bout de papier, Vol. 30, No. 3 (2018), pp. 15–17
FROM ITS EARLIEST CONCEPTION, CANADA has relied on international treaties and treaty diplomacy to determine its borders, ensure peace and security and to protect its economic well-being.
This brief overview highlights some of the more significant international treaties and related developments that have shaped Canada and defined its progress from 1700-1935. In this period, British North America evolved from a group of imperial possessions into a federated self-governing colony, the Dominion of Canada, before becoming a sovereign nation.
1700–1815: Great Power Diplomacy
In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, diplomatic relations between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in North America were frequently governed by treaties. Often the result of economic and military alliances against other colonial competitors, these distinct types of treaties, signed by the French, British and Spanish Crowns, reflected various military conflicts around the globe and evolved over centuries leading to some of today’s comprehensive, domestic land claims agreements.
Following the Treaty of Utrecht of 1713, which purported to transfer the mainland of what is now Maritime Canada from France to Great Britain, the British colonial authority negotiated a series of peace and friendship treaties from 1725 to 1729 to deal with France’s remaining colonial and Indigenous allies.
iW IS Similarly, the Treaty of Paris of 1763 was UPON negotiated to end the French-British-Spanish conflict over North America between 1754 and sto ry 1763. It not only halted war, but determined how 3ianchi Great Britain subsequently divided its colonial territories and would help to delineate what is
now modern Canada.
A Royal Proclamation issued by King George III in 1763 provided details on how Britain’s American colonies would be administered and established protocols governing relations with Indigenous peoples. The Niagara Treaty, agreed to with 24 Indigenous nations in 1764, drew on those protocols.
A second Treaty of Paris signed in 1783 by the United States and Great Britain ended the American Revolutionary War, which itself did so much to influence the settlement and governance of British North America.
A number of unresolved tensions remained, however, and it took the Treaty of Amity, Commerce and Navigation of 1794 (commonly referred to as the Jay Treaty) to avert further conflict. The Jay Treaty protected the rights of individuals with respect to property and repayment of debt and sought to establish better commercial relations. It allowed for 10 years of relatively peaceful interactions between the US and Great Britain in North America.
These treaties, however, did not mark the end of military conflict. Canada was caught up in the War of 1812 when Americans launched multiple invasions of Upper and Lower Canada and tried to prevent the Royal Navy from using Canadian ports on the Great Lakes. The war was only bought to an end after months of negotiation. The Treaty of Ghent, signed on Christmas Eve 1814, called for a return to prewar borders, allowed for the release of all prisoners and restored the peace.
1815–67: Peace Building and Economic Prosperity
The Treaty of Ghent began decades of peaceable relations between Great Britain and the US. Further agreements would consolidate that peace and bring greater prosperity.
To prevent a naval arms race, the Rush-Bagot Agreement of 1817 limited future British and American naval activity on the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain. It is, in essence, a disarmament treaty.
That was immediately followed by the Anglo- American Convention of 1818, under which — critically for Canada’s future — the parties both accepted a straight, fixed boundary at the now familiar 49th parallel. That was agreed, in part, because a straight-line boundary would be easier to survey than the more fluid, pre-existing boundaries based on watersheds. This outcome was confirmed, and other issues were settled, by the Webster- Ashburton Treaty of 1842.
The mid-1800s marked a period of increased cross-border trade between the US and the provinces of British North America. A key factor was the Reciprocity Treaty of 1854, which lowered duties on Canadian raw materials and agricultural products. In exchange for ending a 21 percent tariff on natural resource imports, the US obtained fishing rights off the East Coast.
The Reciprocity Treaty was ultimately opposed by mainly Republican, protectionist elements in a wave of anti-British sentiment following Britain’s overt sympathy for Confederate forces in the American Civil War. The US termination of the Reciprocity Treaty in 1866, combined with an expansionist threat after the Northern victory in the Civil War, reinforced arguments to unify the British colonies and accelerated negotiations that led to Confederation and the creation of the Dominion of Canada.
1867–1900: Imperial Treaties Post-Confederation
As part of the British Empire, Canada remained under the sovereignty of the British Crown after Confederation. To ensure the diplomatic unity of the Empire, imperial treaties were negotiated, signed and ratified by the Crown. The Dominions were simply responsible for enacting legislation to implement any new obligations.
That subordinate role was confirmed by Section 132 of the British North America Act (1867). As well, Canada could only engage with the US bilaterally, whatever the issue or concern, via the British Embassy in Washington.
During this period, practical considerations allowed Canadian officials to participate in treaty negotiations with the US, albeit under imperial authority. For example, in 1871, Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald served as a junior member of the British delegation to negotiate the Treaty of Washington. The Treaty tidied up a range of outstanding claims including illegal fishing by American boats in Canadian waters and British claims for compensations for losses by British citizens in the American Civil War.
As one of five commissioners chosen to represent “British interests”, Macdonald helped to ensure that the new Dominion would at least be at the table when matters affecting Canada directly were being discussed. However, Macdonald failed to get compensation for the Fenian Raids across the border or any significant trade concessions in the final agreement, which required Canada to open her waters to American fishermen — though Canada received significant compensation for the latter under a subsequent arbitration award.
It was not only Macdonald who realized Canadian interests were being sacrificed for Great Britain. A growing number of Canadians, across party lines, wanted more direct control over Canada’s destiny.
In a rousing and lengthy speech to the House of Commons in April 1892, David Mills submitted a motion on the “right of Canada to make her own treaties.” Mills, a Liberal who was later a Supreme Court Justice, asked the House to declare “that the time has come when commercial treaties, in the interests of Canada, should be negotiated by persons who are responsible to the Government of Canada.”
Clearly there was still much to be done for Canada to be able to act independently on the international stage. The turn of the century saw further calls for greater Canadian participation in international treaties affecting Canada. By then, the Canadian government saw a growing need to cooperate directly with the US on numerous matters of immediate concern, particularly those related to transboundary waters.
1900–16: Calls for Independent Diplomatic Action
The debate over Canada’s right to negotiate and conclude treaties continued into the new century. In 1907, Prime Minister Sir Wilfrid Laurier appointed George Christie Gibbons to lead negotiations with the US on a Boundary Waters Treaty. Gibbons, who was later knighted for his efforts, was the first Canadian “principal negotiator” of a major treaty affecting Canada. The final agreement, signed in 1909 by the British ambassador to Washington, was ratified by King Edward VII.
In 1909, Laurier took a small but critical step toward more independent diplomatic action when he created the Department of External Affairs, though initially it more closely resembled a post office than a foreign office.
Not long afterward, Laurier’s government negotiated a reciprocity agreement with the United States, which became a significant factor in his eventual electoral defeat. While accepted by the US Congress, it was controversial in Canada, contributing to the election of the Conservatives led by Robert Borden in September 1911.
Borden, who became a strong supporter of greater autonomy for Canada, soon appointed Loring Christie as the first Legal Adviser to the nascent Department of External Affairs. Christie’s mandate was to improve the quality of legal advice available to the government on international treaties and other matters of international law, and to attend international and imperial conferences in an advisory capacity.
As Borden’s principal adviser during the First World War, Christie travelled with the Prime Minister to the 1917 and 1918 Imperial War Conferences and meetings of the Imperial War Cabinet, as well as to the 1919 Paris Peace Conference.
1917–35: From Versailles to Westminster
Canada’s contribution to the war effort far outstripped its size. As a result, Borden insisted with a “new assertiveness” upon distinct Dominion representation at the Paris Peace Conference, though still as part of an Imperial Delegation.
In the end, the British Prime Minister signed the Versailles Treaty on behalf of the Empire, while the delegates of the Dominions signed in a subordinate position underneath. Even so, the Dominions signed as autonomous members of the Empire and each Dominion parliament separately approved the Treaty before it was finally ratified by the King on behalf of the Empire.
In addition, the Treaty of Versailles provided for the creation of the League of Nations in which Canada would be represented separately. Thus, Canada was increasingly recognized as both a separate nation and as part of the British Empire. The notion of an independent Canada was emerging in the wake of the war.
First elected Prime Minister in 1921, William Lyon Mackenzie King was also a strong advocate “to make good” on Canadian aspirations for an autonomous treaty-making power. The opportunity arose in 1923 when an agreement concerning diminishing catch levels and fishing rights in the North Pacific, known as the Halibut Convention, was negotiated with the US. King decided that, as the issue solely concerned Canada and the US, the Convention should be negotiated and signed by Canada alone.
King threatened to break imperial diplomatic unity through separate Canadian representation in Washington, if the British did not consent to his demand. Consequently, the Dominion not only negotiated the Canada-US Agreement but on March 2, 1923, with the acquiescence of London, it was signed only by the Canadian representative.
That precedent was endorsed by the Imperial Conference of 1926 in the form of the Balfour Declaration which went further to affirm that all British Dominions were “autonomous equal communities within the British Empire.” This equality of status gave Canada the power to undertake foreign relations directly with Washington and other capitals and to negotiate, sign and ratify international treaties. The Declaration opened the way to formal diplomatic relations between Canada and the US and, in 1927, Canada’s first envoy with full diplomatic status, Vincent Massey, was appointed as Minister to Washington.
More than six decades after Confederation, the Balfour Declaration eased a further step by Canada toward full sovereignty. Its right to conclude treaties was formalized legally in the United Kingdom under the Statute of Westminster, passed by the British Parliament on 11 December 1931. Under its provisions, Canada attained its independence, with the right to act on the international stage as a sovereign state.
Epilogue
Following a period of nation building and constitutional development, Canada moved from colonial era dependence, where only Britain spoke on behalf of Canada, slowly gaining autonomy over its foreign policy and an independent treaty-making power. In many ways, international treaty-making continues to help define Canada and its role in the world.
International Treaties and Related Documents
Treaty of Utrecht – transferred maintand of what
is now Maritime Canada from France to Great Britain
Treaty of Paris – marked the final French-British-Spanish
Clash over North America
Treaty of Paris – ended the American Revolutionary War
The Jay Treaty – allowed for 10 years of peaceful relations
between the US and Great Britain
1812-14 War of 1812 – Americans invaded several parts of Upper
and Lower Canada
Treaty of Ghent – called for a return of prewar borders following
the War of 1812
Rush-Bagot Treaty – sought to limit naval activity in the Great Lakes
Anglo-American Convention – accepts the 49th parallel north
as the US boundary
1854-88 Canadian-American Reciprocity Treaty — lowered duties on natural
resource imports from Canada
Protectionist elements in the US lead it to terminate the 1854
Reciprocity Treaty
Canadian Confederation — Imperial treaties implemented
by Canada (s 132 BNA Act)
John A. Macdonald junior member of British delegation
Negotiating Treaty of Washington
David Mills motion on Canadian autonomy for treaty making
in the House of Commons
Canadian George Christie Gibbons appointed principal negotiator
Boundary Waters Treaty with US
Wilfrid Laurier creates the Department of External Affairs (DEA)
Loring Christie appointed Department of External Affairs
first Legal Adviser
Paris Peace Conference — Treaty of Versailles ending World War |
co-signed by Canada
The League of Nations – Canada gains separate representation
Canada-US Halibut Treaty – first treaty signed by a Canadian Minister
Balfour Declaration – confirms Dominions “autonomous equal
communities” within the Empire
Statute of Westminster – Canada can act internationally with
the attributes of a sovereign state
Originally published in bout de papier, Vol. 30, No. 3 (2018), pp. 15–17. Read the rest of this issue →
