HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Confederate Association was a political party formed and led by Joey Smallwood and Gordon Bradley to advocate that the
Dominion of Newfoundland Newfoundland was a British dominion in eastern North America, today the modern Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It included the island of Newfoundland, and Labrador on the continental mainland. Newfoundland was one of the orig ...
join the
Canadian Confederation Canadian Confederation () was the process by which three British North American provinces—the Province of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick—were united into one federation, called the Name of Canada#Adoption of Dominion, Dominion of Ca ...
. The party was formed on February 21, 1948, prior to the launch of the
1948 Newfoundland referendums 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 ...
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. Two referendums were held as the result of the first vote in which three options were considered, Confederation,
responsible government Responsible government is a conception of a system of government that embodies the principle of parliamentary accountability, the foundation of the Westminster system of parliamentary democracy. Governments (the equivalent of the executive br ...
or a continuation of the
Commission of Government The Commission of Government was a non-elected body that governed the Dominion of Newfoundland from 1934 to 1949. Established following the collapse of Newfoundland's economy during the Great Depression, it was dissolved when the dominion became ...
. The first referendum, held on June 3, 1948, saw the Confederation option receive 41.1% support compared with 44.6% support for responsible government and 14.3% support for Commission of Government. The anti-Confederate forces were hampered by the split of the opposition into Crosbie and Cashin's parties with relations between the two being tense and the overall opposition lacking unity or organization. The Confederate Association, in contrast, was better funded and better organized. A second vote was held on July 22 with only Confederation and Responsible Government on the ballot in which the Confederates won with 52.3% of the vote. Following the referendums, the Confederate Association reorganized itself as the Newfoundland Liberal Party.


References


See also

* List of political parties in Newfoundland and Labrador * Politics of Newfoundland and Labrador Political history of Newfoundland and Labrador Political parties in the Dominion of Newfoundland 1940s establishments in Newfoundland 1948 establishments in North America 1948 establishments in the British Empire Political parties established in 1948 Liberal Party of Newfoundland and Labrador {{Newfoundland-stub