He was also a brave man, hated by many, from those in gov't, to doctors themselves ... especially right here in Saskatchewan. He and his family were subject to horrible ridicule in the newspapers, and even a few death threats. But he believed in every word of the speeches he gave - just like Sanders. He saw all around him how people were suffering here in many ways and especially believed in the right of all Canadians "to live with dignity during times of illness and injury".
http://www.weyburnreview.com/community/tommy-douglas
Remaking Saskatchewan
As the Great Depression tightened its grip on the country, communities like Weyburn suffered tremendously. Tommy Douglas knew that his relief efforts – while important – couldn’t provide a lasting answer to the difficulties families were facing. He buried two young men who died because they couldn’t afford medical care, which only strengthened his belief that he could do more as a politician than from the pulpit.
On June 15, 1944, the CCF – which had never held power in the province – swept to victory under Tommy’s leadership, winning 47 of 53 seats. Saskatchewan had just elected the first social democratic government in North America – and Tommy Douglas began the first of five terms as the province’s Premier.
He faced powerful, wealthy opposition, yet Tommy’s government passed more than 100 bills during that first term. Just two years into their mandate, the CCF had eliminated the sales tax on food and meals and reduced the provincial debt by $20 million. While his opponents tried to tar him as a Communist and radical, the CCF under Tommy Douglas paved roads and brought electrical power (and the modern age) to the family farms of Saskatchewan. They improved health care, increased education spending and expanded the University of Saskatchewan to include a medical college.
Pensioners gained free medical, hospital and dental services; everyone gained free treatment for diseases like cancer, tuberculosis and mental illness. In 1947, Saskatchewan introduced universal access to hospitals for an annual fee of five dollars per person.
The CCF created new government departments such as Labour, Social Welfare and Co-operatives. The cabinet took a 28-per-cent pay cut to help pay the costs. A Crown Corporation Act allowed the creation of provincial air and bus lines; marketing boards for natural resources helped those industries grow and benefit rural communities. And SaskTel offered affordable phone service across Saskatchewan.
But it was Saskatchewan Power that had the biggest impact. In 20 years, the Crown corporation increased the number of rural homes hooked up to electrical power from only 300 to 65,000.
Meanwhile, the CCF improved working conditions, raised the minimum wage, established mandatory holidays, set workers’ compensation standards and set the stage for collective bargaining with the Trade Union Act and the creation of a labour relations board. Over four years, union membership more than doubled.
In just over a decade, the CCF administration – by encouraging economic diversification such as potash mining, steel production and petroleum exploration – oversaw the transformation of the province’s economy. Only one out of every five dollars of wealth created in Saskatchewan in 1944 came from somewhere other than agriculture; that proportion more than tripled by 1957.
But Tommy Douglas and his CCF team were also cautious financial managers. While Tommy wanted passionately to make medical care available to all, it wasn’t until 1959 that he decided Saskatchewan’s finances were healthy enough to sustain it.
He announced a plan that would cover every person in Saskatchewan, offering pre-paid, publicly-administered, high-quality health care. At the time, many doctors and their allies decried his medicare plan as dictatorial and vowed never to accept it; by the mid-1960s, it was such a success that Canada adopted it nationwide.
But by the time medicare was enacted in Saskatchewan in 1962, Tommy Douglas had stepped down as Premier. He wanted to take the success he’d had leading the province to a whole new level.
https://sites.google.com/site/tommydouglaswebpage/about-tommy-douglas
T.C. Douglas the 'Greatest Canadian'
By KEVIN BERGER of the Weyburn Review / Weyburn Review
May 5, 2014 02:00 AM
For those who knew the former premier, Douglas was clearly deserving of the title.
"He was here in the years of the dust bowl, the Dirty Thirties, and the people were really down and out. Saskatchewan was hurt the worst in the Depression. And Tommy gave them hope," said Glen Rasmussen, who campaigned for Douglas during two elections.
"He could talk to any man and anyone," said Rasmussen. "He had a great sense of humour. He could warm his crowd up with his jokes and he was a terrific storyteller."
Actor and writer John Nolan, who recently portrayed Douglas in the play "Arrows of Desire," was the host of the party in Weyburn.
Nolan chose Douglas as the inspiration for his play after setting out to find a "great Canadian." After researching many Canadian figures, he subjected them to a list of criteria and found that Douglas met them all, in areas such as legacy and determination in the face of opposition. - See more at:
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