 Tommy Douglas, first leader of the NDP |
At present in Canada, we are in the throes of a federal election.
Although the choices before us are not quite the same Tweeledum and Tweedledee that has been the case in the past, as the Liberal Party and the Progressive Conservatives vied for the reigns of power, truth be told there’s still not a great deal that separates the two parties, or even Canada’s traditional third party, the New Democratic Party, under new leader Jack Layton.
Oh sure, the Conservative Party is no longer Progressive, and even the last leader of the PC’s, Joe Clark, finds himself campaigning on behalf of Liberal candidates, and against the right-wing forces of the presently constituted — and still socially conservative — Conservative / Reform / Alliance party.
Today, we offer a voice from the past, that of Tommy Douglas, the founder of Medicare, and the first leader of the New Democratic Party of Canada. Mr. Douglas helps us to remember a time in the not-so-distant past when the idea of truly building a better world was an honourable and reasonable goal, when we worked collectively with members of our communities to transform a patriarchial consumerist society into an egalitarian society where want and injustice would become but distant concepts.
Tommy Douglas was the most influential politician never to be elected Prime Minister. He pursued his humanist ideals relentlessly until they became so mainstream that rival politicians claimed them as their own. Douglas battled hard to bring the New Democratic Party to legitimacy in its first ten years, following the formation of the party in 1961. He was often criticized for his singular idealism but through it all Douglas was undeterred, convinced that he was helping to create a better, more humane society.
VanRamblings offers Tommy Douglas’ voice, as a reminder of what might have been, and what will surely become our shining future.
