Nominate the "Father Of Medicare" to appear on Canada's next $5 bank note.
I came to believe that health services ought not to have a price tag on them, and that people should be able to get whatever health services they required irrespective of their individual capacity to pay.
-Tommy Douglas-
Tommy Douglas is “The Father of Medicare.” His belief in the importance of universal medical care has saved millions of Canadians from having to choose between their homes and their life. Americans know the agony that comes with that type of decision. Tommy has saved all Canadians from that type of agony.
Tommy saw his Medicare plan enacted in Saskatchewan in 1962 and later by the federal Pearson government in 1966. His social activism inspired many Canadians from coast to coast.
Douglas was defined by his altruism and his belief that the role of government is to help create a better society and a better Canada.
Tommy Douglas is the historic Canadian who should appear on the new $5 note.
Canadian politician who served as Premier of Saskatchewan from 1944 to 1961 and Leader of the New Democratic Party from 1961 to 1971. A Baptist minister, he was elected to the House of Commons of Canada in 1935 as a member of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF). He left federal politics to become Leader of the Saskatchewan Co-operative Commonwealth Federation and then the seventh Premier of Saskatchewan. His cabinet was the first democratic socialist government in North America and it introduced the continent's first single-payer, universal health care program, commonly known as Medicare.
After setting up Saskatchewan's Medicare program, Douglas stepped down and ran to lead the newly formed federal New Democratic Party (NDP), the successor party of the national CCF. He was elected as its first federal leader in 1961. Although Douglas never led the party to government, through much of his tenure the party held the balance of power in the House of Commons. He resigned as leader in 1971, but remained as a Member of Parliament until 1979.
Douglas was awarded many honorary degrees, and a foundation was named for him and his political mentor M. J. Coldwell in 1971. In 1981, he was invested into the Order of Canada, and he became a member of Canada's Privy Council in 1984, two years before his death. In 2004, a CBC Television program named Tommy Douglas "The Greatest Canadian", based on a Canada-wide, viewer-supported survey.
They are a Canadian by birth or naturalization who has demonstrated outstanding leadership, achievement, or distinction in any field, benefiting the people of Canada, or in the service of Canada.
They have been deceased for at least 25 years (before March 11, 1995).
They are not a fictional character.
The deadline for submitting nominations is March 11, 2020.
You can also explain why you nominated an individual and provide images or symbols you associate with them.
We are all in this world together, and the only test of our character that matters is how we look after the least fortunate among us. How we look after each other, not how we look after ourselves. That's all that really matters, I think.
-Tommy Douglas-
