had also proved itself to be a solid foundation to building Canada’s prosperity which is good for Canada’s independence as well (North, 1). After the free trade agreement, there were many positive effects in the Canadian economy. John F. Kerry, an American politician had once said, “NAFTA recognizes the reality of today's economy - globalization and technology.”(John, 1) This agreement states that Canada is helping in globalizing the economy of not only America but Canada and Mexico as well. In this case, the agreement is improving and benefiting the Canadian economy very well which is great for Canada's independence. It shows that Canada can make its own decisions with other countries to benefit their own country in many ways economic wise as well as independence wise. This also shows that although Canada and America are important trading partners, it doesn't necessarily mean that one country is a step behind the other. It means that if they work together, they can benefit each other and help improve one another's growth as

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