The Saskatchewan doctors' strike was a 23-day labour action exercised by medical doctors in 1962 in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan in an attempt to force the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation government of Saskatchewan to drop its program of universal medical insurance. The strike was from July 1, the day the Saskatchewan Medical Care Insurance Act took force, to July 23. [1]
The Medicare plan was announced by Premier of Saskatchewan Tommy Douglas in 1959 at a speech he made during the Birch Hills by-election campaign. [2] It was the main issue of the 1960 provincial election, which was won by his Co-operative Commonwealth Federation government. A commission was struck by the government to make recommendations for the plan's implementation and was met with opposition by the Saskatchewan College of Physicians and Surgeons, which testified that doctors would not co-operate with a compulsory, government-run plan.
The Saskatchewan Medical Care Insurance Bill was introduced in the Saskatchewan legislature on October 13, 1961, and was passed and given royal assent in November. By then, Douglas had stepped down as premier in order to assume the leadership of the newly formed federal New Democratic Party and was replaced as provincial premier and CCF leader by Woodrow Lloyd [1] who was to face enormous pressure to withdraw the plan. [3] In an attempt to reach a compromise, Lloyd delayed the implementation of Medicare from April to July 1962. [2]
In May 1962, a meeting of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Saskatchewan passed a resolution vowing that physicians would close their practices when Medicare came into force. "Keep Our Doctors" committees were established throughout the province and a campaign, backed by the Regina Leader-Post was undertaken, with warnings that most doctors would leave the province if socialized medicine were introduced. [3] On July 1, 1962, the doctors strike began and approximately 90% of the province's doctors shut their offices. [1] [4]
During this time, anonymous letters signed by "the Swift Current citizens safety committee" accused doctors of rebelling against the people, and gave doctors until the morning of July 6 to return to normal practice or suffer harm to them and their families. [5] This led to the death by heart attack of threat recipient Dr. Emil John Kusey of Canora, on July 5. [6]
The government brought in doctors from Britain, the United States, and other provinces to staff community clinics that were set up to meet demand for health services. A July 11 rally in support of the doctors in front of the Saskatchewan legislature in Regina attracted about 4,000 people, one tenth the number hoped for by the organizers. [2] By mid-July some of the striking doctors returned to work. Lord Taylor, a British physician who had helped implement the National Health Service in the United Kingdom, was brought in as a mediator and the "Saskatoon Agreement" ending the strike was signed on July 23, 1962. As a result of the agreement, amendments to the Act were introduced allowing doctors to opt out of Medicare and raising fee payments to doctors under the plan and to increase the number of physicians sitting on the Medical Care Insurance Commission. By 1965, most doctors favoured the continuation of Medicare. [1]
The strike was a significant test for Medicare. Its failure allowed the program to continue and the Saskatchewan model was adopted throughout Canada within ten years. [4] The political divisions within the province aggravated by the strike contributed to the Lloyd's government defeat in the 1964 provincial election. [7] However, even though the Saskatchewan Liberal Party of Ross Thatcher had opposed the plan, Medicare's popularity was such that by the election the Liberals promised to not only leave it in place, but expand it even more.
Medicare is an unofficial designation used to refer to the publicly funded single-payer healthcare system of Canada. Canada's health care system consists of 13 provincial and territorial health insurance plans, which provide universal healthcare coverage to Canadian citizens, permanent residents, and depending on the province or territory, certain temporary residents. The systems are individually administered on a provincial or territorial basis, within guidelines set by the federal government. 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.
Socialized medicine is a term used in the United States to describe and discuss systems of universal health care—medical and hospital care for all by means of government regulation of health care and subsidies derived from taxation. Because of historically negative associations with socialism in American culture, the term is usually used pejoratively in American political discourse. The term was first widely used in the United States by advocates of the American Medical Association in opposition to President Harry S. Truman's 1947 health care initiative. It was later used in opposition to Medicare. The Affordable Care Act has been described in terms of socialized medicine, but the act's objective is rather socialized insurance, not government ownership of hospitals and other facilities as is common in other nations.
Thomas Clement Douglas was a Canadian politician who served as the seventh premier of Saskatchewan from 1944 to 1961 and Leader of the New Democratic Party from 1961 to 1971. A Baptist minister, he was elected to the House of Commons of Canada in 1935 as a member of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF). He left federal politics to become Leader of the Saskatchewan Co-operative Commonwealth Federation and then the seventh Premier of Saskatchewan. His government introduced the continent's first single-payer, universal health care program.
The Canada Health Act, adopted in 1984, is the federal legislation in Canada for publicly-funded health insurance, commonly called "medicare", and sets out the primary objective of Canadian healthcare policy.
Wilbert Ross Thatcher, was the ninth premier of Saskatchewan, serving from May 22, 1964 to June 30, 1971. He led the Saskatchewan Liberal Party in four general elections, in 1960, 1964, 1967 and 1971. Thatcher was defeated in his first election in 1960, but won the next two elections in 1964 and 1967 with majority governments. Following his defeat in the general election of 1971, he retired from politics and died shortly afterwards.
The Saskatchewan New Democratic Party (NDP) is a social-democratic political party in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It currently forms the official opposition, but has been a dominant force in Saskatchewan politics since the 1940s. The party is the successor to the Saskatchewan section of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF), and is affiliated with the federal New Democratic Party.
Woodrow Stanley Lloyd was a Canadian politician and educator. Born in Saskatchewan in 1913, he became a teacher in the early 1930s. He worked as a teacher and school principal until 1944 and was involved with the Saskatchewan Teachers' Federation, eventually becoming its president.
Allan Emrys Blakeney was the tenth premier of Saskatchewan from 1971 to 1982, and leader of the Saskatchewan New Democratic Party (NDP).
Single-payer healthcare is a type of universal healthcare in which the costs of essential healthcare for all residents are covered by a single public system.
The 1960 Saskatchewan general election was held on June 8, 1960, to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan.
The 1964 Saskatchewan general election was held on April 22, 1964, to elect members of the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan.
Emmett Matthew Hall was a Canadian lawyer, civil liberties advocate, Supreme Court of Canada judge and public policy advocate. He is considered one of the fathers of the Canadian system of Medicare, along with his fellow Saskatchewanian, Tommy Douglas.
History of Saskatchewan encompasses the study of past human events and activities of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan, the middle of Canada's three prairie provinces. Archaeological studies give some clues as to the history and lifestyles of the Palaeo-Indian, Taltheilei, and Shield Archaic traditions who were the first occupants of the prehistoric era of this geographical area. They evolved into the history of the first nations people who kept their history alive in oral tradition. The First Nation bands that were a part of this area were the Chipewyan, Cree, Saulteaux, Assiniboine, Atsina, and Sioux.
Hospitals in Canada were initially places which cared for the poor as those with higher socioeconomic status were cared for at home. In Quebec during the 18th century, a series of charitable institutions, many set up by Catholic religious orders, provided such care.
David Gordon Steuart was a Saskatchewan politician, cabinet minister and senator.
The timeline of Regina history shows the significant events in the history of Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada.
Albert Ernest Joseph Mark Archer was a Canadian physician and political activist. He is best known for his early efforts to promote national and provincial public health care systems. Some have argued that he deserves as much recognition as Tommy Douglas for the establishment of medicare in Canada.
The Alberta Health Insurance Act was an act passed by the Alberta Legislature in February 1935. It was the first Canadian health insurance act to provide some public funding for medical services, and as such is considered to be an early step toward the provision of medicare in Canada.
The Hospital Insurance and Diagnostic Services Act (HIDS) is a statute passed by the Parliament of Canada in 1957 that reimbursed one-half of provincial and territorial costs for hospital and diagnostic services administered under provincial and territorial health insurance programs. Originally implemented on July 1, 1958, with five participating provinces, by January 1, 1961, all ten provinces were enlisted. The federal funding was coupled with terms and conditions borrowed from the Saskatchewan Hospital Services Plan, introduced in 1947 as the first universal hospital insurance program in North America. In order to receive funding, services had to be universal, comprehensive, accessible and portable. This stipulation was dropped in 1977 with the Established Programs Financing Act and then reinstated in 1984 in the Canada Health Act. Widely acknowledged as the foundation for future developments in the Canadian health care system, the HIDS Act was a landmark example of federal-provincial cooperation in post-war Canada.
Meara Conway ; is a Canadian politician, who was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan in the 2020 Saskatchewan general election. She represents the electoral district of Regina Elphinstone-Centre as a member of the Saskatchewan New Democratic Party.