Newfoundland’s Big Choice: Canada or Independence?

World wars and flamboyant orators changed the British colony's destiny in the twentieth century.
Podcast hosted by Kate Jaimet — Posted April 1, 2024

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 episode of our Stories Behind the History podcast, we travel to St. John’s, Newfoundland, to interview former Premier Clyde Wells, artist Kathleen Knowling, writer Bernice Morgan, and former MP Richard Cashin about their memories of the Confederation debate, and to ask them if they think Newfoundlanders made the right choice when they joined Canada. 

Part 1: Life in a British Colony

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Part 2: The Confederation Debate

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Part 3: Life after Confederation

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Audio credits:

Ode to Newfoundland: licensed under Creative Commons from wikimedia  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Newfoundland_and_Labrador.ogg

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.

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