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Newfoundland and Canada. 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.
Joey Smallwood felt slighted by what he called "twenty-nine dictators". Smallwood and his Confederates took the matter public. Newfoundland's Governor, Gordon Macdonald announced on 11 March 1948 that confederation with Canada would be on a national referendum ballot along with dominion government and the Commission.
The second referendum, on 22 July 1948, asked Newfoundlanders to choose between confederation and dominion status, and produced a vote of 52 to 48 percent for confederation. Newfoundland joined Canada in the final hours of 31 March 1949.
July 22 – A second runoff referendum is held in the 1948 Newfoundland referendums; confederation with Canada is approved, leading to the eventual union between Canada and the Dominion of Newfoundland in March 1949. August 17 – Alberta election: Ernest Manning's Social Credit Party wins a fourth consecutive majority
Newfoundland joined Canada on March 31, 1949. A referendum was held in Newfoundland and Labrador in 1995 that approved replacing the province's system of parochial schools with a largely public school system. In 1997, a second referendum to amend the Terms of Union to allow for the Catholic and Pentecostal school systems to be disbanded and ...
A second referendum was held on 22 July, with only Confederation and Responsible Government on the ballot. The Economic Union Party decided to unite its efforts with the Responsible Government League for the second referendum, but morale was poor and the campaign was disorganized, compared to Smallwood's well-run machine.
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. Newfoundland and Labrador. After much debate, an initial referendum was held on June 3, 1948, to decide between continuing with the Commission of Government, reverting to ...
Smallwood carried his cause in a hard-fought referendum and a runoff in June and July 1948 as the decision to join Canada (rather than restoration of independent dominion status) carried 77,869, against 71,464, or 52.3%. A strong rural vote in favour of Canada overwhelmed the pro-independence vote in the capital of St. John's.