Reproduced with permission from The Beacon Supplement July 29, 1987

When time was ripe for a new town site

“What we want at Gander is a free town with simple, democratic constitutions, where the rule is the rule of the majority; where a man may own his own home on his own land and engage in any business or occupation he may choose within the laws of the land and the bylaws of the town; where private enterprise will be encouraged, not prohibited; where home building, cultivation and improvement will be counted a virtue, not a crime and, above all, where freedom and democracy will rule.”

This statement was made by longtime and now aging Gander resident, Edgar Baird, and to appreciate it is to realize the times.  It was made 37 years ago

It was February in the second year of confederation for Newfoundland.  The airport, borne out of a war effort, was still going strong but enduring a noted transitional period. 

The war had ended short years before, the Canadian, American and British military personnel had pulled out, the airport was converting to commercial from military use and it was the beginning of the passenger jet or the long range flying aircraft age.

All this was taking place but still the community of Gander persisted as a mere fringe development of the airport.  No one was permitted to build a home within five miles of the airport and, generally, the foregoing represented the state of affairs that precipitated the lamentation by Mr. Baird.

His comments carry much interest, because of the times when these were made.  We have to know the Gander of today to really appreciate them, for, as the saying goes, to know the past is to appreciate the present. 

Therefore, we use, in part, his remarks made in 1950, to commence this volume of history on the old town site or arrangement, for it offers a vivid setting as to how things were, which led up to vacating that area in favour of creating a brand new town.

Here’s the statement in part:

Housing Accommodation

Gander, at present, has a population of between three and four thousand people living (many of them very comfortably, most of them in overcrowded rooms) in converted army barracks.  Out of three commercial pilots living here, one with his wife and two children has to board with another family while a second one of the three lives with his wife and two children in a two-roomed shack without running water.  The shack also serves as his office and workshop.

No Home with five miles of the Airport

Not a single family here has the security of owning their own home nor even the security of renting one from an independent owner.  If you lose your job or change your job, you lose your home.  What is even worst is that no one is allowed to build a home within five miles of Gander.  That is a restriction laid on during the war and may have been necessary.  It is kept on still for God knows what reason.

There is much discontent in Gander over the state of affairs.  There are many people who wish to build their own homes here. That can surely be no crime.  It is the policy of the federal and provincial governments to encourage home building and home ownership.  Yet no one is allowed to build within five miles of Gander.  Why not?  There are many who want to start a business of one kind or another here.  They are not allowed to do so.  Why note?  Are not business and manufacturing and trade desirable and the life of any community?

In this island with its thousands of square miles of uninhabited and undeveloped land  does not it seem strange that, when a chance such as this occurs, someone should throw a wall around it and put up the “Keep Out” sign.  In all directions from Gander is nothing but wilderness crying out for development.  In Gander and elsewhere are people crying for a chance to develop it but officialdom says no!

Other Development

Gander’s possibilities are not restricted to the refueling of transatlantic aircraft.  It is generally agreed that the tourist industry will become important to Newfoundland and it must be obvious to everyone that Gander could become a very important centre of industry.  That is so obvious as to require no further discourse.

It can also obviously become the centre of communications for the sizeable populations of Bonavista North and Notre Dame Bay.  By the use of local air services, this movement is already taking place.  When we get roads the movement will accelerate.

Forest Industry

Gander is the centre of more forest area than any other place in Newfoundland.  Within a radius of 40 miles of Gander, there is a vastly more mature and growing timber than in any other such area in the country. 

In this forest area, thousands of men will find employment for all time to come.  Why cannot these men and their families living in a congenial town near their work rather than be forced to clamber over the ballcatters to some isolated cove where they will always be cut off from modern amenities?  They do it now to find freedom and security in their own homes which is denied them not only in Gander but in other inland towns as well.

What we want at Gander is a free town with simple, democratic constitutions, where the rule is the rule of the majority; where a man may own his own home on his own land and engage in any business or occupation he may choose with the laws of the land and the bylaws of the town; where private enterprise will be encouraged, not prohibited; where home building, cultivation and improvement will be counted a virtue, not a crime, and above all freedom and democracy will rule.

Ed Note: Also read Baird Ave

Researched by Carol Walsh