Extraordinary Canadians: Tommy Douglas

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Paperback
$16.00 US
On sale Sep 03, 2013 | 256 Pages | 9780143169178

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Tommy Douglas was a Scottish-born prairie politician who believed in the enormous potential of co-operative action for the common good. Award-winning novelist and medical doctor Vincent Lam brings special insight to his portrait of Douglas, who grew up to become a champion boxer and a Baptist minister and then later exchanged the pulpit for a political platform. A powerful orator and tireless activist, he served for seventeen years as premier of Saskatchewan, where he introduced the universal health care program that would eventually be adopted across Canada. As the new leader of the New Democratic Party, he was a staunch advocate of programs aimed at improving the well-being of ordinary Canadians and a steadfast defender of civil liberties. By his example and unflagging efforts, Douglas made democratic socialism a part of mainstream Canadian political life.
© Cynthia Summers
VINCENT LAM’s first book, Bloodletting & Miraculous Cures, won the 2006 Scotiabank Giller Prize, and was adapted for television and broadcast on HBO Canada. The Headmaster’s Wager, Dr. Lam’s first novel, was shortlisted for the 2012 Governor General’s Literary Award and the 2013 Commonwealth Book Prize. In 2011, he published a biography of Tommy Douglas, “father of medicare,” for Penguin Canada’s Extraordinary Canadians Series. Dr. Lam is an emergency physician and addictions physician who lives in Toronto. View titles by Vincent Lam

About

Tommy Douglas was a Scottish-born prairie politician who believed in the enormous potential of co-operative action for the common good. Award-winning novelist and medical doctor Vincent Lam brings special insight to his portrait of Douglas, who grew up to become a champion boxer and a Baptist minister and then later exchanged the pulpit for a political platform. A powerful orator and tireless activist, he served for seventeen years as premier of Saskatchewan, where he introduced the universal health care program that would eventually be adopted across Canada. As the new leader of the New Democratic Party, he was a staunch advocate of programs aimed at improving the well-being of ordinary Canadians and a steadfast defender of civil liberties. By his example and unflagging efforts, Douglas made democratic socialism a part of mainstream Canadian political life.

Author

© Cynthia Summers
VINCENT LAM’s first book, Bloodletting & Miraculous Cures, won the 2006 Scotiabank Giller Prize, and was adapted for television and broadcast on HBO Canada. The Headmaster’s Wager, Dr. Lam’s first novel, was shortlisted for the 2012 Governor General’s Literary Award and the 2013 Commonwealth Book Prize. In 2011, he published a biography of Tommy Douglas, “father of medicare,” for Penguin Canada’s Extraordinary Canadians Series. Dr. Lam is an emergency physician and addictions physician who lives in Toronto. View titles by Vincent Lam

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