On this day in history: Tommy Douglas, Canada’s first socialist premier, born in Falkirk, Scotland

T.C. (Tommy) Douglas, shown in this 1961 photo riding aloft in triumph after being chosen NDP leader. He is held by trade unionist Claude Jodoin (left) and national CCF president David Lewis. British Labor leader Hugh Gaitshell is at right. (CP PHOTO/fls)

On this day, October 20, in 1904, Thomas Clement (Tommy) Douglas was born in Falkirk, Scotland.

After moving to Canada with his family at age 15, Douglas became a Baptist minister and settled in Weyburn,Sask., in 1930.

The suffering he witnessed during the Depression prompted him to join the fledgling Co-operative Commonwealth Federation and win a Commons seat in 1935.

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In 1944, Douglas became the Saskatchewan CCF leader and led the party to a landslide victory that made it North America’s first socialist government.

During the next 17 years, the Douglas government pioneered Medicare and numerous other programs.

After the CCF was reorganized as the New Democratic Party in 1961, Douglas served as its first federal leader for 10 years and remained an MP until 1979. He died of cancer in Ottawa on Feb. 24, 1986.