Governing in The Depression
His next administration started out well, seeing the election of his wife Helena Squires as the first woman to sit in the House of Assembly. However, Newfoundland was struck hard by the Great Depression; fish prices fell and an already severe public debt worsened. In 1932 Canada refused his request to join the Canadian Confederation.
Widespread unemployment caused by the Great Depression and allegations of corruption against Squires and his government along with the government's inability to deal with the economic crisis created widespread discontent and political instability.
In 1932, Squires' finance minister, Peter John Cashin, resigned from the executive council accusing his fellow cabinet ministers of widespread corruption and Squires himself of having falsified council minutes to hide the fact that he had been receiving secret payments out of public funds. Cashin's charge inflamed a public which had already been seized by discontent due to the deteriorating economic situation in the province.
On April 5, 1932, a large parade was organized by the opposition. They marched to the Colonial Building which was the seat of the House of Assembly. There were over 10,000 people at the protest and things got out of control.
The crowd got angry when no one came out to address them. After a short while, several people managed to break into the building. Squires and government members had to escape around the back. Squires was nearly caught trying to get into a cab; he got away only by running through a house on Colonial Street (near the Colonial Building) to a waiting cab on Bannerman Street.
Read more about this topic: Richard Squires
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