Editing Newfoundland and Labrador (section)

==== Reform and the Fisherman's Union ====
In 1907, Newfoundland acquired [[dominion]] status, or self-government, within the [[British Empire]] or [[Commonwealth of Nations|British Commonwealth]].<ref name="mapleweb">{{cite web|url=http://www.mapleleafweb.com/old/features/constitution/federalism/newfoundland-labrador/nfld-history.html|publisher=Mapleleafweb|title=Newfoundland & Labrador and Canadian Federalism – History of Newfoundland & Labrador|access-date=February 5, 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110602120916/http://www.mapleleafweb.com/old/features/constitution/federalism/newfoundland-labrador/nfld-history.html|archive-date=June 2, 2011}}</ref> Government of Newfoundland was conducted mostly by a cabinet accountable solely to the legislature in St. John's, subject only to occasional policy changes from the British government, for example vetoing a trade agreement Newfoundland had negotiated with the [[United States of America|United States]].<ref name="mapleweb"/> A new reform-minded government was formed under [[Edward Morris, 1st Baron Morris|Edward Morris]], a senior Catholic politician who had split from the Liberals to form the [[Newfoundland People's Party|People's Party]]. It extended education provision, introduced old-age pensions, initiated agriculture and trade schemes and, with a trade union act, provided a legal framework for collective bargaining.<ref name=":6"/>

There had been unions seeking to negotiate wage rates in the shipbuilding trades since the 1850s. Those working the fishing boats were not wage earners but commodity producers, like farmers, reliant on merchant credit. Working in small, competitive, often family, units, scattered in isolated communities, they also had little occasion to gather in large numbers to discuss common concerns.<ref>{{cite web|last=Rennie|first=Rick|date=1996|title=Labour Organization and Unions|url=https://www.heritage.nf.ca/articles/economy/labour-movements.php|access-date=January 25, 2022|website=heritage.nf.ca|archive-date=January 25, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220125223539/https://www.heritage.nf.ca/articles/economy/labour-movements.php|url-status=live}}</ref> These obstacles to organization were overcome from 1908 by a new co-operative movement, the [[Fishermen's Protective Union]] (FPU). Mobilizing more than 21,000 members in 206 councils across the island; more than half of Newfoundland's fishermen,<ref name="fpu">[https://www.mun.ca/mha/fpu/fpu18.php Formation of the Fishermen's Protective Union] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305071041/https://www.mun.ca/mha/fpu/fpu18.php |date=March 5, 2016 }}, Maritime History Archive, Memorial University. Retrieved February 20, 2008.</ref> the FPU challenged the economic control of the island's merchantocracy.<ref name=":8">{{cite web|title=1959 Newfoundland and the IWA – Canada's Human Rights History|url=https://historyofrights.ca/encyclopaedia/main-events/1959-iww-strike-newfoundland/|access-date=January 24, 2022|website=historyofrights.ca|archive-date=January 2, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220102154558/https://historyofrights.ca/encyclopaedia/main-events/1959-iww-strike-newfoundland/|url-status=live}}</ref> Despite opposition from the Catholic Church which objected to the FPU's oath taking and alleged [[socialism]],<ref name="fpu" /> led by [[William Coaker]] the candidates for the FPU won 8 of 36 seats in the House of Assembly in the 1913 general election.<ref>{{cite web|title=Election Results 1913|url=http://www.heritage.nf.ca/law/fpu_1913_election.html|url-status=dead|work=Newfoundland and Labrador Heritage|publisher=Memorial University|access-date=January 24, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121005061757/http://www.heritage.nf.ca/law/fpu_1913_election.html|archive-date=October 5, 2012}}</ref>

At the beginning of 1914, economic conditions seemed favourable to reform. In a little over a decade, exports, imports and state revenue had more than doubled. Schemes were afoot for the exploitation of coal and mineral resources, and for the utilisation of peat beds for fuel. Benefiting from the settlement of disputes over fishing rights with France in 1904, and with the New England states in 1910, the fishing industry was looking to develop new markets.<ref name=":7" />