Tommy Douglas and the NDP As premier of Saskatchewan and, later, as first federal leader of the NDP, T.C. "Tommy" Douglas promoted ideas that were once considered extremely radical, but which later came to be accepted by politicians of all parties. The most important of these was his advocacy of free, universal medical care. In these activities, students will have an opportunity to explore aspects of Tommy Douglas’ life and political career, evaluate the factors leading to Tommy Douglas’s political success, create a timeline of the important developments in Canadian politics and Tommy Douglas’ role in those developments, prepare a news broadcast to re-enact and explain Tommy Douglas’ major political struggles and achievements, and create a media presentation to summarize Tommy Douglas’s political and historical legacy.
