tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-45329237096941460.post1898850803526983195..comments2023-10-31T09:18:21.793-07:00Comments on Why Quebec needs independence: Dependence vs independence: Newfoundland and IcelandveritasEtjusticiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12115380451103317791noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-45329237096941460.post-82661266044393649672015-11-03T19:46:12.445-08:002015-11-03T19:46:12.445-08:00Edward Banfield wrote a book about such Newfie beh...Edward Banfield wrote a book about such Newfie behavior in Italy. I'm using the Mulcair nuance on Newfie. All apologies.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-45329237096941460.post-4473134481462504452013-12-01T20:38:12.681-08:002013-12-01T20:38:12.681-08:00Hah, I saw you later wrote about this. That's ...Hah, I saw you later wrote about this. That's what I get from starting to read a blog from the beginning.Vetarniashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09841052563158959996noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-45329237096941460.post-27398344844446055982013-12-01T19:27:54.373-08:002013-12-01T19:27:54.373-08:00According to the British, therefore, the mismanage...According to the British, therefore, the mismanagement and neglect of Newfoundland was its own doing, the child of political corruption and general ignorance, exacerbated by the international economic climate of the early thirties. Frederick Alderdice, the Newfoundland PM who voted his own job out of existence by implementing Lord Amulree's recommendations (only to be rewarded with an appointment to the subsequent Commission of Government), was very much a representative of the St. John's business elite of the day, concerned above all with political and economic stability. (And Canada, of course, was already meddling in the affairs of Newfoundland because of shared economic interests.)<br /><br />In 1948, the first referendum on the future of Newfoundland offered three options: the continuation of the Commission of Government, Confederation with Canada, or a return to responsible government. The third option won, but since it only obtained a plurality, a second referendum was held, in which the majority of people who had voted to continue the Commission chose to vote for Confederation. From this, it can safely be surmised that the additional people who voted first for the Commission, then for Confederation, were concerned, above all, with economic stability.<br /><br />The lesson here is not so much that Newfoundland made a mistake in joining Canada, but that there are persons for whom economic considerations will always trump any sense of national pride. I'm thinking, right away, of Quebec's vociferous libertarian Right, but they are rabble for the most part, and I'm more worried about the power of our much vaunted Quebec Inc. elite and its hangers-on; see how Lucien Bouchard, decidedly part of the latter, has spent the last decade backstabbing the cause of independence...Vetarniashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09841052563158959996noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-45329237096941460.post-88352091186173543762013-12-01T19:27:16.522-08:002013-12-01T19:27:16.522-08:00Let's not forget, however, that Newfoundland w...Let's not forget, however, that Newfoundland was already financially finished before 1949. In 1933, faced with default, it had no choice but to revert to the status of a British colony, I will just quote one passage from the 1933 Newfoundland Royal Commission (aka the Amulree Commission) which recommended that course of action:<br /><br />"219. As a general statement, it is not too much to say that the present generation of Newfoundlanders have never known enlightened government. The process of deterioration, once started, could not be controlled. The simple-minded electorate were visited every few years by rival politicians, who, in the desire to secure election, were accustomed to make the wildest promises involving increased public expenditure in the constituency and the satisfaction of all the cherished desires of the inhabitants. The latter, as was not unnatural, chose the candidate who promised them the most. This might be said of other countries, but in Newfoundland this cajoling of the electorate was carried to such lengths that, until the recent crisis brought them to their senses, the electors in many cases preferred to vote for a candidate who was known to possess an aptitude for promoting his own interests at the public expense rather than for a man who disdained to adopt such a course. They argued that, if a man had proved himself capable of using his political opportunities to his personal advantage, he would be the better equipped to promote the advantage of his constituents: an honest man would only preach to them.<br /><br /> 220. The country was thus exposed to the evils of paternalism in its most extreme form. The people, instead of being trained to independence and self-reliance, became increasingly dependent on those who were placed in authority; instead of being trained to think in terms of the national interest, they were encouraged to think only of the interests of their own district. Even within a district, or a church denomination, there was no public spirit; in the struggle to secure a decent living, the average man sought only his personal advantage. The Government was looked upon as the universal provider, and it was thought to be the duty of the Member for the constituency to see that there was an ever-increasing flow of public money. (...) The people were in fact taught to look to the Government for everything and to do as little as possible to provide for their own requirements. If the fishing was good, agriculture was neglected. If the fishing was bad, more attention was paid to the land but the Government were expected to provide the seeds for the people to plant. Roads, bridges, town halls and public buildings; all these, often superfluous luxuries, the Government, through the Member, was expected to provide and maintain. The Member on his part, knew that unless he gave satisfaction to the people, he stood little chance of re-election: consequently, he was tempted to concentrate his energy on obtaining the maximum amount of money from the Government for allocation in his constituency. When it is said that, under the system adopted, there was no adequate audit of the money so allotted, it will be appreciated what opportunities there were for waste and extravagance. With no training in citizenship, and unversed in the elementary canons of public finance, the people were unable to realise that excessive expenditure would inevitably recoil on their own heads; the Government evidently possessed or could raise the money and, if that was so, it was held to be their right to have the maximum share of it."<br />Vetarniashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09841052563158959996noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-45329237096941460.post-54493182964406197752013-06-24T03:28:48.354-07:002013-06-24T03:28:48.354-07:00Vive le Québec libre.Vive le Québec libre.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com