The Interwar Years
Canada in the Interwar Years
King-Byng Crisis of 1926
• A governor general refuses to a Prime Minister’s request to dissolve
Parliament…
King - Byng Affair
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A 1926 Canadian constitutional crisis that occurred when
the Governor General of Canada Lord Byng of Vimy,
refused a request by the Prime Minister, William Lyon
Mackenzie King, to dissolve parliament and call a general
election.
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Significance - the first time that the Governor General had
refused to the request of a PM to dissolve the parliament
The King-Byng Affair
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Who were the political parties?
Who were the two leaders?
What were their contrasting styles?
What impact would this have on governing?
Six Steps Towards “Independence”
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How Canada became independent?
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Through symbolism and practice
Paris Peace Conferences & Treaty
of Versailles
• Canada got its own seat and
independently signed the treaty.
Canada
Treaty of Versailles
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Who was at Versailles?
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Significance of Versailles?
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What else happened at Versailles?
The Chanak Crisis, 1922
• It was a port in Turkey controlled
by Britain that gave it access from
the Black Sea to the Mediterranean
Sea.
• The British sent troops there because they were afraid that Turkey would
take it back. This led to the downfall of British PM David Lloyd George.
• Canada refused to automatically send the CEF to help; it was the first time
it did so.
The Halibut Treaty 1923
• Canada and the U.S. negotiated a treaty
to protect halibut stocks in B.C. and
Alaska.
• The treaty established the International Pacific Halibut Commission
(IPHC) as a mechanism for the joint management of the Pacific
• Canada negotiated without a British official involved, even though the
British protested this. It was seen as a victory in independant diplomacy
for Mackenzie King, and a key argument at the upcoming Imperial
Conference.
Importance of King-Byng Affair
Another step towards independence
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Gave King the opportunity to re-shape relations
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Came to redefine the role of Governor General not only
in Canada but throughout the Dominions. It was also a
major impetus in negotiations at Imperial Conferences
held in the late 1920s that led to the Statute of
Westminster 1931.
King's government sought at the 1926 Commonwealth
conference to redefine the role of Governor General as a
representative of the Sovereign and not of the British
government.
The Imperial Conference of 1926
• Britain formally declares in the Balfour Report
that Canada is not a subordinate of the Empire.
• "...are autonomous Communities within
the British Empire, equal in status, in no
way subordinate one to another in any
aspect of their domestic or external
affairs, though united by a common
allegiance to the Crown, and freely
associated as members of the British
Commonwealth."
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King’s pressuring led to the Balfour Declaration of 1926.
Commonwealth Governors General ceased to be the
agents of the Imperial or British government in each
dominion — this role was to be assumed by a British High
Commissioner, whose duties were soon recognized to be
virtually identical to those of an ambassador.
The Statute of Westminster, 1931
• This recognized the Balfour Report formally in British Law.
• Established a status of legislative equality between the selfgoverning dominions of the British Empire and the United Kingdom.
• Canada is now autonomous in the
British Commonwealth of Nations.
• The Dominion of Canada is now
independent from its colonial powers
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Defining quote: “A colony became a nation”
Wider Implication of Treaty of
Westminster
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British Empire became the British
Commonwealth of Nations
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Applied to Dominions of Canada,
Newfoundland and New Zealand
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Commonwealth of Australia
Union of South Africa
The Irish Free State
See map internet
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Wider significance of the Statute of
Westminster?
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Phrase: “The sun.... ” ?