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I remember being hoisted up on my dad's shoulders so that I could see and hear the legendary Tommy Douglas, father-in-law to Donald Sutherland, grandfather of Kiefer Sutherland, deliver another of his fiery speeches from the back of a farmer's three-ton grain truck. We were at Madge Lake in eastern central Saskatchewan in the late 1940's on a beautiful Sunday afternoon for a day of swimming and watching some excellent baseball. In the elections of1944, Douglas and his CCF party swept the province, winning 47 of 53 seats and capturing over 53% of the vote. During the first term of the government, Douglas put forward an ambitious program of reform. Labour standards were greatly improved, the educational system was consolidated, legislation was introduced to expand the co-operative sector of the economy, and bills were enacted to protect farmers from foreclosure. The government established many social welfare programs and began to set the foundation of socialized Medicare. Tommy was in top form that day and spoke for well over an hour convincing farmers that what his CCF government was doing was good for all the people in the province.
Because I was sitting on my dad's shoulders, I had an unobstructed view of Mr. Douglas as he spoke in his usual feisty way. I would occasionally wave at him as he spoke. Finally one time as he paused in his speech to take a take breath, I waved at him again, and this time a slight smile softened his facial features and he lifted his hand and made small waving gesture back. I was so thrilled that an adult had actually responded to my friendly gesture!
