MovieChat Forums > Prairie Giant: The Tommy Douglas Story (2006) Discussion > Lamenting Canada

Lamenting Canada

posted 18 years ago by BRANDeMON
3 replies | jump to latest

As a supporter of the NDP, and socialist causes in general, I am saddened to see the loss of the Left in Canada. Even the NDP seems to moving towards the political centre, which is unfortunate. Most social programs, such as public healthcare, education, welfare, and disability, have been gutted; and let's be clear: it's the fault of both provincial and federal governments since the 1980s. Most Universities don't even teach the Winnipeg General Strike of 1919 anymore! Canada seems to be moving towards an American "Every man for himself" economic model. The dream of Douglas, the NDP, and other Democratic Socialists was in the equality of outcomes and opprotunity. Douglas' life is a reminder of what Canada used to be. I think in times of Rightwing militaristic governments (Bush, Harper, Howard, Blair), it is important to keep this Canadian dream alive.

[–] thesnowleopard 18 years ago

That's one thing that I liked about the biopic, the portrayal of Douglas' socialist supporters. These people weren't wild-eyed commies fighting for some abstract ideal. They were farmers and mine workers angry and frustrated about getting stepped on and ripped off. As Gryshkov was saying, he worked hard and he couldn't even put food on the table for his daughter. I do think we are sliding back toward that. But I also think that the solution is the same as it was fifty years ago--to organize new groups at the grassroots level and get heard again in the political process.

The only thing good about the current crop of losers in charge of our governments is that they are so overtly obnoxious that they don't have much longterm staying power. God help us if we get another Thatcher.

[–] BRANDeMON 18 years ago

I think a grassroots movement would be great. The only problem is that the last real populist political movement was Preston Manning and his cavemen Reform Party. How can the Left take back the grassroots? Also, I think there has to be an intellectual movement to counter the rights dominance over the media and political elite. It has to come from both ways before more practical social democratic goals can be realized.

[–] thesnowleopard 18 years ago

Broader appeal, for one thing, I think. The Left has been shoehorned by its opponents as urban, dilettante, obsessed with issues of personal choice (read: "deviancy" to those from the heartland) and generally irrelevant. It's also become too passive-aggressive, refusing to "lower" itself to doing certain things while simultaneously showering its opponents with contempt. If you're going to take the higher ground, you'd better not rub your opponent's face in it. I thought one thing that was interesting was that Douglas kept his ideals without going all Ghandi. His opponents would come after him and he'd come after them right back.

Film is a powerful medium. It's good to see something Canadian that is so unabashedly...well, pro-Canadian. Canadian independent film seems to be getting away slowly from the "bored white woman seeks liberation through kinky sex" type of plot that too many flicks have had and branching out. Plus, you're seeing more distribution via DVD, which makes the industry far more relevant than before. It's interesting to note that most "American" SF and Fantasy shows are actually filmed in Vancouver with Canadian casts and crews (and increasingly, writers and directors). This is a medium in Canada where the Left has a distinct advantage over the Right and it's time that the Left started exploring what that means.

That was why it was so refreshing to see rural poor people who were socialist without being the usual stereotypes of godless communists or young urban guerilla artistas. Those people really did exist and their campaigns had such a massive effect on our world that too many people today simply don't remember what it was like before or what those people sacrificed.