Letters - Did Tommy Douglas found medicare?

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Published on Friday, November 17, 2017

Darrell Rankin
Leader, Communist Party of Canada -
Manitoba

Mackenzie King was the first prominent Canadian politician to promise medicare, a month after the Winnipeg General Strike in 1919. He promised it at the convention where he was elected leader of the Liberal Party.

And he promised it in the context where trade unions in Canada were sending greetings to Russia’s new socialist government. Other politicians promised far-reaching reforms like those invoked by Russia’s new socialist government. In fact, it was only after women in Russia won the vote in 1917 that women completely won that right here. Coincidence? I think not.

Publishers note: They didnt need as much medi-care in Russia, because Lenin and Stalin murdered and starved more people than who died in the Holocaust.