1948 Newfoundland referendums
Before the referendums, Newfoundland was in debt and went through several delegations to determine whether the country would join Canada ("confederation"), remain under British rule or regain independence.
Later that year, Newfoundland attended the Quebec Conference, called by John A. Macdonald to discuss a greater British North America union.
The British government, keen to cut expenditure after World War II, hoped that Newfoundland would decide to join the confederation and end the rule by commission.
With the Cold War looming, U.S. interests in Newfoundland were centred primarily on its strategic importance to the defence of North America.
With respect to domestic policy, the administration would not likely have been able to convince Congress to offer statehood to Newfoundland due to its small population and geographical isolation from the then-48 existing states, and would not likely have been able to convince Newfoundlanders to accept territorial status as an alternative to admission as a U.S. state.
The British government decided to let Newfoundlanders deliberate and choose their own future by calling a National Convention in 1946.
Many members assumed that the final decision was due near the end of their deliberations, but the timeline was upset when Smallwood moved that the Convention should send a delegation to Ottawa to discuss a union in October 1946.
[7] His motion was defeated, as it only received the support of 17 members, although the Convention later decided to send delegations to both London and Ottawa.
[7] The group left Newfoundland on April 25, 1947, and met with a British delegation headed by the Dominions Secretary, Viscount Addison.
The leader of the delegation from Newfoundland, Peter Cashin, gave an angry speech to the Convention on May 19 claiming, "A conspiracy existed to sell this country to the Dominion of Canada".
Ottawa was reluctant at first because they felt that the delegation was not an official representation of the Dominion of Newfoundland, but the Federal Cabinet finally decided to begin negotiations on July 18.
Ottawa offered to assume most of the debt, negotiate a tax agreement, and outlined which services would remain in the jurisdiction of the province.
Both sides recognized that more people had voted against responsible government than for it, which encouraged the CA and discouraged its opponents, although the RGL and EUP now became allies.
[9] At the elections for the Newfoundland House of Assembly two months later, Smallwood's Liberal Party won and controlled the provincial government until the 1970s.
As ruled by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in 1927, Canada agreed to put Labrador under the jurisdiction of Newfoundland, after some consideration.
[12] Such commitments carried over to other areas as well, such as a ferry between Port aux Basques and North Sydney, and a guarantee that Newfoundland would be able to continue to manufacture and sell margarine, a very controversial product at the time.
May the union be forever a blessing for Canada and to the island which is yielding its ancient independence, but not its identity, to belong to a larger fraternity.
[14]The Vancouver Sun also reflected on the results, saying: Today a dream of greatness, present in the minds of the Fathers of Confederation more than 80 years ago, comes true.
