Tommy Clement Douglas

Tommy Douglas

Imagine that you ended up in an accident, but you could not get the surgery you required because it cost too much to perform. Well thanks to Tommy Douglas, you do not have to worry about the hospital bill. If it were not for his kind heart and determination, we would still be paying for health-care. Medicare and helping others are important to me, so I find Tommy Douglas a perfect role-model to look up to. As you read on, you will get a better understanding of what Tommy Douglas did, and how it made him a hero of Medicare.

Tommy had a very interesting life that was very different from others which he enjoyed. He was first born in Falkirk, Scotland, in 1904. His family later immigrated to Wayborn, Saskatchewan, in 1910 after his father moved to Canada. But soon things went bad when Tommy’s leg was almost lost to osteomyelites (due to a accident he had in Scotland) if it weren’t for Dr. R.H. Smith who treated Tommy’s leg through seven surgeries (1912-1914) and the fact that Dr. Smith wanted to try a operation and use it as a lesson for his students. Tommy had a very interesting life very different from others.

After moving to Canada, Tommy set his life towards a good education. Tommy had much reputation while he was in school such as class representative, good grades, and being the youngest Linotype operator in history. He attended Brandon College in 1924 and graduated in 1930, and then completed McMaster University in 1933. Tommy had ideas of putting physically and mentally challenged families into camps, he soon rejected this theory after a trip to Nazi Germany where he then decided to serve the Canadian Army, but was rejected because of a past leg problem. Everything that did during that time was for his education for a good career in the future.

Tommy Douglas' Campaign

Tommy revolutionized Canada’s reputation in health-care. It began when Tommy realized that Saskatchewan was in famine from health-care fees, he joined politics in an attempt to stop it. Tommy soon won as primer of Saskatchewan in 1935. While in power, Tommy managed to nudge and push the government towards the health-care problem. After many debates against the government he managed to convince the government to pay 50% of all the health-care fees in Canada, while the province pays the other 50%. In other words, free health care! Douglas created a major turning point in Canada’s reputation in health-care.

NDP Party logo

While Tommy Douglas may not be alive today, the legacy of his pure heart continues. Tommy led the NDP party for 10 years after stepping down as primer, and spent time with his family when he stepped down from the NDP party, but sadly, Tommy was diagnosed with an un-curable cancer. He later died in 1985 at the age of 81, a happy man. After Tommy’s death, Canada continues the law of free health-care to today. Tommy was a hero to the fact that he thought more about the others around him, rather then himself.