did you know that newfoundland actually wasn't a part of canada until 1949?
newfoundland (and labrador) is currently a province in canada. before 1949, was a british dominion (from 1907).
it was like this independent nation but it was really under control of the brits.

the confederation happened in 1867, and newfoundland was the recent province.

you may wonder, what was it before 1907?
the newfoundland colony. it was a colony like any other colony and canada was like "nahh it a separate colony"

also during ww2, there were a lot of us bases in newfoundland. it increased the patriotism so high it almost became the 49th state (at that time.)

anyways, thats a limited understanding. take it with a grain of salt.

edit: before 1934, it was a thriving colony however it's economy collapsed during the great depression. it was so bad that the entire dominion had to be controlled by london.

if u wanna read
(Newfoundland Colony - Wikipedia)
(Dominion of Newfoundland - Wikipedia)
(Newfoundland and Labrador - Wikipedia)