The Road to Independence? The British-Canadian Relations and Consequences of the Conclusion of the American-Canadian Halibut Treaty of 1923
Abstract
The contribution is focused on the analysis of the British-Canadian relations in connexion with the Conclusion of the American-Canadian Halibut Treaty of 1923 with special regard to the constitutional relations between the mother country and its Dominions, which along with foreign and economic policy formed one of the most significant and interesting chapters in British imperial history in the 1920s. After the First World War, some overseas representatives maintained a position that the Dominions were now equal countries with Britain and, on top of that, that they were no longer in a subsidiary position and were united by common obligations towards the Crown and their membership in the British Empire.
The circumstances and discussions that accompanied the negotiation and conclusion of the Halibut Treaty between the United States of America and the Dominion of Canada all were reflected to a large extent in a clearer definition of the constitutional status of the Dominions and the problems of negotiation, conclusion and ratification of international treaties.