CBC Archives

You must sign in to leave a comment on this clip.

Not your average election

Broadcast Date: June 5, 1960

As Saskatchewan farmers finish their planting for the fall harvest, the four political parties furiously campaign just days before the 1960 provincial election. Premier Tommy Douglas and the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) seek their fifth term in office, promising a public medical insurance plan that would cover all Saskatchewan citizens. As Newsmagazine's Norman DePoe reports in this CBC Television clip, this is more than a routine provincial election. It may decide whether all Canadians will have state medicare.

Not only is Douglas being attacked by the Liberals, Progressive Conservatives and the Social Credit Party, but a fourth player has also entered the fray. The College of Physicians and Surgeons is knee-deep in the political waters of this election campaign. They warn that voters won't have the same rights as patients under Douglas' plan. Premier Douglas thunders defiantly at a CCF rally: "This sort of propaganda … is an insult to the intelligence of the people of Saskatchewan."

Not your average election

• Tommy Douglas' Co-operative Commonwealth Federation won a majority government in the 1960 election, taking 38 of the 55 available seats in the Legislative Assembly. Ross Thatcher and the Liberals took the remaining 17. The Social Credit Party failed to hold onto its three seats in the Assembly. As a result of its increased majority, the CCF passed the Saskatchewan Medical Care Insurance Act on Nov. 17, 1961. It went into effect the following summer.

• The New Democratic Party (NDP) replaced the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation on the federal level in August 1961. The provincial CCF party in Saskatchewan morphed into the NDP in 1967.

• Prior to the 1960 election, the Canadian Medical Association (CMA) ran a public campaign with a series of paid advertisements condemning Douglas' "socialized medicine" plan. The CMA argued that the marketplace — not the state — should be responsible for administering health insurance and that state medicare threatened the concept of a free society. They also warned that the adoption of Douglas' plan could result in family doctors fleeing the province.

• Acknowledged as the father of Canadian medicare, Thomas Douglas served as premier of Saskatchewan for 17 years from 1944 to 1961, winning five provincial elections. He resigned as premier in 1961 and went on to lead the federal New Democratic Party from 1961 to 1971. After stepping down as leader, he remained the party's energy critic until retiring in 1979. He died in 1986 at the age of 81.

• Douglas was one of the founders of the CCF. When he was elected as premier of Saskatchewan in 1944 he formed the first socialist government in North America. In 1959 he introduced a provincial hospital insurance program called medicare that was the precursor of Canada's universal health care. Douglas ran in a total of six provincial and 10 federal elections in his career, winning 11 of his 16 electoral races.

Not your average election

Medium: Television

Program: Newsmagazine

Broadcast Date: June 5, 1960

Guest(s):

Host: Norman DePoe

Duration: 27:23

Last updated:
July 23, 2009