Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said he is one of the few MPs who knew Tommy Douglas personally.. Parliament Hill .However, official records show Douglas had left Saskatchewan years before Jonathan Wilkinson was even born..Wilkinson’s staff later clarified his statement..“I am probably one of the few members of this House who actually knew Tommy Douglas personally,” Wilkinson said under New Democrat questioning in a Commons debate. .“It was part of Tommy Douglas’ vision for medicare more generally to ensure that health issues — dental being a health issue — were addressed.”.Records show Wilkinson was not yet born when then-premier Douglas left Saskatchewan..Wilkinson never mentioned friendship with the New Democrat leader in media profiles or his official party biography..“Minister Wilkinson met Mr. Douglas a couple of times,” Ian Cameron, spokesperson for Douglas, clarified on Monday..The two meetings “included an NDP event in Regina when Minister Wilkinson was a high school student,” said Cameron..Douglas left Saskatchewan in 1962 and Wilkinson was born in 1965..Wilkinson, in a Liberal Party biographical sketch, said his father Paul moved the family from rural Ontario to Saskatoon in “the late 1960s.”.“When I was very young, he worked as a community development officer in Moosonee, ON, a town on the Moose River, 20 kilometres south of James Bay,” wrote Wilkinson of his father..“It was the late 1960s.”.“After a few years, he moved to Saskatoon to work with the Company of Young Canadians, a volunteer agency of the Government of Canada,” wrote Wilkinson..According to Blacklock’s Reporter, the Natural Resources minister in media interviews made no mention of any personal acquaintanceship with Douglas..“I got to know Roy Romanow, who eventually became premier, because I ran the youth wing of the NDP in Saskatchewan for a while,” he said in a 2012 interview with the Globe and Mail..Business in Vancouver magazine reported in 2015 Wilkinson “during undergrad studies at the University of Saskatchewan, was an ardent NDP youth supporter and worked on Roy Romanow’s successful leadership campaign.”.Romanow won the Saskatchewan NDP leadership in 1987. Tommy Douglas died in 1986..“I grew up in Saskatchewan as a Prairie social democrat,” Wilkinson earlier told interviewers..“I feel very close to Saskatchewan.”.Tommy Douglas on leaving Saskatchewan served as MP from British Columbia (Burnaby-Coquitlam) and became a lifelong resident of Ottawa..Douglas is buried at the Beechwood National Cemetery in Ottawa.
Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said he is one of the few MPs who knew Tommy Douglas personally.. Parliament Hill .However, official records show Douglas had left Saskatchewan years before Jonathan Wilkinson was even born..Wilkinson’s staff later clarified his statement..“I am probably one of the few members of this House who actually knew Tommy Douglas personally,” Wilkinson said under New Democrat questioning in a Commons debate. .“It was part of Tommy Douglas’ vision for medicare more generally to ensure that health issues — dental being a health issue — were addressed.”.Records show Wilkinson was not yet born when then-premier Douglas left Saskatchewan..Wilkinson never mentioned friendship with the New Democrat leader in media profiles or his official party biography..“Minister Wilkinson met Mr. Douglas a couple of times,” Ian Cameron, spokesperson for Douglas, clarified on Monday..The two meetings “included an NDP event in Regina when Minister Wilkinson was a high school student,” said Cameron..Douglas left Saskatchewan in 1962 and Wilkinson was born in 1965..Wilkinson, in a Liberal Party biographical sketch, said his father Paul moved the family from rural Ontario to Saskatoon in “the late 1960s.”.“When I was very young, he worked as a community development officer in Moosonee, ON, a town on the Moose River, 20 kilometres south of James Bay,” wrote Wilkinson of his father..“It was the late 1960s.”.“After a few years, he moved to Saskatoon to work with the Company of Young Canadians, a volunteer agency of the Government of Canada,” wrote Wilkinson..According to Blacklock’s Reporter, the Natural Resources minister in media interviews made no mention of any personal acquaintanceship with Douglas..“I got to know Roy Romanow, who eventually became premier, because I ran the youth wing of the NDP in Saskatchewan for a while,” he said in a 2012 interview with the Globe and Mail..Business in Vancouver magazine reported in 2015 Wilkinson “during undergrad studies at the University of Saskatchewan, was an ardent NDP youth supporter and worked on Roy Romanow’s successful leadership campaign.”.Romanow won the Saskatchewan NDP leadership in 1987. Tommy Douglas died in 1986..“I grew up in Saskatchewan as a Prairie social democrat,” Wilkinson earlier told interviewers..“I feel very close to Saskatchewan.”.Tommy Douglas on leaving Saskatchewan served as MP from British Columbia (Burnaby-Coquitlam) and became a lifelong resident of Ottawa..Douglas is buried at the Beechwood National Cemetery in Ottawa.
