Every year, in late March, the debate starts again about Confederation and whether or not Newfoundland was pushed into it.

The calendar also signals the beginning of the parallel discussion on whether Terra Nova, as we used to call ourselves, did the right thing in joining

Joe Smallwood believed in the democratic process. Well, sort of. Once following a by-election that the Liberals lost, Smallwood said to the assembled press the next day that the voters in the district had exercised their God-given right to be wrong.

That is a good introduction