New documentary film on Canadian history launching on TV? Oughta be a good thing, right? But this one is "Don't Tell the Newfoundlanders" ("the true story of Newfoundland's Less than Constitutional Confederation with Canada') based on a lurid conspiracy-theory book by Greg Malone of the remarkable, now long-gone Codco comedy troupe).
"Don't Tell The Newfoundlanders" the 2012 book, argued that Newfoundland was shanghaied into confederation in 1949 by fraud, trickery, and connivance all plotted secretly by dastardly Brits and Canadians and foisted on greedy gullible outport Newfoundlanders who ensured the confederation referendum passed when they should have heeded the advice of the wiser folk in St. John's.
Here is a let-us-say sceptical review of the book from the Literary Review of Canada by Jeff Webb, professor of history at Memorial University, a Newfoundlander who has written widely about Newfoundland history and archaeology.
Malone constantly uses words such as “subverted,” “treason,” “criminal,” “conspirators,” “plot,” “connivance,” “duplicity,” “mendacity,” “abuse” and “fraudulently.” Historians have an understanding of our past that has more nuance and sophistication than this inflammatory choice of language implies—but this book is informed by the feeling that Canada has been unfair to Newfoundland since 1949 as much as by the evidence from the 1940s.
For a history with more nuance and sophistication, you might read Raymond Blake, another Newfoundlander historian of Newfoundland, and his book Where Once They Stood, a much more serious and credible account of why Newfoundland rejected confederation in 1869 and endorsed in in 1949 (wisely in both cases, he argues).
Blake dismisses Malone briefly in his introduction as "an actor and television personality who is convinced that the British and Canadian governments conspired to railroad Newfoundland into Confederation and that Britain fixed the vote..." Look for Malone to feature prominently in the new film series.
Webb and Blake, maybe not so much.
The film is showing on The Bell Fibe TV1 channel and the Fibe app.
I can't help but note that after most of a century in confederation, Newfoundland has the writers, actors, producers, and publishing and film-making infrastructure that has generated so much artistic and creative work of national statute. Does Alberta's cultural community produce conspiracy-theory documents on this scale to support its grievances against confederation?
Update, August 20: Charles Levi comments:
How many conspiracy films does Newfoundland need? Or do they need one every generation? Your story reminded me of a fun little film from the 1990s entitled "Secret Nation".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secret_Nation
Same idea, different angle.
Meanwhile, I've yet to see any good conspiracy films about Ontario politics.
