Great Plains Studies, Center for
Date of this Version
2004
Abstract
Walter Stewart's life of Tommy Douglas cannot be described as a fresh contribution to our understanding of Canada's most notable socialist, the man who served successively as premier of Saskatchewan (1944-61) and national leader of the New Democratic Party (1961-71). It relies heavily on previous biographies written by Doris Shackleton and Thomas H. and Ian McLeod, as well as Douglas's autobiographical interviews published in 1982. Stewart justifies his reworking of familiar material on the basis that "medicare [i.e., comprehensive, universal, compulsory, and government-administered health insurance) is in crisis," and Canadians "might want to know something more about the man without whom ... medicare would not exist in Canada today." Soaring costs and long waiting lists have sparked a national debate about the sustainability of socialized medicine, and the ghost of Tommy Douglas, who pioneered medicare in Saskatchewan in 1961, haunts the debate. Stewart is right to think that we need a thoughtful reappraisal of this iconic figure. Unfortunately, this book does not fill the bill.
Comments
Published in Great Plains Quarterly 24:4 (Fall 2004). Copyright © 2005 Center for Great Plains Studies, University of Nebraska–Lincoln.