Newfoundland Margarine Company Limited - Margarine and Confederation

Margarine and Confederation

Margarine manufacture in Canada was banned in 1886 and remained so until 1948 except for the period from 1917 to 1923 when the ban was lifted because of shortages of butter during the war. However, Newfoundland continued to manufacture margarine (the first plant had opened in 1883) and at times sold margarine to the rest of Canada at half the price of butter. Before Newfoundland joined in confederation with the rest of Canada such had become a negotiation point which in turn led to Term 46 of the Newfoundland Act. A stipulation within Term 46 prohibited the sale of margarine to the rest of Canada but allowed the manufacture and sale of margarine within Newfoundland as noted herein:

Unless the Parliament of Canada otherwise provides or unless the sale and manufacture in, and the interprovincial movement between, all provinces of Canada other than Newfoundland, of oleomargarine and margarine, is lawful under the laws of Canada, oleomargarine or margarine shall not be sent, shipped, brought, or carried from the Province of Newfoundland into any other province of Canada.
Official text of the Term 46 Schedule Part 2 of British North America Act 1949 (c.22) as originally enacted or made within the United Kingdom, from the UK Statute Law Database

After the joining of the Dominion of Newfoundland into confederation with Canada the Newfoundland Butter Company became the first margarine manufacturing plant in Canada. Due to Term 46 regarding the sale of margarine it became unlawful to ship to any other province within Canada. This turn of events did not please everyone and it drew well known Newfoundland political satirist and poet Greg Power (1909 - 1997) to write the poem The Ballad of Oleo Margarine.

The Ballad of Oleo Margarine
I pray that I shall never know
A future without oleo,
Or live to see my little sons
Turn up their noses at my buns;
But there is one with soul so dead,
Who’d sacrifice our spread for bread,
And ban from every Newfie table
Our wholesome, rich, improved Green Label.
- excerpt from The Ballad of Oleo Margarine, Greg Power (1909 - 1997)