Globalization and internationalization are pervasive in contemporary cultural, political, and economic policy discourses. Not surprisingly, a concern with internationalization and globalization increasingly characterizes the policy discourses of law. While the law often operates at a lag to broader social trends, it is sometimes more active in constituting such trends. This article is concerned with a striking episode of legal change oriented towards the perceived new realities of the international system, which occurred in the unlikely venue of private international law in Canada