The Ottawa Delegation
On June 19, 1947, the National Convention dispatched the Ottawa Delegation to negotiate the Terms of Union for Confederation between Newfoundland and Canada. While the British government had offered nothing, the Canadian Government wanted Newfoundland as a province so they were prepared to negotiate support for the new province. There was a limit to that however, it was not possible to offer Newfoundland any special deal that was not allowed other provinces under the British North America Act.
The Ottawa Delegation was supposed to return to Newfoundland after one week. But the negotiations spanned on longer than that. Each delegate received a travelling subsidy of $25 per day. The members (With their districts) were:
- T.G.W. Ashbourne (Twillingate)
- F.G. Bradley (Bonavista South)
- Charles Ballram (Humber)
- Lester Burry (Labrador)
- P.W. Crummey (Bay de Verde)
- Joey Smallwood (Bonavista Centre)
Interestingly, at least half of the Ottawa Delegates belonged to the Orange Lodge: Joseph Smallwood, P.W. Crummey and F.G. Bradley were Orangemen; and two of them had been grand-masters: P.W. Crummey and F.G. Bradley.
Read more about this topic: Newfoundland National Convention
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“The two great points of difference between a democracy and a republic are: first, the delegation of the government, in the latter, to a small number of citizens elected by the rest; secondly, the greater number of citizens and greater sphere of country over which the latter may be extended.”
—James Madison (1751–1836)