Dream No Little Dreams

by Johnson, A. W.; Johnso, A. W.; Proctor, Rosemary

• ISBN13: 9780802089540
• ISBN10: 0802089542
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2004-04-01
• Publisher: Univ of Toronto Pr

Summary

In 1944, the people of Saskatchewan elected the first socialist government in North America. Dream No Little Dreams is the biography of that government, led by the great Tommy Douglas of the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation (CCF, later the New Democratic Party). It is a history of the life of the CCF and a case study in the art and practice of governing; partly a study in the policy decisions of the government, and partly an insider's view. A.W. Johnson ? a senior public servant in Saskatchewan during most of the Douglas years ? begins by introducing the government's central mission ? the transformation of the role of the state ? and describes how it achieved this goal over some seventeen years.Johnson analyses the roots of the CCF in Saskatchewan history and prairie politics, and its philosophy as it prepared to govern. He describes the policies and programs introduced by the Douglas government, the changes to the machinery of government and the processes of governing, and the creation of a professional public service.Medicare is viewed by many as the greatest achievement of the Douglas government. Dream No Little Dreams offers rich insight into the initial planning stages of Medicare and details the protracted struggle with the medical profession that followed as Douglas fought to implement it. Johnson also addresses the question of how socialists were going to pay for all their ambitions, and situates the answer in the context of developments in national policy and in federal-provincial fiscal arrangements from the war years through to the 1960s.

Author Biography

A.W. Johnson was a professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Toronto and a deputy minister for various provincial (Saskatchewan) and federal government departments.

Table of Contents

Foreword	xv
Preface	xxxiii
Acknowledgments	xxxvii
1 The Roots of the CCF in Saskatchewan and Canada	3	(33)
Saskatchewan - Its People and Their History	7	(1)
Political Developments in the Early Twentieth Century	8	(6)
Political Developments in the 1930's and the Formation of the CCF	14	(2)
The Intellectual Heritage of the CCF	16	(4)
The Regina Manifesto	20	(2)
Political Developments in Saskatchewan from 1934 to 1944	22	(3)
The Values and Ideology of the CCF	25	(3)
The CCF's Economic Policies	28	(4)
The CCF's Social Policies	32	(1)
The CCF's Democratic Theories	33	(3)
2 Planning the Program for a CCF Government	36	(23)
The Structure and Process of Planning the Platform	37	(4)
The CCF and Relations within a Federal State	41	(2)
The Program for Natural Resources and Industrial Development	43	(5)
The Program for Agriculture	48	(2)
The Program for Health, Education, and Welfare	50	(3)
The Program for Labour	53	(1)
Financing the Program	53	(2)
The Program's Consideration of the Machinery of Government	55	(4)
3 The First Months of the CCF Government: Innovation and Ferment	59	(35)
The Challenges the Government Confronted in Policy-Making	59	(1)
Establishing a Cabinet and Starting to Govern	60	(5)
Setting the Stage for Change	65	(2)
The Government's Position on Social Ownership	67	(4)
Policy Formulation through the Provision of Ad Hoc Advice to the Minister	71	(4)
Other Public Enterprises	75	(2)
Policy Advice Provided by Experts in Newly Established Agencies	77	(4)
Policy Formulation through Structured Advice - The Case of Labour	81	(2)
Policy Formulation through an Operating Department and Led by the Minister	83	(5)
Policy Formulation in Other Fields	88	(2)
A Government Perspective	90	(4)
4 New Wine in Old Vessels	94	(23)
The Government's Relationship with the CCF Party	97	(4)
The Executive's Relationship with the Caucus	101	(2)
The Public Service: At the Centre of Government	103	(4)
The Public Service in the Operating Departments	107	(3)
The Influence of Interest Groups on the New Government	110	(2)
The Influences of Municipal and Federal Governments	112	(5)
5 Transforming the Functioning of Government: 1946-1948	117	(33)
The Problem and the Remedy	117	(3)
The Establishment of the Economic Advisory and Planning Board (EAPB)	120	(3)
The EAPB and the Organization of Crown Corporations	123	(3)
The EAPB and General Economic Planning	126	(7)
The EAPB and Policy and Program Evaluation	133	(4)
Machinery of Government with an Emphasis on Budgeting	137	(5)
Public Service Reform	142	(2)
Social Policy and the New Machinery of Government	144	(6)
6 Forging a New Equilibrium in Governance: 1948-1952	150	(31)
Ideology and Policy in the Second Term	152	(1)
Policy Emphasis in the Second Term: Industrial Development	153	(2)
New Policy Emphasis: Resources Development	155	(3)
New Policies and New Frictions	158	(1)
New Policy Initiatives: Agriculture	159	(1)
Initiatives in the Social Policy Field	160	(3)
Initiatives in Arts and Culture	163	(2)
New Developments in the Machinery of Government: The Cabinet Office	165	(2)
Strengthened Operating Departments	167	(2)
The Evolving Role of the Central Agencies	169	(4)
Friction among Central Agencies, Crown Corporations, and Departments	173	(2)
Adjustments in the Government's Relations with the Party and the Legislature	175	(3)
Government's Relationships with Interest Groups	178	(3)
7 A Mature Government in Its Third and Fourth Terms	181	(24)
The 1950's in Saskatchewan - Growth and Prosperity	181	(3)
Government in Its Maturity	184	(8)
Effective and Creative Public Service	192	(4)
Recruitment and Training	196	(2)
The Government and the Party	198	(2)
The Government and Public Policy	200	(1)
Policies and Politics in the 1950's	201	(4)
8 Policy Implementation and Reassessment in the 1950's	205	(28)
Building New Infrastructure	205	(3)
Building Social Programs	208	(7)
Economic and Resource Development Initiatives	215	(5)
A Special Note on the South Saskatchewan River Dam	220	(3)
The Expansion of the Grid Road System and the Reorganization of Local Government	223	(6)
Wascana Centre	229	(4)
9 Reflections on the 1950's and Renewal in the 1960's	233	(26)
A Protest Vote?	233	(1)
An Aging Government?	234	(3)
Program Reappraisal, April 1959	237	(3)
Planning the Program for 1960	240	(3)
The Evolutionary Part of the 1960 Election Platform	243	(1)
The 'Revolutionary' Part of the 1960 Election Platform	244	(3)
Where Did the Doctors Stand?	247	(2)
Tommy Douglas Reports to the People	249	(3)
The College and the Advisory Planning Committee	252	(2)
The Doctors' Declaration of Rights	254	(1)
The Campaign against Medicare	255	(4)
10 Medicare	259	(43)
A Period of Paralysis: The Advisory Committee	260	(1)
The Doctors' Position Entrenched	261	(2)
The Premier and Federal Politics: A Backdrop to the Drama	263	(2)
Renewed Government Action	265	(2)
The Interim Report of the Advisory Planning Committee	267	(1)
The Medical Care Insurance Act	268	(2)
The End of the Douglas Regime	270	(3)
The Medical Care Insurance Commission	273	(1)
Attempts to Implement the Act	274	(4)
The Hazards of a Patient Reimbursement Plan	278	(2)
The Fateful Meeting of 3 May 1962	280	(2)
Pressure on the Government	282	(2)
Pressure on the Doctors	284	(2)
Efforts- at Mediation, June 1962	286	(2)
The Strike and Intensified Pressure	288	(1)
The KOD Committees	289	(1)
The Out-of-Province Press	290	(1)
The Importation of Doctors	291	(1)
First Efforts at Mediation in July	292	(2)
One More Try at Negotiation	294	(1)
Lord Taylor, the Mediator	295	(2)
The Instruments of Mediation	297	(2)
The Settlement: The Realization of the Douglas Dream in Saskatchewan	299	(3)
Epilogue: The Legacy of the Douglas Government 302
The Legacy of Medicare	302	(3)
The Legacy of the Government in Society	305	(3)
The Legacy of the Public Service	308	(3)
Annex: Financing a CCF Program within the Canadian Federation	311	(26)
The Larger Context of Social Reform	312	(3)
The Social Policy Side of Post-War Reconstruction	315	(2)
Health Policy	317	(1)
Tax Sharing and Equalization	318	(7)
The Financing of the CCF Program	325	(5)
Tables on Sources of Revenue and on the Relative Importance of Each Source in Saskatchewan's Budgets	330	(7)
Notes	337	(46)
Index	383