page_title: Joey Smallwood
section_title: Life after politics
hierarchical_section_title: Joey Smallwood / Life after politics
caption_attribution_description: I am the originator of this photo. I hold the copyright. I release it to the public domain. This photo depicts a bust of Joey Smallwood which is displayed in the University Centre at Memorial University of Newfoundland.
context_page_description: Joseph Roberts "Joey" Smallwood, PC CC was a Newfoundlander and Canadian politician. He was the main force who brought the Dominion of Newfoundland into the 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. Smallwood was a socialist in philosophy, noting in a 1974 documentary that he considered the People's Republic of China to be the ideal social state; he would nonetheless collaborate with bankers, turning against the multiple unions that sponsored numerous strikes. The results of his efforts to promote industrialization were mixed, with the most favourable results in hydroelectricity, iron mining and paper mills.
  Smallwood was charismatic and controversial. Never shy, he dubbed himself "the last Father of Confederation". While many Canadians today remember Smallwood as the man who brought Newfoundland into the Canadian Confederation, the opinions held by Newfoundlanders and their diaspora remain sharply divided as to his legacy.
context_section_description: In his retirement Smallwood resumed writing; publishing several books including an autobiography titled I Chose Canada. Later in his life he began an ambitious project compiling a comprehensive Encyclopedia of Newfoundland and Labrador. The five volume set was completed by a charitable foundation after Smallwood's death. Smallwood's publishing firm, Newfoundland Book Publishers (1967) Ltd., published Volumes 1 and 2; the Smallwood Heritage Foundation completed and published Volumes 3, 4, and 5.
  In 1986, he was made a Companion of the Order of Canada, after hesitating because he felt that he should be more honoured for bringing Newfoundland and Labrador into the Canadian confederation and he would have liked to have had The Right Honourable added to his name as well as a knighthood.
  In 1989, a new Marine Atlantic ferry, MV Joseph and Clara Smallwood, was placed in service; she was paid-off in 2011.
caption: A bust of Smallwood on display at Memorial University of Newfoundland
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