Newfoundland National Convention - National Convention Proceedings

National Convention Proceedings

Many delegates believed Newfoundland should return to Responsible Government and Self-Determination; delegates sympathetic to Confederation with Canada were in a minority in the National Convention. On October 28, 1946, Joseph R. Smallwood moved that a delegation be sent to Ottawa to discuss Terms of Union with Canada. More motions and amendments were passed in the days following, when on October 30 Kenneth M. Brown, the delegate from Bonavista South, collapsed on the floor of the chamber. Tragedy struck again when on November 16, Judge Fox suffered a heart attack and died suddenly. Smallwood's motion revealed that confederation with Canada had only a minority of support in the Convention, but it was now on the agenda and the confederates used the radio broadcasts of the Convention to tell the people of Newfoundland and Labrador of the financial advantages that joining Canada would bring. The Convention adjourned on December 13 for the Christmas break, but the widespread feeling that Smallwood and the confederates had the upper hand encouraged St. John’s businessman F. M. O'Leary and others to form the Responsible Government League. The RGL was dedicated to the resumption of the former (1933) constitution for the Dominion.