The Liberal Party of Newfoundland and Labrador is a political party in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.
The party is the provincial wing of the Liberal Party of Canada, and its current incarnation originated in 1948 as the Newfoundland Confederate Association . The NCA was an organization campaigning for Newfoundland to join Canadian confederation. At this time, Newfoundland was being governed by a Commission of Government appointed by the Government of the United Kingdom.
Joey Smallwood was the NCA's chief organizer and spokesman, and led the winning side of the 1949 referendum on Confederation.
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 House of Assembly held in May of 1949.
The Liberals under Smallwood promoted the diversification of the province's economy through various megaprojects. The provincial government invested in the construction of factories, the pulp and paper industry, the oil industry, hydro-electicity projects, the construction of highways and schools, the relocation of rural villages into larger centres, and other projects. These projects were ofyen very expensive, and yielded few results.
Smallwood grew increasingly autocratic during his 22 years in power. Disaffection with Smallwood, his party and even his government mounted within the province. He announced his retirement in 1969, only to run in the contest to succeed himself. Smallwood defeated John Crosbie for the leadership.
Crosbie and many young Liberals defected to the opposition Progressive Conservatives. The Conservatives had previously found support largely in the business community, and in and around St. John's.
The Liberals narrowly lost the 1971 election, but Smallwood refused to resign as Premier. Another election was held in 1972 which finally removed the Liberals from power.
Smallwood was forced out of the party, and formed his own Liberal Reform Party, which ran in the 1975 election against the Liberals and the Tories. The Liberals were badly split and demoralised, and remained on the opposition benches until 1989.
The post-Smallwood Liberals were much more pragmatic and cautious.
In 1989, the party returned to power under the leadership of Clyde Wells. Under Wells, the Liberal government eschewed the megaprojects and spending of the Smallwood era, and cut social programs, reduced the public service and even attempted to privatize the state-owned electrical utility, Newfoundland Hydro. In the face of public outrage, the Liberals backed down from privatization.
While the Tories were supporters of a decentralised federation and argued for the devolution of power from Ottawa to the provinces, the Liberals, particularly under Wells, supported a strong central government and helped kill the Meech Lake Accord, a package of proposed amendments to the Canadian constitution that would have increased the powers of provincial governments within Canada.
The Liberals remained closely tied to the federal Liberal Party of Canada. When Wells retired in 1996, he was replaced by former federal Liberal cabinet minister Brian Tobin. Tobin returned to federal politicas in 2000, after only four years as Premier.
By 2003, the Liberals had grown tired in power. Public disaffection and frustration had mounted, resulting in their electoral defeat at the hands of Danny Williams and the Tories.
For the pre-1934 party see Liberal parties in Newfoundland (pre-Confederation)
See also
