On October 20, 1904, Thomas Clement (Tommy) Douglas was born in Falkirk, Scotland.
After moving to Canada with his family at age 15, Douglas became a Baptist minister and settled in Weyburn, Sask., in 1930.
The suffering he witnessed during the Depression prompted him to join the fledgling Co-operative Commonwealth Federation and win a Commons seat in 1935.
Tommy Douglas speaks to the media in Ottawa on July 25, 1969. An RCMP source passed information to Mountie spies about talks between politician Tommy Douglas and actress Jane Fonda on efforts to stop the Vietnam War, newly declassified documents reveal. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chuck Mitchell)
In 1944, Douglas became the Saskatchewan CCF leader and led the party to a landslide victory that made it North America’s first socialist government.
During the next 17 years, the Douglas government pioneered Medicare and numerous other programs.