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Tommy Douglas

by Nick from Toronto

Tommy Douglas (http://www.weyburnreview.com/tommydouglas/tommymic.gif)
Tommy Douglas (http://www.weyburnreview.com/tommydouglas/tommymic.gif)

My hero is Tommy Douglas. Tommy Douglas was born in Falkrik, Scotland on October 20, 1904 and died on February 24, 1986. Douglas was the leader of the political party CCF in Saskatchewan and led his party to victory in the 1944 Saskatchewan provincial election. During his five straight terms he made very significant choices that affected Saskatchewan and Canada. When Douglass resigned from provincial politics, he joined federal politics and became the first leader of the NDP in 1961.

During his time as the premier of Saskatchewan Douglas instituted many things such as the creation of SaskTel, which delivered telecommunications to the people of Saskatchewan, Saskpower, which supplies electricity to Saskatchewan, and a legislation that outlawed discrimination based on gender and race, which preceded the Universal Decoration of Human Rights by 18 months. Most notably he fathered a program that would offer free health care to the citizens of Canada. This program also won him the title of "Greatest Canadian" of all time.

In 1910 Douglas and his family immigrated to Canada from Scotland and settled in Winnipeg, Manitoba. During World War One his family moved back to Scotland, but once again his family moved back to Winnipeg in 1919.

Douglas is my hero because he was a very strong willed and respectable man, and showed Canada how an idea of Medicare could work. He always believed in his ideas and fought for what he believed even if people said it could not be done. While many leaders focus on my different things that they hope to achieve. Douglas only focused on one idea (Medicare) and that is why he was so successful in accomplishing his goal. Even though he did take the program of Medicare into effect, he illustrated how the idea could work. He has made my influences in my life such as inspiring me to fight for what I believe and to achieve my goal.

Page created on 11/29/2005 12:00:00 AM

Last edited 11/29/2005 12:00:00 AM

The beliefs, viewpoints and opinions expressed in this hero submission on the website are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the beliefs, viewpoints and opinions of The MY HERO Project and its staff.

Related Links

Tommy Douglas - Premier of Saskatchewan and "Greatest Canadian"