Profiles In Politics, Part II

This is the second installment of my series, Profiles in Politics. In Profiles in Politics, we'll explore some of my favorite politicians and why I admire them.

Kiefer Sutherland is well known for his acting in such films as Stand By Me, The Lost Boys, and A Few Good Men; but one little known fact about Kiefer Sutherland is that his grandfather was Tommy Douglas. Tommy Douglas probably isn't a familiar name for most Americans. In Canada, he is more than well known. In fact, in 2004, a CBC Television program called The Greatest Canadian, which ranked Canadians throughout all history on a scale of greatness, ranked Tommy Douglas as the greatest Canadian of all time. Who was he and why did he win?

Tommy Douglas was born on October 20, 1904 in Falkirk, Scotland. When he was 6 years old, his family immigrated to Canada, settling in Winnipeg. Before leaving for Canada, Douglas fell and injured his knee. He developed Osteomyelitis, an infection of the bone, and had to go through a number of operations to cure it. When in Canada, the infection came back and Douglas was sent to the hospital. He was supposed to have his leg amputated, but luckily for him, an orthopedic surgeon took interest in him and offered to treat Douglas for free if his parents would allow medical students to observe. The leg was ultimately saved; however, this life experience convinced Douglas that health care was a human right. "I felt that no boy should have to depend either for his leg or his life upon the ability of his parents to raise enough money to bring a first class surgeon to his bedside."

Douglas was also influenced by the 1918 Winnipeg general strike, where he witnessed police officers beating strikers with clubs and even shooting and killing a striker. This influenced him to be a staunch advocate of a Canadian bill of rights.

At 19, Douglas went to college to become a Baptist Minister. He was heavily influenced by the social gospel movement, which believed that Christianity should be just as concerned about social justice and equality as it is with the salvation of souls. To pay for his schooling, Tommy Douglas would preach at local churches, since there was a shortage of preachers at the time. He would preach about social justice and the poor. He once said about his time preaching that his interest in society led him to preach about "building a society and institutions that would uplift mankind." Douglas graduated from Brandon College in 1930, and from McMaster University in 1933 with an M.A. in Sociology. Problematically, Douglas wrote his thesis in support of eugenics, which at the time was relatively popular. Ultimately though, he opposed the adoption of eugenics laws and was a staunch anti-Nazi.

Douglas was a PhD student at the University of Chicago, where he studied sociology, but ultimately, he dropped out. He was heavily influenced by his time there, witnessing the onset of the Great Depression. He was disturbed that so many people had such dismal lives waiting in soup lines that could not promise everyone food. He was also bothered by those more left of him on the political spectrum, saying "I've no patience with people who want to sit back and talk about a blueprint for society and do nothing about it." Douglas became a social activist, joined the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation (CCF), and in 1935 was elected to the Canadian House of Commons. He visited Nazi Germany in 1936 and disgusted by what he saw, he supported going to war against Hitler when this was debated in the House of Commons in 1939.

Douglas tried to enlist in the army during the war, but because of his leg injury, he was prevented from doing so. In 1942, Douglas was elected as the leader of the Saskatchewan CCF. He resigned from the House of Commons in 1944 to lead the CCF to power in Saskatchewan, winning 47 out of 53 seats in the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan. He led the CCF through 5 straight majority victories in Saskatchewan​. Under Tommy Douglas's premiership, Saskatchewan passed legislation that: allowed for public service workers to unionize; created Canada's first publicly owned automobile insurance service; and the publicly owned Saskatchewan Power Corporation, which extended electrical service to isolated farms and villages.

Perhaps the two biggest things to come from the premiership of Tommy Douglas was the creation of a bill of rights and the first universal health scheme in North America, both of which Douglas heavily advocated for because of his own life experiences. Because of his early advocacy of a bill of rights in Saskatchewan​, the idea ultimately was adopted Nationwide with the adoption of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms in 1982. The Charter protects the freedom of conscious, religion, thought, belief, expression, press, peaceful assembly, and association. It guarantees the right to vote and right to serve as a member of a legislature. It protects the right of Canadians their freedom of movement. All in all, it is in the same vein as the United States Bill of Rights, if not more extensive.

Douglas's proudest accomplishment though was the creation of a universal health scheme, or Medicare as it is known as. Saskatchewan was the first province to adopt Medicare in all of Canada. Douglas had to fight hard for it to succeed. He faced stiff opposition from the medical establishment, including province physicians, who led a province wide strike in 1962. They feared they would lose most of their income, though Douglas agreed that the government would pay doctors the going rate. Ultimately though, Douglas succeeded, and although he was no longer Premier of Saskatchewan by 1961, his Medicare was implemented in 1962. The idea caught on in Canada and was adopted Nationwide by Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson in 1966, with the federal government and the provincial governments splitting the costs 50/50.

In 1961, The CCF was on its deathbed, so a new progressive party, the New Democratic Party, was created, with Tommy Douglas as it's leader. Douglas resigned from the Premiership in 1961, and ran for election in the House of Commons in 1961, ultimately winning in 1963 and 1965. He lost his seat in 1968, but was elected to another seat in 1969, which he held until his retirement in 1979. Tommy Douglas died in Ottawa, Canada, on February 24, 1986.

Like Willy Brandt, I found Tommy Douglas's life story to be inspirational. His use of theology to help those in need is commendable, considering how many in the United States use it to justify suppressing women's reproductive choice and LGBT rights, while justifying the utter destroying of the social welfare system in America. Douglas himself even once said that "The Bible is like a bull fiddle...You can play almost any time you want on it." The man was obviously very sincere, empathetic, and very moved by his own life experiences, considering his efforts to promote civil liberties and universal health care in Canada. Also, the fact that Douglas was active into his seventies, fighting for what he believed in is inspirational for me. Tommy Douglas readily deserves the designation of the greatest Canadian of all time.