Saint Tommy

Feed the hungry, clothe the naked, tend the sick, welcome the stranger, plead for the widow and the orphan. Our divine model for this behaviour is Jesus Christ. Our Canadian model for this behaviour is Tommy Douglas. He is known in Canada as the Father of Medicare, and the Greatest Canadian, but this Baptist minister from the prairies did so much more. Education, labour, welfare, infrastructure, human rights, the arts—this great Christian helped to transform Canada into the progressive and humane country that it is, and he did it with a balanced budget. If that isn't cause for sainthood, I don't know what is.

“Courage, my friends; 'tis not too late to build a better world.”

Tommy Douglas, pray for us.

Right now the CBC is airing Prairie Giant: The Tommy Douglas Story (see also behind the scenes). Find out more about this great man and his achievements at the Tommy Douglas Research Institute. You can hear and see some of his speeches and interviews at the CBC Archives.

Comments

[Melanie]

He certainly was a saint. And while I'm not a Christian, I believe that he brought a kind of social morality - tied up with basic human worth and dignity - to politics.

It is remarkable that the far right has the audacity to even use the word "morality" while promoting greed, cruelty and exploitation through profit model ideology.

[Sylvia]

Hi Melanie. Thanks for the comment. Yes, it boggles the mind that those who espouse "family values" see no problem with creating poverty for millions of families here and around the world. They praise the hard-working family breadwinner and then resent it when the breadwinners organize a union so they can give their families a decent life.