Tommy Douglas, premier of Saskatchewan, First leader of the New Democratic Party was born October 20, 1904 in Falkirk Scotland and died February 24, 1986 in Ottawa, Ontario. Douglas helped establish the democratic socialism in the mainstream of Canadian politics. He also brought about socialized medicine which made medical care for all people free. In his early political career Tommy Douglas ran unsuccessfully in the 1934 Saskatchewan elections. As a result, his friend convinced him to become a CCF candidate in the federal election of 1935 which he ran successfully because he learned how to exploit his talent in making people laugh. During his early political career the Second World War occurred, which served to strengthen Tommy Douglas’ convictions toward the socialist cause. Additionally, he earned a reputation of being a skilful and witty debater as his career in the political field lengthened. Furthermore, Douglas took unpopular stand to protect civil liberties. …show more content…
He won the election and in addition became a symbol of what the socialists desired for the next 17 years that he was premier. Furthermore, Douglas’ government was innovative and efficient and pioneered many things that other socialist governments would later adopt into their own parties. Moreover, He never got to realize his dream of a socialist Canada come true. Tommy Douglas’ greatest achievement as premier of Saskatchewan was the implementation of government-funded health insurance. In 1947, Saskatchewan’s Hospital Service Plan was the first hospital insurance plan that came into effect. Consequently, this prompted the federal government to also develop a national plan for the full health coverage of all individuals. However it was Saskatchewan who implemented full health insurance into their system through the influence of Tommy