Kiefer Sutherland to Honor Tommy Douglas

Actor Kiefer Sutherland will travel to Weyburn, Saskatchewan this Friday to honor Tommy Douglas, a Canadian socialist icon and father of Canadian Medicare. Sutherland also happens to be Douglas' maternal grandson. Douglas, who died in 1986, will be honored with a statue.

If today's socialists were more like Tommy Douglas I would probably still be one.

But today's socialists are not like Tommy Douglas. Douglas was a pragmatic man who did not view his political opponents as evil. Yes, he was the father of Canada's health care system. But he also looked down upon deficits and debt producing 16 consecutive balanced budgets. Douglas, who was first elected Premier of Saskatchewan in 1944, did not introduce Medicare to Saskatchewan until 1960.

Needless to say, President Obama isn't taking a page out of the Tommy Douglas playbook. And let's hope that he doesn't because conservatives could be in trouble if he does.

Here is what I wrote about Douglas after he was voted "Greatest Canadian" in December 2004.