canada takes a stand for independence chanak crisis the halibut treaty the imperial conference the...
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Canada Takes a Stand for IndependenceChanak CrisisThe Halibut TreatyThe Imperial ConferenceThe Balfour ReportThe Statute of Westminster
Review WWI
The Chanak Crisis 1922• Chanak was a Turkish
port controlled by Britain
- Condition of one of the treaties from the Paris Peace Conference
• 1922 British occupation troops threatened by Turkish Nationalists
- threat to the British Empire
The Chanak Crisis Significance
• Britain asked Prime Minister King for help
****First time we refused unconditional support for the British Empire in war
The Halibut Treaty 1923• Canada and the US
negotiated a treaty to protect the Halibut stocks in BC and Alaska
• Treaty established the international Pacific Halibut Commission
- Way to co-manage the Pacific
The Halibut Treaty Significance• Canada negotiated
the treaty without involving British officials
- British protested!
• Seen as a victory in independent diplomacy for Mackenzie King
- Key argument at the Imperial Conference
The Imperial Conference of 1926• Conference in which
the dominions of the British Empire requested formal recognition of their autonomy
• Where Canada made its greatest progress towards legal independence
The Balfour Report 1926
•Reported the conclusions of the Imperial Conference
•Acknowledged that Canada was an autonomous community within the British Empire, and not subordinate to Britain
•The Canadian Governor General was only a representative of the British Monarch
Prime Minister Mackenzie King
Leader of the Liberal Party
Governor General Lord Byng
Representative of the British Monarch in Canada
Arthur Meighen
Leader of the Conservative Party
The King Byng Crisis of 1926• In 1926 the Governor General refused the Prime
Minister’s request to dissolve Parliament and call an election
•Significance- Mackenzie King publically challenged
Britain over the role of the Governor General and Britain's influence on Canada’s internal politics
The King-Byng Crisis Story Time•1925 ElectionLiberals win fewer seats than
Conservatives- King forms minority coalition government with
Progressive party, so King stays in power!
Conservatives Angry!- Call for a vote of disapproval over King’s Liberal
Government- Progressives avoid scandal and back out of
coalition
The King-Byng Crisis 1926
•King asked Byng to now dissolve parliament call an election
- Knows he will win!
Byng Refuses - King Resigns- Meighen asked to form a new government
The King-Byng Crisis 1926
•Meighen Government fails!- Subject to a vote of non-confidence
•Byng forced to dissolve Parliament- Election set for September 1926
Return of the King!
•1926 Election•King and his
Liberals win a majority
•All of that Drama for the same ending
The Statute of Westminster 1931•Legalized the Balfour Report
•Formally turned the British Empire into the British Commonwealth
- Canada autonomous within the Commonwealth
The Dominion of Canada now independent from British colonial powers
- We controlled our own foreign policy
Restrictions on Canada’s Independence1. The British North
American Act remained
Why?- Canadian Federal and
Provincial governments could not agree on Amending Formula
2. Judicial Committee of the Privy Council remained the final court of appeal for Canadians