The Last Days of Smallwood by Edward Roberts

 

The Last Days of Smallwood by Edward Roberts is a jaw dropping piece of Canadiana detailing the final collapse of the premiership of "the only living father of Confederation".  The late Mr. Roberts provides an up close and very personal account of the life and death of the Stephenville Linerboard Mill and in so doing provides great insight into the political climate and political players of Newfoundland and Labrador of the late sixties and early seventies. Roberts, Premier Smallwood's former assistant, Cabinet Minister and Leader of the Opposition,  outlines the attempted abuse by unscrupulous promoters of the linerboard mill in obtaining funding for the project and the Premier's dereliction of duty in protecting the province and its citizens from serious financial culpability. In so doing, Roberts explains with amazing detail how he and other ministers and officials were able to thwart the attempted coup by forming an alliance. Unfortunately, this youthful team of Smallwood's inner circle were unable to spare the fledgling province from irreparable economic harm as the succeeding government acquired the mill and continued to make futile attempts to turn it into a viable venture. 

Though Roberts' original intention for writing The Last Days of Smallwood was to lay out the trajectory of the Stephenville Linerboard Mill and the ensuing debacle, his "extensive and reliable knowledge" serves to further whet the appetite of the reader surrounding the Smallwood reign and Newfoundland and Labrador's bizarre political history. Using personal documents, verbatim quotes from court records and Hansard, and files of financial details, Roberts examines elections, byelections, floor crossings and alleged bribery. He details drunken brawls, an "illegal seizure of power by a deposed government", and even the burning of ballots in the woodstove of the returning officer of Sally's Cove. Juicy tidbits about Smallwood's  philandering Conservative successor are laid out for the world to see and Newfoundland's reputation on the national and world stage is called into question. If all this seems to be the stuff of fiction, it isn't.  Roberts' writing and recollections are further supported by five additional excerpts.  These include John Crosbie's No Holds Barred: My Life in Politics, Richard Gwyn' s Smallwood: The Unlikely Revolutionary, Bill Rowe's The Premiers Joey and Frank: Greed, Power, and Lust, Joseph R. Smallwood's I Chose Canada: The Memoirs of the Honourable Joseph R. Smallwood and Janice Wells' Frank Moore: The Time of His Life.  

The Last Days of Smallwood by Edward Roberts is an interesting albeit shocking account of just one political event in the bizarre political history of Newfoundland and Labrador. It will record for posterity the corruption, nepotism, and tyranny that once infiltrated Canada's youngest province and will hopefully provide a lesson to current and future political leaders about the importance of due diligence. I enjoyed this book thoroughly and would recommend it to all Newfoundlanders and Labradorians born both pre and post Confederation. Roberts' staggering presentation of financial facts was, at times, overwhelming but in the end aided my understanding of the huge economic impact this project had on our province. I hope the current Muskrat Falls project does not fall into the same category. The Last Days of Smallwood is a Flanker Press publication.