Confederation as Conspiracy

When a book’s title advertises that it is “the true story,” I immediately suspect that it is not. Greg Malone’s account is, for the most part, not untrue. The government of the United Kingdom and the government of Canada decided that it would be best for all concerned if Newfoundland joined the Canadian confederation. The two governments did what they were able, behind the scenes, to encourage the voters of Newfoundland to join Canada. But when Malone claims that “that truth was kept from the Newfoundland and Canadian public for almost half a century, and it needs to be acknowledged—to change minds and to improve attitudes,” he is moving into an area of polemic, not truth.

What separates this book from the earlier histories of Newfoundland’s road to confederation is not the evidence it presents, but the tone it uses. The facts in this book are well known, despite its billing as an exposé, and there is little new evidence here that has not been published previously...