Tommy Douglas crowned 'Greatest Canadian'

:party: :toast: :party:

Tommy Douglas crowned "Greatest Canadian"

TORONTO - Tommy Douglas, the former Saskatchewan premier who is credited with being the founding father of Canada's health-care system, was named Monday night as the winner in the CBC's Greatest Canadian contest.

The socialist politician was chosen by CBC viewers as the Canadian who has had the most profound impact on the country's history.

Marathon of Hope runner Terry Fox placed second in the voting.

Behind Fox was former Liberal prime minister Pierre Trudeau.

http://www.cbc.ca/story/arts/national/2004/11/29/Arts/TommyDouglasGreatestCanadian041129.html

From the CBC Archives: "Medicare and Social Welfare: Tommy Douglas and the NDP"
http://archives.cbc.ca/IDD-1-73-851/politics_economy/tommy_douglas/

From "Mouseland," a political fable by Tommy Douglas:

Now I'm not saying anything against the cats. They were nice fellows. They conducted their government with dignity. They passed good laws--that is, laws that were good for cats. But the laws that were good for cats weren't very good for mice. One of the laws said that mouseholes had to be big enough so a cat could get his paw in. Another law said that mice could only travel at certain speeds--so that a cat could get his breakfast without too much effort. All the laws were good laws. For cats. But, oh, they were hard on the mice. And life was getting harder and harder. And when the mice couldn't put up with it any more, they decided something had to be done about it. So they went en masse to the polls. They voted the black cats out. They put in the white cats.

...

And when they couldn't take that anymore, they voted the white cats out and put the black ones in again. Then they went back to the white cats. Then to the black cats. They even tried half black cats and half white cats. And they called that coalition. They even got one government made up of cats with spots on them: they were cats that tried to make a noise like a mouse but ate like a cat.

You see, my friends, the trouble wasn't with the colour of the cat. The trouble was that they were cats. And because they were cats, they naturally looked after cats instead of mice.

Presently there came along one little mouse who had an idea. My friends, watch out for the little fellow with an idea. And he said to the other mice, "Look fellows, why do we keep on electing a government made up of cats? Why don't we elect a government made up of mice?" "Oh," they said, "he's a Bolshevik. Lock him up!" So they put him in jail.

But I want to remind you: that you can lock up a mouse or a man but you can't lock up an idea.
http://www.saskndp.com/history/mouseland.html

A Quicktime movie of Mouseland here.

A Quicktime recording of Tommy's address to the 1983 NDP convention here.

Our trusted American media tells us that Canadians hate their system because if they come in with a broken arm they have to go home and wait for 6 months to get it fixed! And our precious media wouldn't lie to us, would they???

The perfect choice!

1. Tommy Douglas
2. Terry Fox
3. Pierre Trudeau
4. Sir Frederick Banting
5. David Suzuki
6. Lester Pearson
7. Don Cherry
8. Sir John A. Macdonald
9. Alexander Graham Bell
10. Wayne Gretzky

Glad to see the majority of Canadians still have their brains functioning. I hope they give Smirky a good roasting tonight.

is that Don Cherry finished no higher than 7th.

I was worried about the strength of the "Get out the hoser vote." ;)

I'm so proud that Tommy Douglas won,I would put Dr. David Suzuki in 2nd. place myself.

ON EDIT:I just found out my grampa was good friends with Tommy Douglas

to the greatest Canadian title as his advocate, Bret Hart. :+

I wanted Northern Dancer to be somewhere in the top 100, but he wasn't and was eclipsed by the likes of Pamela Anderson and the Winnipeg dj.

With the exception of Cherry, I'm pleased with the top 10, and very happy Tommy won the title.

I kind of expected there to be at least one. I wonder how the U.S. Top 10 would fare....

There were a few in the Top 100, but just a few. And the top ranked was Shania Twain. :crazy:

My favorite Tommyism is:

"...man can now fly in the air like a bird, swim under the ocean like a fish, he can burrow into the ground like a mole. Now, if only he could walk the earth like a man, this would be paradise,"

I saw the video narrated by Douglas' grandson, Keifer Sutherland.

It's terrific!

:party:
I was rootin for him since the start. He is most definitely the greatest Canadian! Loved Mouseland as well.

The list of the top 100 is here:
http://www.cbc.ca/greatest/greatcanadians/

Tommy Douglas at the top of the list, and his mentor J. S. Woodsworth at the bottom. Too bad - Woodsworth founded the socialist tradition in this country, but he's not current and didn't leave behind a singular achievement people would remember.

bush would never recover from a Trudeau beating and would run & hide, never to be seen again. :)

and in the top ten. I mean, Shania Twain, come on!

I kind of favoured Banting myself, but Douglas was an excellent choice. I think the common people also used this as an opportunity to send a message to politicians and elites "Yes we think public health care is damn important, and don't dare mess with it!"