treaty Canada insisted on signing on its own, also with the United States, was the
Pacific Halibut Treaty of 1923, another environmental measure.

On matters of "high policy" Canadian leaders began early in the twentieth
century to call for a voice of their own in British Empire affairs and to disclaim
involvement without representation. The Canadian government sought a veto
over the use of whatever armed forces it chose to make available and wanted
such forces to be under Canadian command. During World War I
British-Canadian relations became heated over the issue of command; eventually
the Canadian Corps was put under a Canadian commander. London also agreed
to an Imperial War Council, in which the prime ministers of the British domin-
ions could participate. A Canadian contingent sent to Siberia in 1919 as part of
the Western effort to oppose Communist rule was withdrawn within six months
because of Canadian dissatisfaction with its use.

Meanwhile, at the Paris Peace Conference following World War I, Canada,
like the other dominions, had separate representation, despite U.S. opposition to
allowing the British to have "more than one voice." Although not yet indepen-
dent states, Canada and the other "old dominions" also joined the League of
Nations as separate members. These concessions were partly an acknowledg-
ment of their large military contribution to the Allies' victory. However, Canada
was not invited to the Washington Disarmament Conference of 1922 despite its
role in persuading the British not to renew the Anglo-Japanese alliance, the end
of which was one reason for calling the conference.

Although Canada's growing political significance was not yet widely
acknowledged, in 1926 Britain formally recognized Canada's legal position as
an autonomous state: the Balfour Declaration of the Imperial Conference
declared that Britain and the self-governing dominions were "autonomous com-
munities within the British Empire equal in status, in no way subordinate to one
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 of Nations." The Statute of Westminster, 1931, confirmed this
status in British law.

Meanwhile, the Canadian desire for separate diplomatic representation
abroad to which Britain had acceded in principle in 1920, finally was met by the
establishment of Canada's own legation in Washington in 1927. Shortly there-
after, similar representation followed in Paris and Tokyo; a Canadian high com-
missioner continued to perform similar functions in London.

Until World War II such foreign representation did not signify an active inter-
national life for Canada. Canada prized its membership in the League of Nations

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