After much whinning and bleating from those purporting to be defenders of 'Jimmy Gardiner' , officials at the CBC have now stated that they are pulling '
Prairie Giant: The Tommy Douglas Story from further broadcast on the publically owned network.
It is very clear that many of the loudest critics against the film are also the same folks who are constantly striving to demonize publically funded health care. (All the usual suspects like 'smalldeadanimals' - 'Brad Wall and his Saskatchewan Party' - 'Canadian Taxpayers Federation').It makes you wonder if they will be pulling all docu-dramas if someone complains...?
I want to post words from Tommy Douglas himself concerning Jimmy Gardiner. This quote comes from:
Recollections of a Parliamentarian - T.C. Douglas"I found there are two classes of people you meet in politics. There are those with whom you can remain friends despite political differences. Then there are those who, if you attack them in the cut and thrust of debate, will go around nursing their wounds. I tried to follow a very simple maxim; be friendly with anyone who wanted to be friendly and leave alone those who wanted to be left alone. Jimmy Gardiner, for example, was a fierce debater and a very courageous little man. But like so many such persons, he did not like to get it back. I had some real battles with him. He would hardly speak to me unless he absolutely had to.
When I was Premier of Saskatchewan I had occasion to visit France to unveil a monument near Dieppe, where so many men of the South Saskatchewan Regiment were killed. I was about to leave on Sunday evening when someone told me Mr. Gardiner's son was buried about six miles from there. I wanted to visit his grave but it was very hard to get there. The military attaché at the Canadian embassy in Paris, Colonel Alan Chambers, was with me. He arranged for an airplane, some wreaths and a piper. At five o'clock the next morning we flew in, laid the wreaths and put on a bit of a military parade. Sometime later I was in Ottawa for a federal-provincial conference. I went for a haircut and there, sitting next to me, was Jimmy Gardiner. I nodded to him but he looked straight ahead. He finished first and paid his bill. I could see him standing at the door struggling. Finally he turned around and came over. He put out his hand and said, "I want to thank you for what you did for the boy." We eventually came to be quite good friends; but sometimes it takes a long while for the resentment of the debates to break down.
In a democratic society you not only have the right to say what you think but you must also give your opponent the same right and not hold personal resentment because you disagree with him. A pluralistic society depends on differences and diversity. A society in which everybody thinks alike, looks alike and speaks alike would be about as dull and deadly as you could imagine."Tommy Douglas
Father of Medicare
