Clifford Small

Clifford Small (Born August 29, 1970) is a Canadian politician who is the Member of Parliament for Central Newfoundland, having defeated Liberal incumbent Scott Simms by a close margin of 264 votes in the 2021 general election. He is a member of the Conservative Party of Canada. He is the first Conservative MP from Newfoundland and Labrador since Peter Penashue resigned in 2013. In Newfoundland alone, he is the first Conservative MP elected since Fabian Manning in 2006. He was appointed Shadow Minister for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency by Erin O'Toole on November 9, 2021. He endorsed Pierre Poilievre in the 2022 Conservative Party of Canada leadership election. In October 2022, Poilievre appointed him as Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard Shadow Minister and he remains shadow minister in 2025. He was re-elected in 2025.

Biography Small grew up in Wild Cove, White Bay. He was educated at the College of the North Atlantic and graduated in electrical engineering technology. He worked in engineering design until 1994 when he started a fishing business.

He subsequently opened three restaurants, including two Smitty's franchise locations. In May 2026, Small became the subject of two lawsuits totalling over $353,000 in connection with his Smitty's franchise in Mount Pearl, which he had operated since 2004. A property owner sued for unpaid restaurant rent, while the City of Mount Pearl separately sued his company for failing to pay utility taxes from 2019 to 2025 and business taxes from 2021 to 2025, seeking a combined $120,696 in unpaid taxes, interest, and costs. Both of Small's Smitty's franchises were closed without warning in June 2026.

At the time of the 2025 Canadian federal election, he lived in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador.

Electoral record