Dominion

:This is a page about Dominions of the British Empire/Commonwealth. For other meanings, please see Dominion (disambiguation).

From Dominions to Commonwealth realms

World War II, which fatally undermined Britain's already weakened commercial and financial leadership and heightened the importance of the United States as a source of military assistance, further loosened the political ties between Britain and the Dominions. Australian Prime Minister John Curtin's unprecedented action (February 1942) in successfully demanding the recall for home service of Australian troops earmarked for the defence of British-held Burma demonstrated that Dominion governments might no longer subordinate their own national interests to British strategic perspectives. To ensure that Australia had full legal power to act independently, particularly in relation to defence, Australia formally adopted the Statute of Westminster in October 1942 and backdated the adoption to the start of the war in September 1939.

Related Topics:
World War II - United States - John Curtin - 1942 - Burma - 1939

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The Dominions Office merged with the India Office as the Commonwealth Relations Office upon the independence of India and Pakistan in August 1947, and the term Dominion fell out of general use as India's adoption of republican status in January, 1950 signalled the end of the former dependencies' common constitutional connection to the British crown (although Ireland had already dropped its oath of allegiance in 1932): henceforth continuing willing members of what was subsequently styled the Commonwealth agreed to accept the British monarch as head of that association of independent states. Éire had formally ceased to be a member seven months on the declaration that it was to be described officially as the Republic of Ireland.

Related Topics:
Commonwealth Relations Office - India - Pakistan - 1947 - 1950 - 1932 - The Commonwealth - Éire - Republic of Ireland

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Recently, when referring to a nation that has the British Monarch as its head of state the term Commonwealth realm has come into common usage instead of Dominion to differentiate the Commonwealth nations that continue to recognize the Crown (Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Jamaica, etc.) from those which do not (India, Pakistan, South Africa, etc.). The term Dominion is still to be found in the Canadian constitution where the term is mentioned four times, most notably the Provinces of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick shall form and be One Dominion under the Name of Canada. However, the Canadian government does not use it. The term "realm" does not appear in the Canadian constitution. Present-day usage prefers the term realm because it includes the United Kingdom as well, emphasising that they are equal to and not subordinate to the United Kingdom.

Related Topics:
Head of state - Commonwealth realm - Canadian constitution

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For example, in a move that emphasised the independence of the separate realms, after the accession of Queen Elizabeth II in 1952, she was proclaimed not just as Queen of the U.K., but also Queen of Canada, Queen of Australia, Queen of New Zealand, and of all her other "realms and territories" etc.

Related Topics:
Elizabeth II - 1952 - Queen of Canada - Queen of Australia - Queen of New Zealand

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The Queen now functions as the independent monarch of sixteen different countries, and any changes to the laws governing the succession to the Crown must be approved by all of these nations' parliaments.

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Phasing-out of the term in Canada

See also Canada's name

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The phrase Dominion of Canada was used as the nation's formal political name, and some still read the BNA Act passage as specifying this phrase, rather than Canada alone, as the name. The passage specifies one Dominion under the Name of Canada.

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(References in later acts, such as the Statute of Westminster, to the "Dominion of Canada" with a capital D do not clarify the point because in British legislative style all nouns were formerly capitalized. Indeed, in the original text of the British North America Act, 1867, One and Name were also capitalized)

Related Topics:
Noun - Capitalized

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Starting in the 1950s, the federal government began to phase out the use of "Dominion" which had been used largely as a synonym of "federal" or "national", such as "Dominion building" for a post office, "Dominion-provincial relations" and so on. The last major change was renaming the national holiday from Dominion Day to Canada Day in 1982. Official bilingualism also contributed to the demise of the word "dominion" as it has no acceptable equivalent in French.

Related Topics:
1950s - Canada Day - 1982 - French

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Arguments continue over the meaning of sections 2 and 3 of the original British North America Act — shall form and be One Dominion under the Name of Canada; and on and after that Day those Three Provinces shall form and be One Dominion under that Name accordingly. Unless it is otherwise expressed or implied, the Name Canada shall be taken to mean Canada as constituted under this Act. While the term may be found in older official documents, it is rarely used anymore to distinguish the federal government from the provinces.

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