I would suggest reading up on the border dispute too. The border between Labrador and Quebec wasn't really agreed upon untill around WWI (I forget the date right now). Technically speaking, Quebec still doesn't agree with it. Oh, and the entirety of Labrador is also technically coastal, one big ol' watershed or some shit, which is how the border was decided.
Without (hell, even with) Labrador, NF would not be able to make it as an independant nation. Most of the untapped natural resources of the province are up here, and we get nothing in return. Except with Voisey's Bay, both the Innu and Inuit got sweet deals with Inco over it, with non-native (and metis, and the other non-inuit and non-innu native group) get fringe benefits (one of the best parts of the deal being that they will not pay the air fare to get people up to the worksite if they are living anywhere but in Labrador, so if they's livin' on the island, they gots to pay their own way to get to Goose Bay or Lab. City/Wabush, it may sound petty as all getout, but it's a good thing. Them fuckers is gettin' the smelter). And yes, there is a token Labrador Seperatist movement, to seperate from Newfoundland and become a Territory. But that is also just silly talk.
Basically, no, Newfoundland and Labrador would not be able to make it as an independant nation. Too much debt, too small a population, little in the way of established (and still operating) industries, and deals that could possibly require re-negotiations (and if they do, we'd get screwed even worse than before, I'm talkin the Churchill Falls deal. Smallwood was a dipshit, and no one will deny that). Oh, and our leaders would be morons (including my dad's cousin, who's the MHA for the area I live in).
I would think that anyone who has lost their job on Bush's watch wouldn't need all that much convincing, but hey that just crazy ole' me talking........ His re-elect numbers have fallen below 50% since the Iraq war ended, by the way.