Newfoundland and Labrador

C

Communications

The first newspaper to be published in the province was the Royal Gazette, which was founded in 1806. It still appears as a government gazette. The largest daily is the St. John’s Telegram, founded as the Evening Telegram in 1879 and renamed in 1998. The other major daily is the Western Star of Corner Brook. There are also several weekly newspapers and periodical journals. The province is served by 21 AM and 18 FM radio stations and 4 television stations.

D

Arts

One of the province’s earliest writers was William Charles Saint John, who gained fame as a journalist and a historian. His son, Charles Henry Saint John, is recognized as the province’s first native-born poet. Sir Wilfred Thomason Grenfell, who was sent out in 1892 from London to organize schools and medical missions, gave the world its first reports of the little-known wilds of Labrador. The province’s most accomplished writers of the 20th century included E. J. Pratt, acclaimed by many as Canada’s greatest poet; Michael F. Harrington, short-story writer, radio commentator, and newspaper editor; and the novelists Harold Horwood and Margaret Duley. The journalist Ray Guy, known for his biting satire and political commentary, is one of the province’s best-known contemporary writers.

VI

Recreation and Places to Visit

The province has a well-deserved reputation for its excellent hunting and fishing grounds. Summer cruises along the rocky, picturesque coast are also popular. Since the early 19th century, the famous regatta held in August on Quidi Vidi Lake near St. John’s has drawn many spectators and participants. The regatta is considered the oldest regularly held sports event in North America, originating in 1826.

A

National Parks

The province has two national parks, both on the island of Newfoundland: Gros Morne National Park, on Newfoundland’s west coast, and Terra Nova National Park, in Bonavista Bay in the northeast. There are also seven national historic parks, including Signal Hill, at the entrance to St. John’s harbor, where the first transatlantic wireless message was received in 1901; Castle Hill, at Placentia, commemorating the French economic and military presence in Newfoundland; Cape Spear, the most easterly point in North America and the site of Canada’s oldest standing lighthouse; and L’Anse aux Meadows, on the Great Northern Peninsula, where the earliest authentic site of a Viking colony was found in North America. In 1978 the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) declared L’Anse aux Meadows a World Heritage Site.

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B

Provincial Parks

There are more than 70 provincial parks and natural areas in Newfoundland and Labrador. They include Butter Pot, Sir Richard Squires Memorial, and Barachois Pond, which are among many provincial parks available for overnight camping. There are also a dozen ecological reserves that provide sanctuary for rare or endangered plants and animals or protect natural history artifacts, and several wilderness reserves encompassing extensive natural areas.

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