In , Canada signed a fisheries treaty with the United States without British involvement. See Halibut Treaty. In , Canada established an embassy in Washington, DC. Vincent Massey was named its first Canadian minister ambassador. See also Diplomatic and Consular Representations. The Imperial Conference of was a more formal step. It gave legal substance to the Balfour Report from earlier that year.
See also Colonial and Imperial Conferences. This was done at the request and with the consent of the Dominions. Yet some limits remained. The power to amend the Constitution remained with the British Parliament until passage of the Constitution Act , See Patriation of the Constitution. Other parts of the Statute gave the Dominion legislatures the power to enact laws even if they violated colonial policy. This allowed Canada to apply legislation outside the country.
For example, it could establish shipping laws for Canadian vessels at sea, or apply criminal law to Canadian armed forces serving abroad. The Statute also affirmed at least according to the provinces that provincial jurisdiction could not be unilaterally altered by the federal government. Canada did not immediately adopt all its new powers under the Statute of Westminster. For example, the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council , a British body, remained the final court of appeal for Canadians until That power was then shifted to the Supreme Court of Canada.
Search The Canadian Encyclopedia. Remember me. I forgot my password. Why sign up? Create Account. Suggest an Edit. Today, the Statute of Westminster remains an important milestone in Canadian constitutional history.
Although Canada was a self-governing entity following Confederation in , the Imperial Parliament retained the power to legislate in respect of colonial matters. Canada was also part of a single, indivisible Crown, meaning it remained subordinate to the foreign policy of Great Britain. So, when Great Britain declared war on Germany in , the rest of its Dominions were automatically committed to the war effort.
But on the battlegrounds of Ypres, Passchendaele and Vimy Ridge, among many others, the separate and extensive contribution of the Canadian military corps was recognized, which accelerated the process towards greater political and legal autonomy. When the First World War ended with the signing of the Treaty of Paris , Canada signed the Treaty in its own right, and became a founding member of the League of Nations in And so Canada began to increasingly assert its position on the international stage.
All appeals to the Privy Council were only abolished in , leaving the Supreme Court of Canada as the court of last resort. Notwithstanding this progress, our legal position continued to reflect imperial parliamentary supremacy. When Canada chose to abolish appeals to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in respect of criminal matters under s.
This fueled nationalist sentiment in Canada and formed part of the backdrop to further discussions on the relationship between Great Britain and its colonies. However, the Balfour Declaration was only a political statement — a political recognition of the independent status of Canada and the other Dominions.
Canadian delegations were sent to the Conference on the Operation of Dominion Legislation and the following Imperial Conference in with the intention of advancing the ideals espoused by the Balfour Declaration and to make those principles a legal reality.
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