Douglas’s speech was most moving
I became eligible to vote just in time for the 1963 federal election, although I confess that politics — whether local, federal or international — had not previously been of great interest to me.
Nevertheless, my parents and their friends were politically aware and talk of Lester Pearson and John Diefenbaker dominated at the dinner table. Noting my ennui, my mother suggested I go down to Maple Leaf Gardens (I was living in Toronto and going to art school at the time) to hear Tommy Douglas speak at an election rally. I decided to see what it was all about. I went with my girlfriend, Karla, to listen to what Douglas had to say. In all the years since, I have not heard another political speech that moved me as much.
After the rally, we worked our way up to the podium and actually shook Douglas’s hand. And then ... I stole the gavel for Karla.
Douglas is known as the father of Medicare for his work in developing the first single-payer, universal health care program in Canada. Saskatchewan introduced hospital insurance in 1947 when Douglas was premier and his Co-operative Commonwealth Federation was in power.
Nearly 20 years later, Canada followed in the province’s footsteps when Lester Pearson’s Liberal government passed the Medical Care Act. In a 2004 CBC poll, Tommy Douglas was voted the greatest Canadian of all time.
My parents and their friends were politically progressive, as were the downtown Toronto and Montreal neighbourhoods in which I was raised. As far as I know, I did not meet an actual Tory until I was well into my 20s. I believe Egan Chambers was my first honest-to-goodness Progressive Conservative. He was a pretty nice guy — Nick Auf der Maur vouched for him!
I don’t want to give the impression that I belong to any political party, because I don’t. On election day, my vote goes to the local candidate who will, in my view, do the best job of serving his or her constituents.
For 10 years, I was an active board member for Montreal’s Old Brewery Mission. Under a series of progressive directors, including James Hughes and Matthew Pearce, the institution became far more proactive in addressing the many factors that contribute to homelessness. A candidate who sincerely wants to lift up those people I saw in and around the mission — who have so little and deserve better — is the kind of person I can vote for.