We’ll always be Newfoundlanders first
Historians, political scientists and others who have studied all aspects of Confederation, and who have passed on that information to their students at MUN, certainly have no worries about an ink-stained wretch like myself usurping their expertise.
But I got to thinking, as the province celebrates (or mourns, in some circles) the 75th anniversary of Newfoundland sliding -- with a fair amount of apathy -- into the sack with Canada, that the large, eclectic line-up of prominent, articulate (and blunt) players I’ve been fortunate enough to interview on this forever contentious subject has resulted in a personal perspective that invariably shows its face this time of the year (and on the scattered other occasion, when the need, in my subjective view, has arisen).
Much of that stored compilation of opinion evolves from two documentaries I produced on Confederation: “A Mixed Marriage,” a CBC program made on the 50th anniversary of the union with the crowd upalong, and “In For A Penny,” a co-production of the CBC and Springwater Productions, created to coincide with the 60th anniversary of the day we became Canadians.
'YOU GAVE HER AWAY'
My context is also a result of eavesdropping as a young fella on conversations around various family tables, or hearing in later years about similar gab sessions.
For instance, my mother’s father was livid when she confessed she had voted for Confederation, as I’ve related in this space in the past, and exclaimed, with teary eyes, “Aw, Eileen, you gave her away."
In another version, Pop Judge is quoted as saying, “Aw, Eileen, you sold her down the drain.”
Either way, the evocative sentiment remains the same.
My own father, by the way, chose Responsible Government—he was a townie, after all, and a good, obedient
Catholic. He probably felt a moral obligation to heed Archbishop Edward Roche’s orders to his congregation to reject any notion of Confederation, so Dad and Mom offset each other’s vote.
WAR DEBT
Overhearing, and participating the odd time, in raucous, beer-soaked arguments in various bars over the years, the odd one resulting in a set of raccoon eyes for this or that debater/combatant, also contributed every so slightly to my slant on Confederation -- “slightly” being the operative word, because I admit that rough and tough St. John's taverns were rarely a venue for thoughtful dialogue.
But here’s a sample of what I do believe about Confederation.
All too often forgotten, for example, is that a prime factor in the financial disaster that hit this place in the 20s and 30s was Britain’s meanspirited refusal to write off Newfoundland’s debt from the First World War, leading to the mortifying and shocking move to relinquish independence and hand over governance temporarily to an appointed “Commission of Government” in 1934.
BOGGLES THE MIND
It was a disquieting act of subservience that boggles the mind, and, more significantly, led inexorably to the decision to give up such independence in 1949 for good.
I say that because Newfoundlanders had been promised, when Commission of Government was installed, that when the economy improved, there would be an automatic return to the independence of Responsible Government before any decisions on the future were to be made.
This commitment was violated in unscrupulous fashion when Britain forced a referendum (two, as it turned out) on Newfoundland’s status.
Who knows what would have happened if that promise had been kept and Newfoundland had had a chance to once again embrace independence, even if for a while, before participating in any sort of discourse on its future?
'AURA OF SLEAZINESS'
To make matters worse, there was eventually the blatant unfairness of the Joey Smallwood-led Confederates being much better funded than the Responsible Government advocates.
Even the people I interviewed who felt Newfoundland made the right call in joining Canada wished the whole process had been more above board and equitable, instead of having an aura of “sleaziness.”
All academic now, of course, but there’s absolutely nothing wrong with reflecting back on those monumental circumstances, especially when notable anniversaries arise, the 75th, for instance.
WHAT IFS?
There’s also the “what if” question that invariably arises on these occasions, as in whether we would have fared better as an independent Newfoundland than as a province of Canada. Again, there’s certainly no definitive answer, and, in reality, no way of knowing.
There also seemed to be a consensus, at least among the people I talked to while producing those aforementioned documentaries, that if we were destined to become part of another country, Canada was a decent choice.
As the wonderful (and always opinionated) artist Christopher Pratt put it to me, “If we had to make a choice, we couldn’t have picked a country much better than Canada, because if you go down the list of possibilities, there were a lot of losers.”
'LIKE GETTING INTO A BAD MARRIAGE'
I have always had a sense that many of my contemporaries feel that, for many years, Newfoundland was not appreciated by Canadians, and were relegated to “stupid Newfies” status.
“It’s like getting into a bad marriage,” actress, writer and director Mary Walsh put it to me, “and then they start to kick the shit out of you.”
Much of that changed dramatically, of course, during the so-called renaissance of Newfoundland pride and self-confidence that began in the 1970s, a movement that continues to this day.
ALWAYS NEWFOUNDLANDERS FIRST
We may be acknowledging this week our "Mixed Marriage" with Canada, but just about every soul I’ve talked to over the years on this subject agrees we’ll always be Newfoundlanders, first and foremost.
“Newfoundland is a great adjective,” commentator and writer Rex Murphy remarked in the “Mixed Marriage’ documentary.
“There’s a Newfoundland way of doing things, a Newfoundland way of saying things, and a Newfoundland way of responding to things and that remains the distinct entity it always was, as profound as it always has been.
“We’ll always be Newfoundlanders.”
I couldn’t agree more. Even as we celebrate---i guess that's the right word--this 75th anniversary.