Tommy Douglass Religion

“The past is to be respected and acknowledged but not to be worshipped. It is our future in which we find our greatness.” These words were written by Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau, who paved the way for the great Canadian future present today. Pierre Elliott Trudeau was an indispensable leader who guided Canada to greatness, he brought biculturalism and bilingualism to Canada, believed in equality and protecting human rights. Pierre Elliott Trudeau’s accomplishments paved the way for a greater Canadian future because he became the leader Canada needed for protecting human rights, evolving Canada's language and by giving Canada the confidence it needed to succeed.

Frederick Douglass was an important leader who helped fight for slaves freedom in the 19th Century. Religion played a major role in Mr. Douglass’s life. In his autobiography, he describes his daily struggles of being a slave and how he escaped to freedom. In his narrative, he explains the way his masters would beat, rape, and murder slaves, but only to use their Christian beliefs to explain why they did it and basically use it as an excuse. Douglass himself was also a Christian and explains in his autobiography that the religious views of the masters were very different from the religious views the slaves had. Frederick Douglass composed his autobiography to explain that the master's view of Christianity was unholy and if there was no change to be made, it could continue and lead to an increase in sacrilegious acts.

In 1957, John Diefenbaker took the spot of the Official Opposition leader against the Liberal party who at the time was lead by St. Laurent. Diefenbaker did not support the new budget which was presented. This forced Parliament to dissolve in April of that year and have an election on June 10th. St. Laurent was extremely confident about winning the election as the Liberals had been in power since 1948. St. Laurent’s confidence was such that he did not even bother to make any recommendations to the Governor General to fill the 16 vacancies in the Senate before dissolving the government. During the election campaign Diefenbaker was portrayed to the country as a people’s person, who was honest with small town values. He was popular in the Prairie Provinces as he connected with the people. He had grown up in Saskatchewan and understood the culture of the prairies. Three months before the election took place a census of how Canadians would vote was conducted. It showed that 46.8% of Canadians planned to vote for the Liberal party and only 38% for the Conservatives. In the next three months this would change considerably because of a

idea of turning Canada back to its original roots. He compares Harper's government system with Pierre Trudeau’s. Arguing about the struggles and failures of

Tommy Douglas was the first leader to introduce free healthcare. He wanted to make Canada a safer and better place to live, ensuring access to healthcare for all. Douglas became the leader of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF), soon bringing the party to a victory as they became the governing party of Saskatchewan. In 1947, Douglas took the first step towards universal healthcare by bringing public insurance in Saskatchewan. For every five dollars a year, each person in the province would receive hospital care when needed. Douglas wanted to ensure that every person can get access to healthcare. Douglas had experienced problems and struggles in his life that he did not want other people to face. He believed that healthcare should

Thomas Clement "Tommy" Douglas or otherwise known as “The Father of Medicare” could be one of the most influential Canadian of all time. Even though he never became a Prime Minister, his legacy had significantly improved the lives of many Canadians. Born on 20 October 1904 in Falkirk, Scotland, Douglas immigrated with his family to Canada at the age of six. He attended Brandon University to become an ordained minister (Historica Canada).

Tommy Douglas was a man of the people. His struggles during his working class life formed his liberal ideology, so that no one else would have to. He was a man of the people, he lived without healthcare -which nearly cost him his leg-, he witnessed protesters being shot, the list of horrible things he’s seen and experienced is rather expansive. However, Douglas was a man who wanted change, for the benefit of regular people such as himself. His life experience being the normal man of the times, and witnessing what happened to those who took action, allowed him to see the shortcomings of the laws that were meant to serve the individuals of the country. The ideals he had formed were based on what would allow the average individual to have the freedom to

Opposing the belief that a dominating leader is running Canada, Barker brings up several key realities of the Canadian government. He gives examples of several “… instances of other ministers taking action that reveal the limits prime-ministerial power,” (Barker 178). Barker conveys the fact that Canada is not bound by a dictatorial government, “…it seems that the prime minister cannot really control his individual ministers. At times, they will pursue agendas that are inconsistent with the prime minister’s actions,” (Barker 181). Both inside and outside government are a part of Canada and they can remind the prime minister that “…politics is a game of survival for all players,” (Barker 188). Barker refutes the misinterpretation of the Canadian government by acknowledging that a prime-ministerial government existing in Canada is an overstatement.

The same society that built the morals and beliefs and principles he has in him had then become the same society that crippled him to make the choice of leaving all those behind as he stated, “And what was so sad, I realized, was that Canada had become a pitiful fantasy. Silly and hopeless. It was no longer a possibility. Right then, with the shore so close, I understood that I would not do what I should do. (55)”

When someone thinks of a religious person, they think of someone who is kind and caring. Well, this is not the case for Frederick Douglass. According to Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, a religious slave master is the worse kind of master. In Douglass’ narrative, there are examples of religious slave owners being delusional, hypocritical, and mean. Throughout his narrative, Frederick Douglass states many incidents with religious slave owners.

Pierre Elliot Trudeau was arguably one of the most vivacious and charismatic Prime Ministers Canada has ever seen. He wore capes, dated celebrities and always wore a red rose boutonniere. He looked like a superhero, and often acted like one too. Some of the landmark occurrences in Canadian history all happened during the Trudeau era, such as patriating the constitution, creating the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the 1980 Quebec Referendum. However, it is Trudeau’s 1969 “white paper” and the Calder legal challenge which many consider to be one of his most influential contributions to Canadian history.

During the twentieth century, Canada as a nation witnessed and endured several historical events that have had a deep and profound influence on Canadian politics. The most influential and constant force in twentieth century Canadian politics has been the increasing power and command of Quebec nationalism and the influence it has had on Canadian politics today. Quebec nationalism has shaped the structure and dynamics of Canadian federalism from a centralized to a decentralized form of federal government (Beland and Lecours 2010, 423). The decentralization of several sectors within the Canadian government has been a direct effect of Quebec nationalism. Decentralization has led to more autonomy among the provincial governments, especially in

1). In 1935 Douglas ran federally for the CCF and won a seat representing the Weyburn

Canada faced dramatic changes through the decades of the 1960’s and 1970’s, but in particular the province of Quebec. In 1959, Quebec Premier Maurice Duplessis died, this marked the beginning of the Quiet Revolution. Duplessis was the Union Nationale leader and the party had controlled Quebec for decades until shortly after Duplessis’ death, a provincial election was held where the Liberals, led by Jean Lesage, had won the vote. The Liberals started moving away from the Catholic ideologies, traditions were being shifted and a transformed society was taking over the province of Quebec. Lesage was famously quoted in 1962 “There is no doubt in my mind; it’s now or never that we must become masters in our own home.” which became the Liberals

In 1971 when the Conservatives ended the Socred hold on power, the Conservative Party succeeded by “neutralizing ideology and focusing on ‘safe change,’ that is, a change of faces but not policies.” The 1971 election brought into office the Progressive Conservative Party under the leadership of Peter Lougheed; Lougheed than served as premier until 1985, when he was replaced by Don Getty. In 1986 general election, Alberta PC win the election with 61 seats, NDP getting 16 seats, liberal getting 4 seats in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta and Alberta PC also win 1989 general election of Alberta. Getty’s decision to resign in 1992 “ushered in the leadership election that provides the point of departure.” Alberta’s electoral history