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CM . . . .
Volume VII Number 3 . . . . October 6, 2000
In 1949, the last living "Father of Confederation," Joey Smallwood, led Newfoundland into
Confederation. Fifty years later, this documentary video opens in a St. John's pub, with
Newfoundlanders of several generations hotly debating whether or not "the little fellow from
Gambo" did the right thing for his fellow islanders. Marked by a poverty-stricken childhood,
Smallwood dropped out of school in Grade 8. Like many Newfoundlanders, he left home to seek
his fortune. He returned a socialist. What he lacked in formal education, he made up for in
ambition and charm, and, after a variety of strange and dubious business ventures, he found
success as a journalist and labour organizer. Politics was a natural segue and a vocation which
simultaneously fed and fueled his desperate desire to be liked. Smallwood believed it was his
destiny to lead Newfoundland out of poverty and into the industrialized world of the twentieth
century. Confederation became the means to do so. Smallwood fought massive opposition from
"the merchant princes" who had vested interests in keeping the place a colony and, often, the
natural inclinations of fellow islanders. Still, a variety of Canadian social welfare incentives
managed to net a 51% majority and Smallwood's place in history. Through interviews with
friends, family, and a variety of political observers, this video presents Joey Smallwood as a man
of great strengths and equally great weaknesses. He may have been "a little fellow," but he
certainly lived large, and, for many Canadians, he was Newfoundland. For those us who live in the
rest of Canada, Joey Smallwood: Between Scoundrels and Saints provides insights into both
the problems and advantages pre-Confederation Newfoundland experienced. Newfoundland's
joining Confederation is often given brief treatment in Canadian history texts - this video provides
another look at the event, and, as such, is recommended as resource material for Canadian history
courses.
Recommended.
Joanne Peters is the teacher-librarian at Kelvin High School in Winnipeg, MB.
To comment on this title or this review, send mail to cm@umanitoba.ca.
Copyright © the Manitoba Library Association.
Reproduction for personal use is permitted only if this copyright notice
is maintained. Any other reproduction is prohibited without
permission.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR THIS ISSUE - October 6, 2000.
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