Tommy Douglas: The Road to Jerusalem

Western Canadian Classics

by Thomas H. McLeod

2004 marks the 100th anniversary of Tommy Douglas's birth, and the beginning of production of a CBC mini-series about his life Tommy Douglas was a Baptist preacher who organized his church as a relief centre for the poor in the hungry 1930s and rose to become a political legend in Saskatchewan, winning five straight majority governments and transforming the province. This acclaimed biography, written by a longtime friend and associate, closely follows his life through his working-class childhood and his boxing and political careers on the prairies to his years of national prominence as an advocate for peace, human rights, and Canadian independence. Douglas chose a hard in provincial government and federal opposition, he faced continuing hostility from mainstream institutions and the media. Often, though, his seemingly radical proposals simply anticipated later events. The Saskatchewan government's medicare program provoked a bitter doctor's strike and continent-wide controversy in 1961, but the program proved to be a success, and medicare was soon introduced across Canada with the support of all political parties. Tommy Douglas is still remembered as one of the country's most eloquent orators and as a critic of the status quo. He was passionate in opposition to corporate power and in defence of Canadian nationalism; his refusal to support the War Measures Act during the terrorist scare of 1970 earned widespread condemnation, but is also considered by some to have been his finest hour.

Genres: Biography

432 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1987

Reviews

[Carolyn Whitzman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn’t know much about Canada’s left of centre party before I started this biography of Tommy Douglas, the man most responsible for Medicare in Canada. It was the first biography of at least 5, published almost immediately after his death, by a father-son duo who knew Douglas most of his life. It is very long and detailed - well over 400 pages - and I wouldn’t recommend it as a short overview. But it is very well written and comprehensive. It is also warts and all - Douglas’ masters degree promoted eugenics, a common enough socialist cause in the early 20th century, the CCF promoted pacifism before World War Two (of course, Communists weee even worse- heel turning smartly after the Soviet-Nazi pact of 1939), etc. Douglas himself was a good man, a good listener, and the values he espoused - a social safety net, workers’ rights, avoiding the Vietnam War - have turned out to be ahead of their time. I learned a lot!

[Karlie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a disappointing read. Perhaps it is a good example of "proximity to a historical person or event does not mean you are qualified to write about it-yes, even if you are an acclaimed journalist who actually knew the man intimately".

The vast majority of this book is a dry replay of the history of the CCF/NDP. Far, far (I really cannot emphasize this enough) too much time was spent recounting the minutiae of various letters and meetings and parliament sessions, at the expense of exploring the philosophy of Douglas. I didn't pick this book up to be bored out of my toque by the stale and tedious internal dynamics of a political party. I picked this up to learn more about the person who gave us universal healthcare, the person who is still universally loved by every Canadian regardless of whatever other affiliations they may have. (Consider the fact that every Canadian lovingly call him "Tommy" rather than the formal "Thomas" or "Mr Douglas". I have never heard a single person in Canada call him "Thomas").

The biography *does* address his background and family life to some degree, and the first 1/4 of it was enjoyable; however, it fell short of being eye-opening or offering an interesting take on its subject. There was superficial (at best) discussion regarding the intersections of his Socialism and Baptist faith, which is tragic. His "Christian Socialism" is arguably what made him who he is, and yet very little time or words are spent on this.

I will praise the time that was spent examining the fact that Douglas, despite being a Baptist, was pro-eugenics. McLeod did a great job breaking this down. He gave adequate weight and explanation to the fact that it was common for people to be pro-eugenics in this time period, and that eugenics and birth control/family planning have some interesting intersections. Ultimately he does expose the fact that eugenics is fundamentally not compatible with his Christianity (or socialism) and that yes, our beloved Tommy was flawed and held inconsistent beliefs.

At times, it failed to use obvious evidence or stories to the benefit of the narrative. For example, a well-known anecdote is that Tommy Douglas was inspired to fight for universal healthcare after he contracted osteomyelitis as a child, and would have possibly died if a doctor had not pitied his family and helped them for free. This, we are told, had a profound impact on Tommy and contributed to him being a socialist. One would think you would include that story on the beginning of the biography. It was not there. In fact, that anecdote does not appear until Chapter 20- and even then, it is treated as a minor footnote and not given the critical analysis it deserves.

Let's talk about Chapter 20. Chapter 20 is the chapter on Medicare. This is when he brought healthcare to the province of Saskatchewan and it was the prototype for universal healthcare in Canada. This was Tommy's greatest achievement. But the take on it was totally underwhelming. There was plenty of information on the internal dynamics of Medicare, but nothing about how ordinary people would have felt about it or how it impacted them. I would have liked to have seen some information about how the health of people improved (or perhaps didn't) under Medicare. Did certain disease or chronic illnesses decrease in frequency, for example? Apparently, that is not as important as reading part of a limp memo.

[Rick · Rating 4 out of 5]

I rated this book a 4 largely because of the value of the subject matter: Tommy Douglas, one of the most important Canadians of the 20th century. More than any other single person, Douglas is responsible for the fact that Canada adopted a universal, government funded health care system. Despite some limitations, our health care system remains very successful, enormously popular, and an essential part of modern Canada. But Douglas did much more than medicare. He was a driving force in the CCF/NDP socialist movement for reform in Canada from the 1930s to the 197os. He was inspired by the social gospel - the idea that Christian teachings to love thy neighbour should be applied to government policy to blunt the hard edges of capitalism. If only the Christian right today would take the same view! Instead, they seem to live by the adage that 'I am not my brother's keeper'. Douglas would have been horrified by the modern Christian right....he likely would have viewed them as extremely unChristian. But another thing that made Douglas extraordinary was his pragmatism. He was not a harsh ideologue and believed in government's living within their means financially and not running up huge debt. Douglas also had an amazing ability to connect with voters through his sense of humour and deep sense of caring about everyday people. The book, however, spent too much time on internal CCF/NDP politics; I think parts of the book could have been shortened and made the book better. I found the book to be not always a smooth read, but the overall importance of Tommy Douglas makes me still highly recommend this biography.

[Harris Ferguson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tommy Douglas is the only leftist who knew what Praxis was I guess.

[Luke Campbell · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is an OK book. He let the Japanese get interned which was interesting.

[Elizabeth]

with the health care debate raging I thought it was a good time to go ahead and read this biography of the man who brought socialize medicine to Canada and was a baptist minister.

[Jbondandrews · Rating 3 out of 5]

I actually read an earlier version of this book and it was quite well written.

[Itisme]

good book










2006