Abstract: This lecture shows how Newfoundlanders and Labradorians made an informed and rational decision in 1948 to join Canada. It argues that the people and the nation itself had changed considerably since 1869 when it had rejected union with Canada. Immediately after the end of the Second World War, voters in the old colony looked to government for a level of social and economic stability they had rarely enjoyed in the Dominion of Newfoundland. A slim majority believed their well-being could be best secured as a province of Canada.
Biography: Raymond B. Blake is a professor at University of Regina and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. He has written widely about Newfoundland and Canadian politics, including Where Once They Stood: Newfoundland’s Rocky Road to Confederation with Melvin Baker.
