Commission of Government

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The Commission of Government was established in 1934 as form of direct rule for the Dominion of Newfoundland due to the collapse of democratic institutions during the Great Depression. This effectively placed Newfoundland under the control of the Government of the United Kingdom.

Newfoundland's economic crisis was exacerbated by the colony's debt incurred during the First World War. In 1933 after a prolonged period of economic crisis and severe budgetary deficits, the dominion government of Prime Minister Frederick C. Alderdice asked the British government and Canada to establish a royal commission to investigate the dominion's crisis.

The commission established which was commonly called the "The Amulree Commission" was chaired by Lord Amulree who was appointed by the British government. Also the Canadian government appointed C.A. Magrath, and the Newfoundland government Sir William Stavert.

The royal commission recommended suspending responsible government in Newfoundland and replacing it with a commission made up of the British appointed governor and six other commissioners appointed by the Crown, with three British and three Newfoundland appointees.

Prime Minister Frederick C. Alderdice was in favor of this recommendation. So he put it to the House, in which he had a majority, and the legislature voted itself out of existence. (Alderice became vice-chairman of the Commission.)

The "Commission of Government" was sworn in on 16th February 1934 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 the Great Depression. American and Canadian military spending in Newfoundland and Labrador during the 1940s caused an economic boom and allowed the Commission of Government to consider re-establishing democratic responsible government.

Since the government of the United Kingdom believed that the wartime prosperity would be short-lived, in 1946 it established the Newfoundland National Convention to debate constitutional options. These constitutional options were then submitted to the people in two referenda 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 ruled Newfoundland until 31st March 1949 when the dominion joined Canada as a province.

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