I. Introduction

 

International commercial arbitration arrived late in Canada, but

nevertheless on time according to a historical schedule that reflects

the glacial pace of Canada’s evolution from colony to modern nation

state. Although many historians claim that Canada became a nation

state not so much with its constitutional formation in 1867, as it did

with the winning of battle honours during the First World War, many

Canadians continued to see themselves as an extension of the British

Empire until at least the end of World War II. As this anachronistic

self-perception became increasingly irrelevant in the years to follow,

Canadians began to perceive, with growing acuity, that they shared a

continent with, in particular, the United States. Since at least the

1950’s trade and investment between the two neighbours has grown

exponentially. So, for example, over the last 40 years or so Canada

has been the largest single customer for US exported goods and

services and the US has, by a very substantial margin, been the largest
single customer for Canadian goods and services.