In 1948, the people in the British colony of Newfoundland faced a choice. They could become an independent country within the British Commonwealth. Or, they could vote to join Canada in Confederation. In this special series of episodes we travel to St. John’s, Newfoundland, to interview four prominent Newfoundlanders about their memories of the Confederation debate, and ask if they think Newfoundland made the right choice when it joined Canada. In Episode 2, The Confederation Debate, we hear the voices of Confederation's most ardent supporter, Joseph Smallwood, and its most vocal advocate of independence under responsible government, Peter Cashin. And our guests weigh in on their memories of the debate that rocked Newfoundland.
Guests: Former Newfoundland Premier Clyde Wells, artist Kathleen Knowling, writer Bernice Morgan, and former federal MP Richard Cashin.
Host: Canada's History magazine senior editor Kate Jaimet
Art:"Malcolm Rogers' house is towed by a 40hp motor boat from Fox Island to Flat Island during resettlement," Newfoundland, August 1961. Photographer: Bob Brooks. Library and Archives Canada, National Film Board Fonds. Copyright expired.
Sound credits:
Ode to Newfoundland – licensed under Creative Commons – wikimedia - https://en.wikipedia/org/wiki/File:Newfoundland_and_Labrador.ogg
"The Gloom of my Soul" by Harpo Marks, licensed from PremiumBeat.com
Snare drums: Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution non-commercial license from zagi2 on Freesound.org. https://freesound.org/people/zagi2/sounds/673466/
All archival audio from the National Convention: Public domain. Provided by The Rooms Provincial Archives Division.
Second World War Prosperity (00:00:44 - 00:06:17)
The Great Confederation Debate (00:06:17 - 00:17:16)
The Votes Are Cast (00:17:16 - 00:24:19)
A New Era for Newfoundland (00:24:19 - 00:25:29)
