Growing up you would often hear, " Tory Times Were Hard Times". My Grandfather Lynch who is now dead 16 years would now be 116 years old. He was 99 years old when he died and a great Tory at that. He was a common man who came to Grand Falls to work for the A.N.D. Company and raised a big family in the former town of Windsor. So if Tory times were so hard why did a commoner like him vote Tory all of his life. Looking back in history at the Prime Ministers from both Tory's and Liberals here is what you will find. Liberals Laurier and St. Laurent both preside over periods of economic boom the Wheat Boom and the Post-War boom while Mackenzie-King (1935-48) had a term that includes a world war. Put a Conservative in power during a boom period or a war and they also would do well. Conservatives do appear to have had a knack for being in power during periods of severe economic hardship, particularly the Great Depression of the 1930s as well as the severe recessions of 1920-21 and 1926. Mackenzie-King’s second term from 1926-30 coincides with the debut of the Great Depression. When Liberal prime ministers are caught smack in the middle of a depression, they also show declines in real per capita output as in the case of Alexander McKenzie who was prime minister from 1873 to 1878, an era that until the 1930s was also viewed as a Great Depression. Had he remained in power for the 1930 to 1935 period, it is likely the growth of the World War II period would have been associated with a Conservative Prime Minister. In politics, timing is everything. Source: Worthwhile Canadian Initiative A mainly Canadian economics blog
Now back to the modern days of Tory Times Are Hard Times. Now where shall I start? Well now let me see now. The Liberals Governed Newfoundland and Labrador for 23 years starting in 1949-1972. One would think that we would have evolved into some kind of economic success story with Come By Chance , Boot Factories, The Upper Churchill Hydro Development and so on. No by golly we were economic broke incurring debt for a longtime. Granted we were getting schools, hospitals, and other infrastructure built by the Government of Canada given as part of Confederation. Let us not forget who built the Grand Falls-Windsor Hospital- our parents and grandparents who worked at the Mill. If I am not mistaken we gave control of our greatest resource the fishery at the time to the Government of Canada . We would soon findout there were more boats on the banks then ours.