Canadian Coast Guard
<% else %>A History of the Canadian Coast Guard and Marine Services
by Thomas E. Appleton
A Constitutional Milestone
In the great mass of detailed administration conducted by Marine and Fisheries, it sometimes happened that questions of international jurisdiction would arise. Usually these occasions called for exploration of technical matters and, as such, they seldom raised the interest of those outside the circle of the shipping world. Occasionally, something of wider import would occur.
In 1923, the Minister of Marine and Fisheries took part in an important constitutional development. The Hon. Ernest Lapointe, who was in office from 1921 to 1924, signed a treaty between the United States and Canada on the subject of halibut fishing; if the treaty itself was hardly one to shake the chancelleries of the world, the manner of its signing was indeed something new in our progress to nationhood.
No dominion had previously claimed diplomatic independence in foreign affairs and the custom was, on the conclusion of such formalities, that the appropriate British diplomat would sign as plenipotentiary of the monarch. On this occasion the minister went to Washington furnished with full powers from the King to act on his behalf and, for the first time, a Canadian signature appeared in that capacity on a treaty with a foreign power. From that time on, Canadian diplomatic autonomy began to be established until, with the exchange of High Commissioners in 1928, a logical step in the relationship between Canada and Britain was achieved.
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