The Newfoundland Fisheries Household Resettlement Program
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Reconstituting Rural Communities and Economies: The Newfoundland Fisheries Household Resettlement Program, 1965 – 1970 By George Withers A thesis submitted to the School of Graduate Studies In partial fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of History Memorial University of Newfoundland Winter Semester 2016 Abstract In Newfoundland, the word „resettlement‟ evokes strong emotions decades after the program was abandoned. Many people feel that a heartless government uprooted families who were living an idyllic lifestyle in remote communities scattered along the coast. My thesis is that households were not forced into slums by the state. Although they did not resort to violence, coastal people were not as apathetic or powerless as the literature on resettlement suggests. Although it was more coercive than the preceding provincial Centralization Plan, the notoriety of Newfoundland Fisheries Household Resettlement Program (FHRP) is due, in part to the dearth of historical studies of resettlement. Historians have left the field to social scientists and the artistic community to write the narrative that laments a lost heritage. The archival record is replete with evidence that coastal people redefined the objectives of the FHRP and pressured governments to amend the Resettlement Agreement. Through appeals to church leaders, provincial and national politicians, and the media they persuaded the Fisheries Household Resettlement Committee (FHRC) to approve moves that planners considered irrational, but which made perfect sense to the relocatees. When the FHRC agreed to concentrate a large number of fishers into a receiving community with scarce resources and employment opportunities, charges of coercion were heard in the capitals where lack of planning turned relocation into a debacle. ii Acknowledgements I would like to thank especially my supervisor, Dr. Jeff A. Webb, who provided so much assistance and encouragement. Thank you for your keen interest and scholarly advice. I also wish to thank the members of my committee, historian Dr. Kurt Korneski and anthropologist Dr. Reade Davis, for compiling reading fields to broaden my knowledge of Canadian history and anthropology. I also owe a debt of gratitude to Dr. Lewis Fischer for going the extra mile to get me accepted into graduate studies. I also wish to acknowledge the assistance of the staff of the various archives, including The Rooms, Archives and Special Collections, the Maritime History Archives and the Centre for Newfoundland Studies. Thank you to Dr. John Sandlos for securing a fellowship from the School of Graduate Studies, Memorial University. I would also like to thank Dr. James Hiller, Dr. Stefan Curtis, and the head of the history department, Terry Bishop-Stirling. Finally, I want to thank my wife, Pauline, for her patience as I ran this marathon for the last six years. She was a source of inspiration and encouragement when I was at a low point. iii List of Abbreviations ARDA Agricultural Renewal and Development Act ASC Archives and Special Collections CMHC Central Mortgage and Housing CNS Centre for Newfoundland Studies FHRC Fisheries Household Resettlement Committee FHRP Fisheries Household Resettlement Program FFTA Frozen Fish Trades Association FPL Fishery Products Limited FPU Fishermen‟s Protective Union ISER Institute for Social and Economic Research MHA Member of the House of Assembly MP Member of Parliament NAFEL Newfoundland Association of Fish Exporters Ltd. NFDA Newfoundland Fisheries Development Authority NFF Newfoundland Federation of Fishermen NFFAWU Newfoundland Fish Food and Allied Workers Union NFTA Newfoundland Fish Trades Association NLHC Newfoundland and Labrador Housing Corporation PANL Provincial Archives of Newfoundland and Labrador RDO Rural Development Officer iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- i Acknowledgements-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ii Abbreviations -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- iii Chapter 1 Introduction---------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 Chapter II .....The Newfoundland Fisheries Household Resettlement Program: Ideology and Methodology --------------------------------------------------------------------- 34 Introduction ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 34 State-Sponsored Resettlement Programs ------------------------------------- 35 Conclusion ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 74 Chapter III Obstacles in the Road to Modernity: Recruiting Industrial Labour for Four Major Fishery Growth Centres on the Burin Peninsula ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 76 Introduction ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 76 Building an Industrial Fishery on the Burin Peninsula --------------------- 77 Conclusion ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 120 Chapter IV Trials and Tribulations in the Transition to Modernity: Life in Two Approved Organized Reception Communities------------------------- 122 Introduction --------------------------------------------------------------------- 122 Arnold‟s Cove------------------------------------------------------------------- 124 Southern Harbour--------------------------------------------------------------- 153 Conclusion----------------------------------------------------------------------- 162 Chapter V Segregation and Social Alienation in Growth Centres: Placentia, Trepassey, Harbour Breton, and Stephenville - St. George’s--------- 168 Introduction --------------------------------------------------------------------- 168 Placentia ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 169 Trepassey ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 177 Harbour Breton------------------------------------------------------------------ 184 Stephenville - St. George‟s ---------------------------------------------------- 201 Conclusion ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 206 v Chapter VI Church and State: Detractors and Promoters of Resettlement------ 208 Introduction --------------------------------------------------------------------- 208 The Roman Catholic Church-------------------------------------------------- 210 The Anglican Church----------------------------------------------------------- 219 The United Church-------------------------------------------------------------- 231 The Apostolic Faith Church--------------------------------------------------- 234 Conclusion----------------------------------------------------------------------- 243 Chapter VII Bucking the Trend: Choosing Development ----------------------------- 246 Introduction---------------------------------------------------------------------- 246 Fogo Island----------------------------------------------------------------------- 248 Great Harbour Deep------------------------------------------------------------ 262 Paradise Sound - Petite Forte, South East Bight and Monkstown ------- 268 Point Lance----------------------------------------------------------------------- 283 Conclusion----------------------------------------------------------------------- 286 Chapter VIII Port Elizabeth to Red Harbour: A Contest of Wills ------------------- 289 Introduction --------------------------------------------------------------------- 289 Port Elizabethans Resettle Themselves -------------------------------------- 291 Conclusion ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 326 Chapter IX Conclusion----------------------------------------------------------------------- 328 Bibliography-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 353 1 Chapter 1 Introduction In its first two decades as a province of Canada Newfoundland experienced a social, cultural and economic revolution that threw into question a century old way of life. Premier Joseph Smallwood in a rush to modernize the province told fishermen to burn their boats and flakes. Alleging that Newfoundland must develop or perish, Smallwood embarked on a modernization program to raise consumption closer to the standard enjoyed by North Americans. The rapidity of cultural and economic change created concerns among scholars at Memorial University.1 Historian and university president, Leslie Harris, asserted that changes which had occurred over the space of decades in other provinces were being crammed into years.2 Academics were concerned that the distinctive elements of Newfoundland culture would soon disappear. The majority of the rural population accepted Smallwood‟s promise that union with Canada would mean an end to poverty. Many had been awakened to the benefits of industrial employment during World War II. Between 1945 and 1953 nearly 50 communities relocated voluntarily. David Damas draws a distinction between two types of resettled communities on the basis of the processes by which communities come to be resettled. One process, termed migration, occurs without intervention of external agencies while the second process involves planned movement of communities and individuals to a destination determined by outside agents.3 1Jeff A. Webb, Observing the Outports: Describing Newfoundland Culture, 1950-1980 (Toronto: