The Father of Medicare: Tommy Douglas Thomas Clement Douglas (1904-1986) arrived in Weyburn, Saskatchewan, as a Baptist minister at the beginning of the Great Depression. He set up a job and food distribution centre at the church, and moved into political involvement. He ran and lost under the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) in 1934, but was successful in the 1935 federal election. He served two terms in Ottawa, re-entered provincial politics in 1944, and led the CCF to power. He served as Saskatchewan's premier until 1961, where he became known as the "father of medicare." He then served as leader of the New Democratic Party (NDP) for ten years. Back to Lecture Outline

* Lecture Notes *

* POWERPOINT SLIDES *

Reading:

"T.C. Douglas: a biographical essay." New Democratic Party, 1971. [LINK]

Or, if you prefer a website: CBC Archives, "Medicare and Social Welfare: Tommy Douglas and the NDP":

http://archives.cbc.ca/IDD-1-73-851/politics_economy/tommy_douglas/

 

Further Reading on Tommy Douglas:

Johnson, A.W. Dream No Little Dreams: A Biography of the Douglas Government of Saskatchewan, 1944-1961. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2004.

LaPierre, Laurier, et al, eds. Essays on the left: Essays in honour of T. C. Douglas. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1971.

Margoshes, Dave. Tommy Douglas: Building the New Society. Montreal: XYZ, 1999.

McLeod, Thomas & Ian McLeod. Tommy Douglas: The Road to Jerusalem. Edmonton : Hurtig, c1987.

Shackleton, Doris French. Tommy Douglas. Halifax, NS: Goodread

Stewart, Walter. The Life and Political Times of Tommy Douglas. Toronto: McArthur and Company, 2003.

Thomas, Lewis H., ed. The Making of a Socialist : the Recollections of T.C. Douglas. Edmonton: University of Alberta Press, 1982.

Tommy Douglas Keeper of the Flame. Director, Elise Swerhone; producers, Adam Symansky; Elise Swerhone. Videorecording. National Film Board of Canada, 1986. Available at St. Jerome's Library through the Circulation Desk.

Tyre, Robert. Douglas in Saskatchewan: The Story of a Socialist Experiment. Vancouver: Mitchell Press, [1962].

 

Back to Lecture Outline