Voters in Newfoundland and Labrador last went to the polls almost four years ago. Here's a chronology of some of the key events of the last four years, with links to CBC.ca coverage of each at the time.

2004

Jan. 5, 2004
Williams lowers the boom
Citing an independent audit by PricewaterhouseCooper, Premier Danny Williams says in a televised address that spending freezes and cuts are needed to avoid projected deficits of $1 billion per year. Read the full story.

April 1, 2004
Public service strike launches
About 20,000 public-sector workers go on strike, with union leaders promising a bitter battle over a government offer that includes wage freezes for two years. The strike ends a month later, when the house of assembly legislates NAPE and CUPE members back to work. Read a story on the start of the strike.

Sept. 27, 2004
Marshall quits over Williams's style
Elizabeth Marshall, one of the high-profile ministers in Williams's cabinet, resigns over his management style. Marshall said she could no longer serve after Williams offered cash to end a strike of VON employees without consulting her. Read coverage from that day.

Oct. 26, 2004
Williams walks out of premiers' meeting
Furious with then prime minister Paul Martin, Williams left a premiers' meeting to protest Martin's refusal to honour a promise to amend the Atlantic Accord. Williams spent the next few months waging a rhetorical war with Martin and the federal Liberals over offshore oil royalties. Read coverage of the day.

Dec. 23, 2004
Maple Leaf pulled down
Tensions between St. John's and Ottawa over the Atlantic Accord boiled along for weeks, culminating in Williams's decision - an apparently spontaneous one - to pull down the Canadian flag outside government buildings.

2005

Jan. 28, 2005
New deal reached on Atlantic Accord
A marathon series of meetings in Ottawa yields a new late-night deal on offshore oil revenues, protecting billions of dollars from federal clawbacks. Williams calls the new Atlantic Accord "a monumental event." Read the full story.

March 24, 2005
Crab fishermen raise a ruckus at the house
For most of the spring of 2005, the Williams government's raw materials sharing plan - which was intended to bring stability to the fishery - instead brought confrontation to the legislature. The dispute derailed much of the season; an independent review led the government to drop the policy, which, fishermen said, concentrated power with processors.

May 5, 2005
Fabian Manning gets the boot
Outspoken MHA Fabian Manning is expelled from the governing Progressive Conservative caucus, after breaking ranks with government policy over crab management policies. Manning later resigns and runs successfully in the federal riding of Avalon.

May 30, 2005
Grimes calls it a day
Liberal Leader Roger Grimes, who lost the premier's chair to Williams in the 2003 election, decides to resign from politics. Caucus member Gerry Reid steps in as interim leader. Read the coverage of the day.

Oct. 28, 2005
Harris decides to close political career
NDP Leader Jack Harris announces he will leave politics, although it turns out to be a rather long goodbye. Lorraine Michael replaces him as NDP leader the next May, but he does not resign his seat in Signal Hill-Quidi Vidi until September 2006. Michael wins the consequent byelection. Read more here.

2006

April 3, 2006
Hebron put on ice, as Williams squares off against 'Big Oil'
Negotiations to develop the Hebron oilfield fall apart over Williams's demand for an equity stake and a richer royalty regime. Williams spent much of the next year firing one salvo after another against oil companies, eventually softening his rhetoric, if not his stand.

May 8, 2006
Bennett bows out as Liberal leader
Only three months after he was acclaimed as leader of Newfoundland and Labrador's Liberal party, lawyer Jim Bennett resigned his post. Without a seat in the legislature, Bennett was in an awkward position with the rest of the caucus - some of whom openly disagreed with his views.

May 8, 2006
A solo route chosen for Lower Churchill development
The Newfoundland and Labrador government turns down competing bids on a proposed hydroelectric megaproject on the Churchill River, deciding instead to proceed with the development on its own.

June 22, 2006
Auditor general releases first report on legislative spending scandal
Auditor General John Noseworthy releases a report showing that former natural resources minister Ed Byrne exceeded his constituency allowance by 10 times. Noseworthy in the coming weeks and months lays out a series of reports that turned politics in Newfoundland and Labrador upside down, showing that five politicians received about $1.6 million more than their entitlements, and several private companies were paid about $2.6 million for untendered business, selling items like lapel pins and fridge magnets. The Royal Newfoundland Constabulary opens an investigation, and Williams appoints Derek Green, chief justice of the Newfoundland Supreme Court's trial division, to recommend an overhaul of legislative finances.

Nov. 3, 2006
Province finds $15 million for fibre-optic network
Innovation Minister Trevor Taylor announces support for a fibre-optic network that would compete with an existing Bell Aliant system. Opposition politicians spend weeks hammering the government over connections between Williams and principals in the consortium.

2007

Jan. 12, 2007
FPI decides to break up, not make up, after hassles with government
Flagship seafood producer Fishery Products International confirms it is entertaining competing bids for its assets, signalling the breakup of the publicly traded company. In April, it reaches tentative deals with Ocean Choice International and High Liner Foods for its major assets.

Jan. 17, 2007
N.L. blocks plan to drill into Hibernia South
Hibernia partners don't get the embrace they sought for an extension of the Hibernia field; the Newfoundland and Labrador government asks instead for more information on development plans. Unlike the Hebron tussle of 2006, local industry backs government for its stand.

June 7, 2007
Green report blasts house of assembly finances
In a 1,300-page report with almost seven dozen recommendations, Derek Green - chief justice of Newfoundland Supreme Court's trial division - identifies top-to-bottom problems with the finances of the legislature. Green cites weak controls, poor training and shoddy oversight as some of the factors leading to a "broad-based systemic failure" at the house of assembly.