Why did Canada invite Newfoundland to become a province?

[KarlGauss]

Now, as a Canadian, I suppose I should know the answer to this question. So, I am more than slightly embarrassed to present it to the Board at large (including, God forbid, Americans :eek: ). But there you have it. I don’t have a clue why the Canadian “powers that be” of the 1940’s welcomed Newfoundland. Was it for the cod?

[Ringo]

A page on Commission of Government beginswith:

Staggering under the weight of its accumulated debt, Newfoundland gave up self-government in 1934, and until Confederation in 1949 was ruled by an appointed Commission of Government.

And here’s a little history of Newfoundland’s Confederation with Canada.

I didn’t read it all; perhaps it addresses how more than why.

[kpm]

I know this sounds far fetched, but some people have said that if Quebec would ever leave Canada, then the 3 eastern provinces of Canada would consider joining the US.

The idea is that they would no longer be physically connected to the rest of Canada but they would be to the US. I don’t know if this has ever happened before. When the US was growing the parts that were added were not part of other countries in most cases. Of course the US did buy Alaska and the Louisiana Purchase so the US might have to pay to get those parts of Canada and I doubt anyone would want to pay for them.

[OxyMoron]

*Originally posted by kpm *
** When the US was growing the parts that were added were not part of other countries in most cases. **

Um…I think Mexico might take issue with that characterization.

You know, that little war we had with them? In which we grabbed about 1/4 of what’s now the lower 48 (California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Colorado…)?

Or maybe our annexation of Hawai’i?

Or maybe Spain, which might wonder exactly what happened in Florida?

[kpm]

I wasn’t thinking of areas that were added to the US because of wars. If you add those type areas, then the original 13 colonies would count since they were won in the Revolutionary War from England.

I thought Hawaii was independent so it wasn’t part of another country. Texas was also independent when that was added to the US.

I don’t know if the people in New Brunswick , etc. would even want to be part of the US. Probably not, so that would almost certainly make it a non-issue anyway.

[TheeGrumpy]

This is off the Newfoundland topic… but it is an interesting hypothetical in its own right. How might other countries/terrotories join the United States?

U.S. Constitution, Article IV, Section 3

New States may be admitted by Congress into this Union; but no new State shall be formed or erected within the jurisdiction of any other State; nor any State formed by the junction of two or more States, or parts of States without the consent of the Legislatures of the States concerned as well as of the Congress.

That’s basically it. I suppose that means Congress can admit States to the Union (or add them as Territories), provided the indigenous government (if there is one) agrees, and if no third party objects. If, for example, the Maritimes wanted to join the U.S., the bigger issue would be their separation from Ottawa.

[KarlGauss]

OK, at the risk of sounding mercenary, let me make explicit what many of you knew I was implying in my OP (and Newfoundlanders please forgive me):

What was in it for Canada? In retrospect, not a helluva lot (at least from the economic perspective).

[donkeyoatey]

Newfie here, Karl. Hindsight is all seeing, but at the time Newfoundland had enormous natural resources which, for those days were readily accessable. By which I mean near the ocean, since at that time most of the world’s goods were moved by sea.
This http://www.nfinteractive.org/confederation/inside.html] site offers a brief explanation.

Canada Gains
-Strategic placed air and travel bases as well as key airports for transatlantic civil aviation.
-The Island’s pulp and paper industry would sizably increase Canada’s newsprint production.
-Mining production in Newfoundland or iron, lead, zinc and copper would similarly increase Canada’s production figures.
-Canada’s exports of fish and fish products would probably be doubled.
-The interior of Newfoundland would hold the promise of vast mining and lumbering operations.

Also there are vast hydro-electric resources in Labrador (damn Joey Smallwood’s soul) and off-shore oil in the Hibernia and Terra Nova fields.

[donkeyoatey]

Oops, howsa bout this site.

[samclem]

I think that This site add a little info.

Newfoundland was important for trade, defense, etc. And it had abundant natural resources.

The defense aspect would have been much more important then than today.

Had they not let Newfy in, it would have become an independent country probably in the 50’s

[Muffin]

Canada wanted to team up with Newfoundland & Labrador so as to improve the national average for sexual satisfaction.

http://www.tv.cbc.ca/national/pgminfo/poll/polltop2.html#newfoundland

[Northern_Piper]

And don’t forget a modest bit of Canadian “National Destiny” - that Canada would occupy the entire northern half of North America, uniting all of the British colonies and possession.

After all, Newfoundland sent delegates to the Quebec Conference in 1863, but the Legislature back home opted not to follow up on it with the other colonies.

The drafters of the Constitution Act, 1867 nonetheless hoped that someday Newfoundland would join, and made provision for it:

146. It shall be lawful for the Queen, by and with the Advice of Her Majesty’s Most Honourable Privy Council, on Addresses from the Houses of the Parliament of Canada, and from the Houses of the respective Legislatures of the Colonies or Provinces of Newfoundland, Prince Edward Island, and British Columbia, to admit those Colonies or Provinces, or any of them, into the Union, and on Address from the Houses of the Parliament of Canada to admit Rupert’s Land and the North-western Territory, or either of them, into the Union, on such Terms and Conditions in each Case as are in the Addresses expressed and as the Queen thinks fit to approve, subject to the Provisions of this Act; and the Provisions of any Order in Council in that Behalf shall have effect as if they had been enacted by the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

[KarlGauss]

Thanks for the links and for the comments, samclem and donkeyoatey in particular. It’s interesting to me that one link states:

The Newfoundland economy and the standard of living of its people were both below Canada’s, and many people believed that joining Canada would help to haul Newfoundland out of poverty.

Presumably this liability would be offset by

its position at the entrance of the St. Lawrence River (important both for defence and trade), and its many natural resources (fisheries, lumber and mining)

The other link states:

(Newfoundland’s) low educational standards added to a national poverty that was appalling.
[snip]Education in Newfoundland is backward! Until only a few years ago, education was not compulsory and even now, compared with other parts of this continent, it is a costly proposition. Hence, only a very small portion of the people have more than elementary education, and only those of better than average means can obtain a high school education. [snip]
Housing … is equally bad … [snip] Middle class homes are flush with the streets, most of which are unpaved and lacking any kind of sidewalks. …[snip] (then there are) the slums. Poorly constructed and without sanitary facilities, they are a breeding ground for much of Newfoundland’s tuberculosis.

So, I guess that its position at the mouth of the St. Lawrence must have looked a lot more attractive in 1949.

[KarlGauss]

Sorry, Northern Piper. You posted while I was typing. The “Destiny” concept makes sense.