When did Canada and Australia become independent from the British empire?
I won’t speak to Australia, because that’s already been addressed thoroughly, but the Canadian stuff was a little bit rough. Canada became a dominion on July 1, 1867 which meant that we were largely autonomous. However, there were three important developments after that. Foreign policy (such as the right not to be automatically dragged into Britain’s wars and to make our own treaties) came under Canadian control with the Statute of Westminster. In 1949, the Supreme Court of Canada became the highest court of appeal (previously cases could be pursued to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London). In 1982, the constitution was repatriated, which meant that changes to the constitution could be handled entirely in the Canadian Parliament, rather than having them rubber-stamped in London. Canada is entirely independent now. Queen Elizabeth II is the head of state, as the Queen of Canada, meaning her status of the monarch of Britain, and therefore the government of Britain, have
