Peerless is level 1 of 4 in the Canada Hall of Fame: changed the field itself. Tell the country's story without them and the story breaks. See how the levels work.
Why they are here
He built the first public health insurance system in North America in Saskatchewan, and lived to see it become the thing Canadians most consistently name as defining the country.
Thomas Clement Douglas came to Canada from Scotland as a boy. A bone infection in his leg was headed for amputation until a surgeon offered to treat him free as a teaching case — an accident of charity he spent the rest of his life trying to make unnecessary.
He trained as a Baptist minister in Weyburn and went into politics during the Depression. In 1944 he led the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation to power in Saskatchewan, forming the first social-democratic government in North America, and won five consecutive elections. He introduced universal hospital insurance in 1947, along with free treatment for cancer and mental illness, a provincial air ambulance and the province's first bill of rights — and he balanced seventeen budgets doing it.
He left in 1961 to lead the new federal New Democratic Party. The following year Saskatchewan extended coverage to doctors' services; the province's physicians went on strike for twenty-three days against it, and lost. Within a decade every province had a version of it, and medicare became the policy Canadians most often name when asked what makes the country itself. In a 2004 national broadcast poll Canadians voted him the greatest Canadian who ever lived.
He trained as a Baptist minister in Weyburn and went into politics during the Depression. In 1944 he led the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation to power in Saskatchewan, forming the first social-democratic government in North America, and won five consecutive elections. He introduced universal hospital insurance in 1947, along with free treatment for cancer and mental illness, a provincial air ambulance and the province's first bill of rights — and he balanced seventeen budgets doing it.
He left in 1961 to lead the new federal New Democratic Party. The following year Saskatchewan extended coverage to doctors' services; the province's physicians went on strike for twenty-three days against it, and lost. Within a decade every province had a version of it, and medicare became the policy Canadians most often name when asked what makes the country itself. In a 2004 national broadcast poll Canadians voted him the greatest Canadian who ever lived.
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