Commission of Government

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The Commission of Government was a non-elected body that governed Newfoundland from 1934 to 1949 (when the former dominion became the tenth province of Canada). Established following the collapse of Newfoundland's economy during the Great Depression, it was composed of civil servants who were directly subordinate to the British Government in London.

1 Background
2 Chairmen of Commission of Government
3 Members of the Commission of Government
- 3.1 Sources
4 See also
5 External links

[edit] Background

Newfoundland's economic difficulties were exacerbated by debt incurred during the First World War. In 1933, following a prolonged period of economic crisis and severe budgetary deficit, the government of Prime Minister Frederick C. Alderdice asked the British and Canadian governments to establish a royal commission (the Newfoundland Royal Commission) to investigate the dominion's continuing crisis and to suggest a solution to its problems.

The commission (commonly known as the "Amulree Commission") was chaired by Lord Amulree, appointed by the British government, and also included C. A. Magrath, appointed by the Canadian government, and Sir William Stavert, who represented the Newfoundland government.

The commission recommended the temporary suspension of responsible government in Newfoundland, and replacing it with a Commission of Government made up of the British-appointed Governor, and six commissioners appointed by the Crown (split equally between British and Newfoundland appointees).

Alderdice was in favor of this recommendation, and accordingly put it to the House of Assembly, which duly approved the proposals, and thus voted itself out of existence.

The Commission of Government was sworn in on 16 February 1934,^{[citation needed]} with Alderdice as vice-chairman, and immediately set about reforming the administration of the country in hopes of balancing the government's budget. With the help of grants in aid from the United Kingdom the Commission attempted to encourage agriculture and reorganize the fishing industry. While it did much to expand government health services to rural areas, for example, it could not solve the basic economic problems of a small export-oriented country during a time of worldwide economic stagnation.

American and Canadian military spending in Newfoundland during the 1940s caused an economic boom and allowed the Commission of Government to consider how to reintroduce a system of democratic government. However, the British government believed that the wartime prosperity would be short-lived, and so it established the Newfoundland National Convention in 1946 to debate constitutional options. These constitutional options were then submitted to the people in two referendums in 1948. By a slender majority Newfoundlanders chose to become a province of Canada rather than return to the status of a self-governing dominion. The Commission of Government continued to govern Newfoundland until March 31, 1949, when it finally joined Canada.

[edit] Chairmen of Commission of Government

Term	Chairman
1934-1935	David Murray Anderson
1936-1946	Humphrey T. Walwyn
1946-1949	Gordon MacDonald

[edit] Members of the Commission of Government

Name	From	To
Frederick Charles Alderdice	1934	1936
Sir John Hope Simpson	1934	1936
William Richard Howley	1934	1937
Thomas Lodge	1934	1937
John Charles Puddester (knighted in 1939)	1934	1947
Everard Noel Rye Trentham	1934	1937
James Alexander Winter	1936	1941
Robert Benson Ewbank	1936	1939
Sir Wilfrid Wentworth Woods	1937	1944
John Hubert Penson	1937	1941
Lewis Edward Emerson (knighted in 1944)	1937	1944
John Henry Gorvin	1939	1941
Ira Wild	1941	1946
Peter Douglas Hay Dunn	1941	1945
Harry Anderson Winter	1941	1947
Sir George Ernest London	1944	1945
Albert Joseph Walsh (knighted in 1949)	1944	1949
James Scott Neill	1945	1949
William Henry Flinn	1945	1949
Richard Lewis Malcolm James	1946	1949
Herman William Quinton	1947	1949