The best Canadian ideas were born in Saskatchewan. In spite of its small population and few pretensions, in ideological terms, Saskatchewan is Canada.
For starters, the co-op movement that helped the farmers through the hungry thirties began there.
Originating in the same era, the most famous Saskatchewan innovation was free and universal medicare.This was such a good idea that the whole nation adopted it after Saskatchewan Premier Tommy Douglas led the way. Confirming their approval of this historic move, Canadians voted in a CBC poll in 2004 that Douglas was the most important Canadian in the history of the country.
There are plenty of reasons besides medicare why Tommy Douglas was so revered by Canadians. During his many years in provincial and federal politics, NDP-made policies changed Saskatchewan directly and Ottawa indirectly.
One of the events that inspired Tommy Douglas to take to politics was the miners' strike at Estevan in 1931. The workers struck when the company cut the already low wages, and Douglas witnessed the violence and bloodshed that ensued. While the Mounties stood by and allowed thugs to beat the striking miners, Douglas, though he spoke against this brutality and injustice, was powerless to stop it.
A Baptist minister, he broke unwritten rules by preaching in church against the social injustice he saw in the community outside. Asked to leave his post, he entered politics to put his words into action. As premier of Saskatchewan, Douglas implemented protections for workers. His was the first provincial government to legalize collective bargaining for all workers, including those in the civil service. His party also enshrined in law the 8-hour work day, the five-day work week and paid holidays.
Douglas responded to the needs of the people of Saskatchewan by building and paving roads and creating a much-needed free air ambulance service for the northern part of the province. During his tenure as premier, he ensured that hospitals were sufficient and accessible.
The big banks with their cold capitalism were his political enemies. When times were hard and farmers had trouble making their mortgage payments, bankers moved to repossess mortgaged farms, even those that that were 95% paid for. In response, Douglas and his government passed the Farm Security Act and halted this practice before it could be implemented.
The government of Tommy Douglas authored many firsts: the first Arts Board in Canada, the first province to give the franchise to 18-year-olds, the first Small Claims Court in North America, the first Bill of Rights in Canada. The Saskatchewan NDP under Tommy Douglas also pioneered provincial automobile insurance.
Saskatchewan is still open to innovation. Saskatoon was featured a recent broadcast of the CBC program White Coat, Black Art. Following a model developed in New Jersey, the city implemented a radical neighbourhood approach to health care in one of the most health-challenged areas in the country.
Well-known Saskatchewan authors include Sinclair Ross, WO Mitchell, Sharon Butala, Candace Savage, Guy Vandenhaeghe, and the poet Lorna Crozier.
The latest thing to come out of Saskatchewan was the Idle No More movement. The ideal of social justice is still considered worthy of discussion in the province that lies at the geographic centre of the nation and continues to speak for our collective social conscience.
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