Tommy Douglas. Dave Margoshes

tion>

      

      Saskatchewan Archives Board R-A3421

      Tommy Douglas, 1904-1986.

       Dave Margoshes

      Dave Margoshes is a fiction writer and poet living in Regina. He has published several collections of short stories and two volumes of poetry. His novella, We Who Seek, was published in the Fall of 1999 by Black Moss Press. He has won awards for his work, including the 1996 Stephen Leacock Poetry Prize and the 1996 Prairie Fire novella contest. He is the author of a junior high resource book, Saskatchewan, part of the Discover Canada series from Grolier. Margoshes worked as a reporter and newspaper editor for over twenty years and also taught journalism for several years. He continues to work occasionally as a freelance journalist; his column appears regularly in Western Living, and he writes a regular dispatch from Saskatchewan for The Vancouver Sun.

      “Margoshes’s prose is eloquent and surprising.” – The Globe and Mail

      THE QUEST LIBRARY

      is edited by

      Rhonda Bailey

      The Editorial Board is composed of

      Ven Begamudré

      Lynne Bowen

      Janet Lunn

      Editorial correspondence:

      Rhonda Bailey, Editorial Director

      XYZ Publishing

      P.O. Box 250

      Lantzville BC

      V0R 2H0

      E-mail: [email protected]

       In the same collection

      Lynne Bowen, Robert Dunsmuir: Laird of the Mines.

      Betty Keller, Pauline Johnson: First Aboriginal Voice of Canada.

      John Wilson, Norman Bethune: A Life of Passionate Conviction

      Rachel Wyatt, Agnes Macphail: Champion of the Underdog.

      Tommy Douglas

      Copyright © 1999 by Dave Margoshes and XYZ Publishing.

      Fourth printing, 2005.

      All rights reserved. The use of any part of this publication reproduced, transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, or stored in a retrieval system without the prior written consent of the publisher – or, in the case of photocopying or other reprographic copying, a licence from Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency – is an infringement of the copyright law.

       Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data

      Margoshes, Dave, 1941-

      Tommy Douglas : building the new society (The Quest Library ; 4)

      Includes bibliographical references and index.

      ISBN 0-9683601-4-9

      1. Douglas, T. C. (Thomas Clement), 1904-1986. 2. Saskatchewan – Politics and government – 1944-1964. 3. Social legislation – Saskatchewan. 4. Prime ministers – Saskatchewan – Biography. 5. Co-operative Commonwealth Federation – Biography. 6. New Democratic Party – Biography I. Title. II. Series.

      FC3525.1.D68M37 1999 971.24’03’092 C99-941349-X

      F1072.M37 1999

      Legal Deposit: Fourth quarter 1999

      National Library of Canada

      Bibliothèque nationale du Québec

      XYZ Publishing acknowledges the support of The Quest Library project by the Canadian Studies Program and the Book Publishing Industry Development Program (BPIDP) of the Department of Canadian Heritage. The opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of the Government of Canada.

      The publishers further acknowledge the financial support our publishing program receives from The Canada Council for the Arts, the ministère de la Culture et des Communications du Québec, and the Société de développement des entreprises culturelles.

      Chronology : Lynne Bowen

      Layout: Édiscript enr.

      Cover design: Zirval Design

      Cover illustration: Francine Auger

      Printed and bound in Canada

      XYZ Publishing

      1781 Saint Hubert Street

      Montreal, Quebec H2L 3Z1

      Tel: [phone]

      Fax: [phone]

      E-mail: [email protected]

      Distributed by: Fitzhenry & Whiteside

      195 Allstate Parkway

      Markham, ON L3R 4T8

      Customer Service, tel: [phone]

      Toll free ordering, tel: [phone]

      Fax: [phone]

      E-mail: [email protected]

      International Rights: André Vanasse, tel. [phone] # 25

      E-mail: [email protected]

       Acknowledgments

      There are a number of books, magazine articles, audio-books, and videos about Tommy Douglas available – there are even a few Web sites. Many of these sources are listed in the bibliography at the back. In researching this book, I looked at most of the available material, but I found most invaluable The Making of a Socialist: The Recollections of T.C. Douglas. Tommy never wrote his autobiography, but this is the next best thing: transcriptions of 1958 interviews with the Saskatchewan premier by journalist Chris Higginbotham, placed in the Saskatchewan archives, and edited later by Lewis H. Thomas.

      I also made particular use of three other books: two excellent biographies, Tommy Douglas by Doris French Shackleton, and Tommy Douglas: The Road to Jerusalem by Thomas H. McLeod & Ian McLeod; and a delightful collection of anecdotes, Touched by Tommy, edited by Ed and Pemrose Whelan. Thanks very much to Doris French, the McLeods, and the Whelans for permission to use quotes from their books.

      I’d also like to acknowledge insights into Tommy’s character gleaned from an unpublished doctoral dissertation, From Preacher to Politician: T.C. Douglas’ Transition, by Jan (John) Oussoren.

      Thanks also to Joe Fafard and the Saskatchewan Property Management Corp. for permission to photograph and reproduce the bust of Tommy Douglas by Joe Fafard; and to Macmillan Canada for permission to quote the line in Chapter 4 from W.O. Mitchell’s Who Has Seen the Wind. (Copyright © W.O. Mitchell, 1947.) Reprinted by permission of Macmillan Canada, an imprint of CDG Books Canada Inc.

      Dave Margoshes

       Contents

       1 An Immigrant Twice Over