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Poverty, swingers, and hoopla

Broadcast Date: May 22, 1968

The foremost issue is Canada's slowing economy, Tommy Douglas insists. But voters and the media seem to be more interested in the Liberal candidate, Pierre Trudeau, and the frenzy he's sparking with his swinging hipster campaign. Douglas, now 64, admits that everyone likes hoopla and swingers and the festival atmosphere. He also concedes in this interview that image seems to be much more important than it used to be. But, he insists, politicians must return to the true politics.

Poverty, swingers, and hoopla

• Teenager Phyllis Yaffe and friends tried to stir up Douglas-mania during the 1968 election. Calling themselves "go-go girls for Tommy" they would show up at his rallies and scream "Tommy, Tommy, Tommy." "We would be cheering when he said the things he said," Yaffe said in a Life & Times interview. "Trudeau always attracted people who cheered before he said anything."

• In the 1968 election, Douglas was not elected to Parliament by his Burnaby-Coquitlam riding. Liberal candidate Ray Perrault narrowly defeated Douglas.
• The Globe & Mail reported that Douglas offered a terse congratulation to the new national leader, Pierre Trudeau. The newspaper reported that Douglas believed that Trudeau avoided important issues in his flashy campaign. "The Prime Minister can't avoid the problems that confront Canada. They are still here," he said.

• Douglas was subsequently re-elected in a by-election in the Nanaimo-Cowichan Islands region.
• In the 1968 election, the NDP won a total of 22 seats. Pierre Trudeau's Liberal party won 155 seats and the Progressive Conservative party claimed 72.

Poverty, swingers, and hoopla

Medium: Radio

Program: Political Broadcasts

Broadcast Date: May 22, 1968

Guest(s): Tommy Douglas

Interviewer: Bruce Rogers

Duration: 4:21

Last updated:
Aug. 24, 2003