Liberal Party of Newfoundland and Labrador
political party in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada
The Liberal Party of Newfoundland and Labrador is a political party in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. It is one of the three parties currently represented in the Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly, and one of two that had continual representation since Newfoundland became a province of Canada. It has formed the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador for over 60% of time period since Newfoundland joined the Canadian Confederation as its tenth provinces in 1949 and produced eight of the province's fifteen premiers.
History
Origins
The party originated in 1948 as the Newfoundland Confederate Association. At this time, Newfoundland was being governed by a Commission of Government appointed by the Government of the United Kingdom. The NCA was an organization campaigning for Newfoundland to join Canadian Confederation. Joey Smallwood was the NCA's chief organizer and spokesman; Smallwood also led the winning side of the 1948 Newfoundland referendum on Confederation.
The Joey Smallwood era (1949–1972)
Following the referendum victory, the NCA reorganized itself as the new province's Liberal Party under Smallwood's leadership. It won the province's first post-Confederation election for the Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly held on May 27, 1949.
The Liberals under Smallwood promoted the diversification of the province's economy through various megaprojects.
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This entry incorporates text from “Liberal Party of Newfoundland and Labrador” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.