The financial crisis of the Great Depression after WW1, scoured by rampant corruption, had led Newfoundlanders to relinquish responsible government in 1934 and become a crown colony ruled by a British governor. Prosperity returned when the U.S. military arrived in 1941 with over 10,000 soldiers and huge investments in air and naval bases. Popular sentiment grew favourable toward the United States, alarming the Canadian government, which now wanted Newfoundland to enter into confederation instead of joining with the U.S. In 1948, the British government gave voters three Referendum choices: remaining a crown colony, returning to Dominion status (that is, independence), or joining Canada. Joining the U.S. was not made an option. After bitter debate Newfoundlanders voted to join Canada in 1949 as a province.[1]
The Second World War brought many changes to Canada; Canada had an economic boom, the government was necessarily more centralized during the war, and it remained so afterwards. The federal government also began to adopt social welfare policies, often borrowed from the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation, which had introduced such policies in the western provinces even before the war. Federally, these included hospital insurance, old-age pensions, and veterans' pensions. Once the war ended, divisions in the Armed Forces were disbanded, and women would not be recruited again until the Korean War in 1951. Free child-care and tax concessions were rescinded to encourage women to leave the workforce, and an act providing a family allowance or "baby bonus" was passed to help families recover from the cost of war and the wartime wage freeze. Parents of children under 16 years old were given monthly payments between $5 and $8, depending on the age of the children.[2] The economy had prospered because of the war, and in Alberta, there was an economic boom due to the discovery of new oil fields in 1947. Spending on consumer goods increased during the post-war period while car ownership steadily rose, with two-thirds of households owning a car (and 10% owning two or more) by 1960.[3]
In 1947, a new Canadian citizenship separate from being a British subject was introduced. After January 1, 1947, all persons born in Canada automatically were granted Canadian citizenship at birth. Persons with the previous Canadian citizenship (being a class of British subject) were also granted the new citizenship under most conditions. "Status Indians" (see the Indian Act) born before this date were retroactively given Canadian citizenship in 1956. They had not been "enfranchised" citizens before 1947.
Mackenzie King won the election of 1945, but retired in 1948 and was succeeded by Louis St. Laurent. St. Laurent succeeded in extending the welfare state, and helped bring Newfoundland into Confederation as Canada's tenth province in 1949.
Following the Second World War, in 1946, an election was held for the Newfoundland National Convention to decide the future of the independent Dominion of Newfoundland. The Convention voted to hold a referendum to decide between continuing the direct rule of the Commission of Government or restoring responsible government. Joseph R. Smallwood, the leader of the confederates, moved that a third option of confederation with Canada should be included. Although his motion was defeated by the convention, Smallwood did not give up, but instead gathered more than 5000 petitions from the people within a fortnight which he sent to London through the Governor. The United Kingdom, insisting that it would not give Newfoundland any further financial assistance, added a third option of having Newfoundland join Canada to the ballot.
The result was inconclusive, with 44.6% supporting the restoration of dominion status, 41.1% for confederation with Canada, and 14.3% for continuing the Commission of Government. Between the first and second referendums, rumours had it that Catholic bishops were using their religious influence to alter the outcome of the votes. The Orange Order was incensed and called on all its members to vote for confederation, as the Catholics voted for responsible government. The Protestants of Newfoundland outnumbered the Catholics at a ratio of 2:1. This was believed to have greatly influenced the outcome of the second referendum. A second referendum on July 22, 1948, which asked Newfoundlanders to choose between confederation and dominion status, was decided by a vote of 52% to 48% for confederation with Canada. Newfoundland joined Canada on March 31, 1949.
Not everyone was satisfied with the results, however. Peter Cashin, an outspoken anti-Confederate, questioned the validity of the votes. He claimed that it was the unholy union between London and Ottawa that brought about confederation.
Meanwhile, Canadian foreign relations were beginning to focus on the United States, which had eclipsed Britain as a world power. During World War II, Canada was a minor partner in the alliance between the United States and Britain, and the US had pledged to help defend Canada if necessary. Canada was one of the founding members of the United Nations in 1945, and also of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in 1949, but was largely overshadowed in world affairs by the United States. Canada remained a close ally of the United States throughout the Cold War.
Canada participated, under the United Nations, in the Korean War. Minister of External Affairs in St. Laurent's Cabinet, Lester Bowles Pearson, was involved in the diplomatic side of the conflict and became more active in diplomacy with the United Nations after the war ended. In 1956 Pearson suggested a solution to the Suez Crisis - the creation of an international peacekeeping force. For his efforts, Pearson won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1957.
St. Laurent attempted to create a new, highly advanced jet fighter, the Avro Arrow. He succeeded in making the fastest aircraft in history up to this point, and still to this day remains close to the level of modern aircraft. However, this controversial aircraft was cancelled by St. Laurent's successor, John George Diefenbaker, in 1959, although Diefenbaker did help establish a missile defence system with the United States, NORAD.
There were voices on both left and right that warned against being too close to the United States. Few Canadians listened before 1957. Instead, there was wide consensus on foreign and defence policies 1948 to 1957. Bothwell, Drummond and English state:
That support was remarkably uniform geographically and racially, both coast to coast and among French and English. From the CCF on the left to the Social Credit on the right, the political parties agreed that NATO was a good thing, and communism a bad thing, that a close association with Europe was desirable, and that the Commonwealth embodied a glorious past.[4]
However, the consensus did not last. By 1957 the Suez crisis alienated Canada from both Britain and France; politicians distrusted American leadership, businessmen questioned American financial investments; and intellectuals ridiculed the values of American television and Hollywood offerings that all Canadians watched. "Public support for Canada's foreign policy big came unstuck. Foreign-policy, from being a winning issue for the Liberals, was fast becoming a losing one."[5]
Efforts to assert sovereignty in the High Arctic during the Cold War, i.e. the area's strategic geopolitical position, were part of the reasons that led the federal government to forcibly relocate Inuit from northern Quebec to barren Cornwallis Island, Nunavut. The first group of people were relocated in 1953 from Inukjuak, Quebec (then known as Port Harrison ) and from Pond Inlet, Nunavut. They were promised homes and game to hunt, but the relocated people discovered no buildings and very little familiar wildlife.[6] They also had to endure weeks of 24-hour darkness during the winter, and 24-hour sunlight during the summer, something that does not occur in northern Quebec. They were told that they would be returned home after a year if they wished, but this offer was later withdrawn as it would damage Canada's claims to sovereignty in the area and the Inuit were forced to stay. Eventually, the Inuit learned the local beluga whale migration routes and were able to survive in the area, hunting over a range of 18,000 square kilometres (6,900sqmi) each year.[7]
John George Diefenbaker was a Canadian politician who served as the 13th prime minister of Canada, from 1957 to 1963. He was the only Progressive Conservative party leader between 1930 and 1979 to lead the party to an election victory, doing so three times, although only once with a majority of the seats in the House of Commons.
Louis Stephen St. Laurent was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 12th prime minister of Canada from 1948 to 1957.
William Lyon Mackenzie King was a Canadian statesman and politician who was the tenth prime minister of Canada for three non-consecutive terms from 1921 to 1926, 1926 to 1930, and 1935 to 1948. A Liberal, he was the dominant politician in Canada from the early 1920s to the late 1940s. King is best known for his leadership of Canada throughout the Great Depression and the Second World War. He played a major role in laying the foundations of the Canadian welfare state and established Canada's international reputation as a middle power fully committed to world order. With a total of 21 years and 154 days in office, he remains the longest-serving prime minister in Canadian history.
The history of Canada covers the period from the arrival of the Paleo-Indians to North America thousands of years ago to the present day. The lands encompassing present-day Canada have been inhabited for millennia by Indigenous peoples, with distinct trade networks, spiritual beliefs, and styles of social organization. Some of these older civilizations had long faded by the time of the first European arrivals and have been discovered through archeological investigations.
Joseph Roberts Smallwood was a Newfoundlander and Canadian politician. He was the main force who brought the Dominion of Newfoundland into Canadian Confederation in 1949, becoming the first premier of Newfoundland, serving until 1972. As premier, he vigorously promoted economic development, championed the welfare state, and emphasized modernization of education and transportation. The results of his efforts to promote industrialization were mixed, with the most favourable results in hydroelectricity, iron mining and paper mills.
This section of the Timeline of Quebec history concerns the events relating to the province of Quebec, Canada between the Westminster statute and the "Quiet Revolution."
The 1957 Canadian federal election was held June 10, 1957, to select the 265 members of the House of Commons of Canada of the 23rd Parliament of Canada. In one of the greatest upsets in Canadian political history, the Progressive Conservative Party, led by John Diefenbaker, brought an end to 22 years of Liberal rule, as the Tories were able to form a minority government despite losing the popular vote to the Liberals.
Canada in the Cold War was one of the western powers playing a central role in the major alliances. It was an ally of the United States, but there were several foreign policy differences between the two countries over the course of the Cold War. Canada's peacekeeping role during the Cold War has played a major role in its positive global image. The country served in every UN peacekeeping effort from its inception in 1948 until 1989. This resulted in Canada provided the greatest amount of UN peacekeepers during the Cold War.
Newfoundland was a British dominion in eastern North America, today the modern Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It was confirmed by the Balfour Declaration of 1926 and the Statute of Westminster of 1931. It included the island of Newfoundland, and Labrador on the continental mainland. Newfoundland was one of the original dominions within the meaning of the Balfour Declaration, and accordingly enjoyed a constitutional status equivalent to the other dominions of the time.
The Responsible Government League was a political movement in the Dominion of Newfoundland.
The Newfoundland National Convention of 1946 to 1948 was a forum established to decide the constitutional future of Newfoundland.
The Confederate Association was a political party formed and led by Joey Smallwood and Gordon Bradley to advocate that the Dominion of Newfoundland join the Canadian Confederation. The party was formed on February 21, 1948, prior to the launch of the 1948 Newfoundland referendums on Confederation. The party was opposed by the Responsible Government League led by Peter Cashin and the Party for Economic Union with the United States led by Chesley A. Crosbie.
The Economic Union Party was a political party formed in the Dominion of Newfoundland on 20 March 1948, during the first referendum campaign on the future of the country. The British-appointed Commission of Government had administered the country since the financial collapse of 1934. The alternatives were "responsible government", or "Confederation".
The history of Canada (1982–present) refers to the period immediately following the Canada Act until the present.
The Newfoundland referendums of 1948 were a series of two referendums to decide the political future of the Dominion of Newfoundland. 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. The voting for the referendums occurred on June 3 and July 22, 1948. The eventual result was for Newfoundland to enter into Confederation, which it did on March 31, 1949, becoming the tenth province of Canada.
The province of Newfoundland and Labrador covers the period from habitation by Archaic peoples thousands of years ago to the present day.
The Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador has a unicameral legislature, the General Assembly composed of the Lieutenant Governor and the House of Assembly, which operates on the Westminster system of government. The executive function of government is formed by the Lieutenant Governor, the premier and his or her cabinet.
Canada and Germany have positive relations, as they are close allies and fellow NATO and G7 members.
A dominion was any of several largely self-governing countries of the British Empire. Progressing from colonies, their degrees of colonial self-governance increased unevenly over the late 19th century through the 1930s. Vestiges of empire lasted in some dominions well into the late 20th century. With the evolution of the British Empire into the Commonwealth of Nations, finalised in 1949, the dominions became independent states, either as Commonwealth republics or Commonwealth realms.
The foreign policies of Canada and its predecessor colonies were under British control until the 20th century. This included wars with the United States in 1775-1783 and 1812–1815. Economic ties with the U.S. were always close. Political tensions arose in the 19th century from anti-British sentiment in the U.S. in the 1860s. Boundary issues caused diplomatic disputes resolved in the 1840s over the Maine boundary. and early 1900s, in the early 20th century over the Alaska boundary. There is ongoing discussion regarding the Arctic. Canada-US relations have been friendly in the 20th and 21st centuries.
References
↑ Earle, Karl Mcneil (Winter 1998). "Cousins of a Kind: The Newfoundland and Labrador Relationship with the United States". American Review of Canadian Studies. 28 (4): 387–411. doi:10.1080/02722019809481611.
Bothwell, Robert, Ian Drummond, and John English. Canada since 1945 2d. ed. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1989.
Coleman, William Donald. The independence movement in Quebec, 1945-1980 (U Toronto Press, 1984).
Thomson, Dale C . Louis St. Laurent, Canadian (1967)
Foreign-policy
Chapnick, Adam, and Christopher J. Kukucha, eds. The Harper Era in Canadian Foreign Policy: Parliament, Politics, and Canada’s Global Posture (UBC Press, 2016).
Donaghy, Greg. "Domesticating NATO: Canada and the North Atlantic Alliance, 1963–68." International Journal 52.3 (1997): 445–463.
Eayrs, James. In Defence of Canada Volume III: Peacemaking and Deterrence (1972)
Holmes, John W. The Shaping of Peace: Canada and the Search for World Order, 1943-1957 (2 vol. 1982)
Granatstein, J. L., ed. Canadian foreign policy: historical readings (1986), excerpts from primary sources and scholars online free
MacMillan, Margaret Olwen, and David S. Sorenson, eds. Canada and NATO: Uneasy past, uncertain future (U of Waterloo Press, 1990).
Robinson, H. Basil. Diefenbaker's World: A Populist in Foreign Affairs (1991)
Historiography
Owram, Doug. Canadian History: A Reader's Guide: Volume 2: Confederation to the Present (1994). Historiography; all the main national and provincial political, social, economic, cultural, and diplomatic issues.
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