Father of medicare
Encyclopedia
Several individuals may be recognized as the father of medicare
in Canada
.
This list includes individuals from three major distinct and competing Canadian political traditions: Douglas from the social democratic
Co-operative Commonwealth Federation
, Hall, a Progressive Conservative
, and Martin and Pearson, Liberals
.
Medicare (Canada)
Medicare is the unofficial name for Canada's publicly funded universal health insurance system. The formal terminology for the insurance system is provided by the Canada Health Act and the health insurance legislation of the individual provinces and territories.Under the terms of the Canada Health...
in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
.
- Tommy DouglasTommy DouglasThomas Clement "Tommy" Douglas, was a Scottish-born Baptist minister who became a prominent Canadian social democratic politician...
forwarded public health insurance as Premier of SaskatchewanPremier of SaskatchewanThe Premier of Saskatchewan is the first minister for the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. They are the province's head of government and de facto chief executive....
from 1944 to 1961 and federal leader of the New Democratic PartyNew Democratic PartyThe New Democratic Party , commonly referred to as the NDP, is a federal social-democratic political party in Canada. The interim leader of the NDP is Nycole Turmel who was appointed to the position due to the illness of Jack Layton, who died on August 22, 2011. The provincial wings of the NDP in...
from 1961 to 1971. Although Douglas is often credited as the "father of Medicare" he referred to Emmett Hall as Canada's "father of Medicare". Saskatchewan's first "father of health care" was Dr. J.M. UhrichJohn Michael UhrichJohn Michael Uhrich, M.D., , was the ninth Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan from 1948 until 1951.Uhrich was born in Formosa, Ontario and received his schooling in Walkerton and was briefly a schoolteacher before earning his medical degree at Northwestern University in Chicago.During his summer...
, the Minister of Health in the 1920s when the first tax funded health care programs were introduced at the municipal level and when Saskatchewan developed free medical treatment for those with tuberculosisTuberculosisTuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
. - Emmett Matthew HallEmmett Matthew HallEmmett Matthew Hall, CC, QC was a Canadian jurist and civil libertarian and is considered one of the fathers of the Canadian system of Medicare....
was a jurist and chair of the 1964 Royal CommissionRoyal CommissionIn Commonwealth realms and other monarchies a Royal Commission is a major ad-hoc formal public inquiry into a defined issue. They have been held in various countries such as the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and Saudi Arabia...
on health care in Canada which recommended the nationwide adoption of SaskatchewanSaskatchewanSaskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota....
's system of public insurance for both hospitalization and out-of-hospital medical services. In 1996, Prime Minister Jean ChrétienJean ChrétienJoseph Jacques Jean Chrétien , known commonly as Jean Chrétien is a former Canadian politician who was the 20th Prime Minister of Canada. He served in the position for over ten years, from November 4, 1993 to December 12, 2003....
stated that "Canadians will be forever grateful for the pivotal role that [Hall] played in bringing universal medicare to Canada. Throughout his long life, he remained medicare's most eloquent defender". - Paul Joseph James MartinPaul Joseph James MartinJoseph James Guillaume Paul Martin, PC, CC, QC , often referred to as Paul Martin, Sr, was a noted Canadian politician. He was the father of Paul Martin , who served as Prime Minister of Canada from 2003 - 2006.-Early life:Martin was born in Ottawa, Ontario, the son of Lumina and Joseph...
, Minister of National Health and Welfare from 1946 to 1957, played a central early role in the adoption of hospital insurance and is also remembered as a father of Medicare. - Lester B. PearsonLester B. PearsonLester Bowles "Mike" Pearson, PC, OM, CC, OBE was a Canadian professor, historian, civil servant, statesman, diplomat, and politician, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1957 for organizing the United Nations Emergency Force to resolve the Suez Canal Crisis...
was Prime Minister of CanadaPrime Minister of CanadaThe Prime Minister of Canada is the primary minister of the Crown, chairman of the Cabinet, and thus head of government for Canada, charged with advising the Canadian monarch or viceroy on the exercise of the executive powers vested in them by the constitution...
from 1963 to 1968. His government saw medicare introduced on a national basis for hospital and out-of-hospital treatment.
This list includes individuals from three major distinct and competing Canadian political traditions: Douglas from the social democratic
Social democracy
Social democracy is a political ideology of the center-left on the political spectrum. Social democracy is officially a form of evolutionary reformist socialism. It supports class collaboration as the course to achieve socialism...
Co-operative Commonwealth Federation
Co-operative Commonwealth Federation
The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation was a Canadian political party founded in 1932 in Calgary, Alberta, by a number of socialist, farm, co-operative and labour groups, and the League for Social Reconstruction...
, Hall, a Progressive Conservative
Progressive Conservative Party of Canada
The Progressive Conservative Party of Canada was a Canadian political party with a centre-right stance on economic issues and, after the 1970s, a centrist stance on social issues....
, and Martin and Pearson, Liberals
Liberal Party of Canada
The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is the oldest federally registered party in Canada. In the conventional political spectrum, the party sits between the centre and the centre-left. Historically the Liberal Party has positioned itself to the left of the Conservative...
.