Canadian Sovereignty
Canada may have gained its independence from Great Britain in 1867, but was it truly a sovereign country right after confederation? Many people believe that Canada was its own “strong and free” nation since 1867, but how could it be when it didn’t even have its own constitution at the time? On a map, Canada appeared to be an independent nation, when in reality, it was still very dependant on Great Britain. The Canadian Flag still consisted of the Union Jack, Canadians still sang “God Save the Queen”, and the British always had the final say, when it came to making laws.As soon as Britain declared war on Germany on 1914, Canada was forced into the war as well because of its strong ties with Great Britain. Canada could not really refuse because of how close the newly formed nation was to the United Kingdom, so it joined in the conflict. Countless Canadians were killed in the war that lasted five years, but in the end, the allied forces were successful in defeating Germans. This proves that Canada had to follow whatever the British did at the time, and was still a British puppet. During the Second World War however, Canada did not join the conflict until one week after the British declared
After 1982, there haven’t been many major steps toward making Canada a more sovereign nation, but a few smaller events did occur. Events like the free trade agreement between Canada and the US in 1989, or the North American Free Trade Agreement of 1994. These agreements allowed Canada to trade freely and more easily with its neighbour to the south, as well as Mexico under NAFTA. Both the Canada-USA free trade agreement and the NAFTA were signed without British approval, because at this point, Canada was a much more sovereign nation. The governor general still had to sign the agreements, but just acted as a figurehead and had no actual power. Today, Canada is quite a powerful nation. They are a part of the G7/G8, which consists of the most powerful nations of the world, as well as many other organizations such as NATO and the UN. The nation plays a large role in peacekeeping missions all around the world, and gives foreign aid to many other less-fortunate nations. Canada still has a governor general as a symbol of the British Monarchy, but he or she does not possess any real powers and just serves as a figurehead. Now, Canada is a much more sovereign nation that does not have to rely on the Untied Kingdom for almost anything. It is a strong and free country that can fend for itself, and does not need any support from nations such as Britain anymore. Canada may have not been totally sovereign nation right after confederation, but is quite a strong and independent nation today. 1982 was probably the most important year towards Canada’s sovereignty after confederation. This was because many
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Approximate Word count = 1088
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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