Greatest Canadian Winner Tommy Douglas

[Said1]

I can't say that I'm all that surprised, but I thought he would come in second, not first. :huh:

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


TOMMY DOUGLAS

"My friends, watch out for the little fellow with an idea." - Tommy Douglas 1961.

For more than 50 years, his staunch devotion to social causes, rousing powers of speech and pugnacious charm made Tommy C. Douglas an unstoppable political force. From his first foray into public office politics in 1934 to his post-retirement years in the 1970s, Canada's 'father of Medicare' stayed true to his socialist beliefs -- often at the cost of his own political fortune -- and earned himself the respect of millions of Canadians in the process.

The child of Scottish immigrants, Douglas spent his formative years in Winnipeg, Manitoba in a home where politics, philosophy and religion were side dishes at the dinner table. His father, a veteran of two wars, worked part-time in an iron foundry. When money was tight, Douglas and his two sisters had to drop in and out of school as they worked occasional jobs to help pay the bills.

His family's socialist leanings were solidified after Douglas was hospitalized at the age of 10. Due to a bone infection suffered four years earlier, Douglas's knee required several operations - none of which were successful.
Tommy Douglas

Without the money to pay for a specialist, his parents were told that the only option was to amputate their son's leg before the infection spread to the rest of his body. But before that could happen, a visiting surgeon offered to operate on Douglas for free, as long as his students were allowed to attend. The surgery saved Douglas's leg - quite possibly his life - and would serve as his inspiration for his dream of universally accessible medical care.

Not long after this, Douglas would witness firsthand the violent end of Canada's first general strike on a day known as "Bloody Saturday". In the summer of 1919, a teenaged Douglas watched from a rooftop as officers fired on participants in the Winnipeg General Strike and killed two men. The forceful and violent end of the strike further mobilized his dedication to the working man.

During his youth, he tried many different occupations: amateur actor, boxer and apprentice printer. Douglas found his true calling in 1924 when he enrolled in a liberal arts college run by the Baptist church. It was here that he refined his notion of the "social gospel," a vision of religion-in-action that he would carry through his life. Following several post-graduation years working as a minister in Depression-era Saskatchewan, Douglas made the move to politics in 1935 when he was elected as an MP in the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation, or CCF.

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[MrMarbles]

Douglas, Trudeau and Pearson are my top three in any particular order. It's just to hard to choose. And very un-Canadian of us to just select one. :cof:

 

[Isaac Brock]

Tommy was a good call, but I wanted Suzuki up there. Of course, that's because I'm in the environment field, so perhaps I'm biased.

 

[Said1]

Tommy was a good call, but I wanted Suzuki up there. Of course, that's because I'm in the environment field, so perhaps I'm biased.

I like Suzuki, but I always loved Terri Fox.