page_title: History of Newfoundland and Labrador
section_title: Smallwood
hierarchical_section_title: History of Newfoundland and Labrador / Province of Newfoundland and Labrador / Smallwood
caption_attribution_description: English: A bust of Joey Smallwood which is displayed in the University Centre at Memorial University of Newfoundland.
context_page_description: The first brief European contact with Newfoundland and Labrador came c. AD 1000 when the Vikings briefly settled in L'Anse aux Meadows. In 1497, European explorers and fishermen from England, Portugal, Holland, France, and Spain began exploration. Fishing expeditions came seasonally; the first small permanent settlements appeared around 1630. Catholic-Protestant religious tensions were high but mellowed after 1860. The British colony voted against joining Canada in 1869 and became an independent dominion in the early 20th century. Fishing was always the dominant industry, but the economy collapsed in the Great Depression of the 1930s and the people voluntarily relinquished their independence to become a British colony again. Prosperity and self-confidence returned during the Second World War, and after the intense debate, the people voted to join Canada in 1949.
  Poverty and emigration have remained significant themes in Newfoundland history, despite efforts to modernize after 1949. Most efforts failed, and the sudden collapse of the cod fishing industry was a terrific blow in the 1990s. The oil boom in the '00s has revived the economy, but the benefits are not distributed evenly.
context_section_description: Politics was dominated by the Liberal Party, led by Premier Smallwood, from confederation until 1972. His main program was economic growth, and creating new jobs to encourage young people to stay in Newfoundland. Smallwood made major efforts to modernize the fishing industry, to create a new energy industry, and to attract factories. He vigorously promoted economic development through the Economic Development Plan of 1951, championed the welfare state (paid for by Ottawa), and attracted favorable attention across Canada. He emphasized modernisation of education and transportation in order to attract outsiders, such as German industrialists, because the local economic elite would not invest in industrial development. Smallwood dropped his youthful socialism and collaborated with bankers, and became hostile to the militant unions that sponsored numerous strikes. His efforts to promote industrialization were partially successful, with great success primarily in hydroelectricity, iron mining, and paper mills.
  Smallwood upgraded the small Memorial University College in St John's, founded in 1925, to Memorial University of Newfoundland (MUN) in 1949, with free tuition and a cash stipend for students. By the 21st century it displayed strengths in engineering, business, geology, and medicine to become one of the leading comprehensive universities in Canada. With over 17,000 students, it became the largest university in Atlantic Canada. MUN's four main campuses are today served by more than 900 faculty and 2,300 staff members.
  Smallwood's style was autocratic and highly personalized, as he totally controlled his party. Meanwhile, the demoralized anti-confederates became the provincial wing of the Progressive Conservative Party. An extension of the Trans-Canada Highway became the first paved road across the island in 1966. That year Smallwood's government heavily advertised a "Come Home" program to attract as tourists Newfoundland expatriates, such as war brides in the United States and those who had left for work. The goal was to demonstrate the changes during the Smallwood era in the province's economy and infrastructure.
caption: Joey Smallwood
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