The Newfoundland Act was an Act of the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprem ...

that confirmed and gave effect to the Terms of Union agreed to between the then-separate Dominions of

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

and

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

on March 23, 1949. It was originally titled the British North America Act 1949, but was renamed in Canada on the

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of the

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from the

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in 1982. In exchange for Newfoundland becoming a province, the Canadian government took over the

Newfoundland Railway The Newfoundland Railway operated on the island of Newfoundland from 1898 to 1988. With a total track length of , it was the longest narrow-gauge railway system in North America. Early construction ] In 1880, a committee of the Newfoundland Leg ...

, Gander International Airport, Newfoundland Airport (now Gander International Airport),

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, telegraph services and other services that fell under federal control. The federal government assumed responsibility for Newfoundland's debt. Newfoundland was also given statutory subsidies, a special subsidy of $1.1 million, the right to enter into tax rental agreements with the federal government and an additional transitional grant of $3.5 million, diminishing by 10 per cent per year for a total of 12 years. Also, as a safety net, it was agreed a Royal Commission would review finances.

Previous Newfoundland Acts

Prior to the 1949 Act there were a handful of Acts with revisions to the Newfoundland's Constitution: * Newfoundland Act 1699 - encourage and established trade (fisheries) links in the region; also called King William's Act * Newfoundland Act 1842 - established an appointed upper Legislative Council and elected lower

House of Assembly House of Assembly is a name given to the legislature or lower house of a bicameral parliament. In some countries this may be at a subnational level. Historically, in British Crown colonies A Crown colony or royal colony was a colony adm ...

* Newfoundland Act 1933 - suspended responsible government with the

General Assembly of Newfoundland and Labrador The General Assembly of Newfoundland and Labrador (known as the General Assembly of Newfoundland until 6 December 2001) is the legislature of the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. Today, the legislature is made of two elements: the m ...

dissolved and established rule by Newfoundland Commission

References

External links

Newfoundland Act text
*
British North American Act, 1949 (Newfoundland Act)
audio reading of act by

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(57m23s) {{Canada topic, Constitution of Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom concerning Canada Canada and the Commonwealth of Nations Constitution of Canada Political history of Newfoundland and Labrador United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 1949 Legal history of Canada 1949 in Canada 1949 in international relations Dominion of Newfoundland law 1949 in Newfoundland March 1949 events in Canada United Kingdom and the Commonwealth of Nations

Previous Newfoundland Acts

See also

References

External links