Publisher's Synopsis
With all the warmth, vigor and enthusiasm that marks everything he does, "Joey" Smallwood tells of his remarkable and eventful life from birth in the tiny outport of Gambo to his retirement from active politics after twenty-three years as the controversial and colorful Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador. From the day he took his full time job at fifteen, his various occupations - newspaperman, union organizer, politician, writer, historian, broadcaster and pig farmer - took him to every part of his native island and provided a rich training ground for the demanding political role that was to be his.
With a wealth of anecdote he describes the hotly contested struggle that he led to a triumphant conclusion on March 31, 1949, when Newfoundland became Canada's tenth province. As the first premier of he new province, Mr. Smallwood and his government faced the monumental challenge of bringing its people into the mainstream of Canadian life. The province was poor and its resources practically unknown and untapped. Turning every ounce of his remarkable energy to creating a better life for Newfoundlanders, the Premier worked tirelessly to encourage every possible kind of economic development, to provide ever greater educational opportunities, hospitals, roads, and services - and jobs and more jobs. His quest for development capital led to meetings with the political and financial leaders of the world - Winston Churchill, Edmond deRothschild, Richard Nixon, Robert Winters and the directors of BRINCO, and countless others. His insistence on better opportunities for Newfoundlanders brought close relations with the political leaders of Canada and occasionally sharp conflict - as with John Diefenbacker and Jean Lesage. Admitting - and lamenting - his failures, Mr. Smallword writes dramatically and movingly of the events that brought about such triumphs as the multi-million dollar development of the mighty Churchill Falls in Labrador and the refinery complex at Come by Chance.
For a quarter of a century, "Joey" Smallwood was the dominant figure00 in Newfoundland life and politics. ".... the greatest Newfoundlander", J. W. Pickersgill called him on his retirement. This compelling account of a lifetime is a vigorous defense of his premiership and provides ample evidence for the reader to decide.
Joseph Roberts "Joey" Smallwood, PC CC, born December 24, 1900 - died December 17, 1991, was a Newfoundlander and Canadian politician. He was the main force who brought the Dominion of Newfoundland into the Canadian Confederation in 1949, becoming the first premier of Newfoundland, serving until 1972. As premier, he vigorously promoted economic development, championed the welfare state, and emphasized modernization of education and transportation. Smallwood was a socialist in philosophy, noting in a 1974 documentary that he considered the People's Republic of China to be the ideal social state; he would nonetheless collaborate with bankers, turning against the multiple unions that sponsored numerous strikes. The results of his efforts to promote industrialization were mixed, with the most favorable results in hydroelectricity, iron mining and paper mills.
