''Prairie Giant: The Tommy Douglas Story'' is a
CBC Television
CBC Television (also known as CBC TV) is a Canadian English-language broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster. The network began operations on September 6, 1952. Its French-l ...
miniseries
A miniseries or mini-series is a television series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. "Limited series" is another more recent US term which is sometimes used interchangeably. , the popularity of miniseries format h ...
first aired in two consecutive parts on March 12 and March 13, 2006. It dramatizes and fictionalizes the life and career of
Tommy Douglas
Thomas Clement Douglas (20 October 1904 – 24 February 1986) was a Scottish-born Canadian politician who served as seventh premier of Saskatchewan from 1944 to 1961 and Leader of the New Democratic Party from 1961 to 1971. A Baptist min ...
, the
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
politician who oversaw the legislation of
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
's first
public healthcare
Publicly funded healthcare is a form of health care financing designed to meet the cost of all or most healthcare needs from a publicly managed fund. Usually this is under some form of democratic accountability, the right of access to which are ...
program as
Premier of Saskatchewan. The production is directed by
John N. Smith
John N. Smith OC (born July 31, 1943 in Montreal, Quebec) is a Canadian film director and screenwriter.
Career
Smith graduated with a B.A. in political science from McGill University in 1964. He joined the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in 1 ...
and produced by
Kevin DeWalt with
Mind's Eye Entertainment. ''Prairie Giant'' is distributed in the United States by Invincible Pictures.
Cast
Response
The CBC promoted ''Prairie Giant'' as a "real story about real people" but the series was subjected to widespread commentary on the fallacies present in the story line. Historical fallacies and omissions concerning Canada's public healthcare system and its history, Douglas's personal life and career, and the mischaracterization of
James Garfield Gardiner
James Garfield Gardiner (30 November 1883 – 12 January 1962) was a Canadian farmer, educator, and politician. He served as the fourth premier of Saskatchewan, and as a minister in the Canadian Cabinet.
Political career
Gardiner was first elec ...
were identified.
On March 16, 2006, ''
Saskatoon StarPhoenix
''The StarPhoenix'' is a daily newspaper that serves Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, and is a part of Postmedia Network. The ''StarPhoenix'' puts out six editions each week and publishes one weekly, ''Bridges''. It is also part of the canada.com ...
'' political columnist Randy Burton wrote, "It was wonderful television but abysmal history.... On almost every score, scriptwriter Bruce Smith got Gardiner wrong."
On March 17, 2006, ''
Regina Leader-Post
The ''Regina Leader-Post'' is the daily newspaper of Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, and a member of the Postmedia Network.
Founding
The newspaper was first published as ''The Leader'' in 1883 by Nicholas Flood Davin, soon after Edgar Dewdney, Li ...
'' political columnist Murray Mandryk stated, "a project like this has to be some level of historical accuracy and it is in the script itself where the movie fails. The most egregious example of this was clearly the
Estevan riot
The Estevan riot, also known as the Black Tuesday Riot, was a confrontation between the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and striking coal miners from nearby Bienfait, Saskatchewan which took place in Estevan, Saskatchewan on September 29, 1931. T ...
... Gardiner was not the premier of the day and he didn't give a province-wide radio address attacking the strikers as communists and undesirable immigrants." Mandryk stated that former NDP Premier
Allan Blakeney
Allan Emrys Blakeney (September 7, 1925April 16, 2011) was the tenth premier of Saskatchewan from 1971 to 1982, and leader of the Saskatchewan New Democratic Party (NDP).
Early life and career
Born in Bridgewater, Nova Scotia, Blakeney took his ...
stated "he was not Saint Tommy and nor was Jimmy Gardiner the epitome of evil."
On July 9, 2006, former
Co-operative Commonwealth Federation
The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF; french: Fédération du Commonwealth Coopératif, FCC); from 1955 the Social Democratic Party of Canada (''french: Parti social démocratique du Canada''), was a federal democratic socialism, democra ...
MP and well-known journalist
Douglas Fisher described the film as "A Shoddy Portrait of another Prairie Giant."
On June 12, 2006, CBC Executive Vice-President
Richard Stursberg Richard Barclay Stursberg is a Canadian entertainment executive. He was executive vice president of CBC/Radio Canada from October 1, 2004 to August 6, 2010, narrated in his 2012 memoir '' The Tower of Babble''.
Life and career
Richard Stursberg wa ...
, stated, "I regret the mischaracterization of James Garfield Gardiner in the mini-series 'Prairie Giant: The Tommy Douglas Story' that we aired". He further stated, "To help us address the criticisms, we engaged an outside third-party historian... to assess the way in which Mr. Gardiner was depicted. I regret to say that his conclusion was that the character created for the film does not reflect the accepted historical record". The CBC pulled ''Prairie Giant'' from future scheduled broadcasts and stated that it would return if it found a solution to address the historical fallacies. On 10 September 2007, it was announced that the controversial CBC miniseries would be rebroadcast with no changes on another channel, Vision TV, on September 25 and 27.
Attention has also been drawn to the funding provided to the film by the Saskatchewan government.
Funding
Below is a general breakdown of the direct funding the film received:
[Email with Janine Stener, Associate Producer, Mouseland Productions Inc. June 22, 2006.]
Awards
''Prairie Giant'' was nominated for a total of nine
Genie Award
The Genie Awards were given out annually by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to recognize the best of Canadian cinema from 1980–2012. They succeeded the Canadian Film Awards (1949–1978; also known as the "Etrog Awards," for scu ...
s, including:
*Best Dramatic Mini-Series – Nomination (
Kevin DeWalt, producer)
*Best Writing in a Dramatic Program or Mini-Series – Nomination (Bruce M. Smith)
*Best Production Design or Art Direction in a Dramatic Program or Series – Nomination (Kathy McCoy, Kim Wall)
*Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Dramatic Program or Mini-Series – Nomination (
Michael Therriault
Michael Therriault is a Canadian actor. He attended Etobicoke School of the Arts in Toronto, Sheridan College in Oakville, and was a member of the inaugural season of the Birmingham Conservatory for Classical Theatre Training in Stratford, Ontario ...
)
*Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Supporting Role in a Dramatic Program or Mini-Series – Nomination (
Don McKellar)
*Best Achievement in Casting – Nomination (Carmen Kotyk)
*Best Photography in a Dramatic Program or Series – Nomination (Pierre Letarte)
*Best Achievement in Make-Up – Winner (Donald J. Mowat, Paula Fleet, Jane Meade)
*Best Sound in a Dramatic Program – Nomination (Rob Bryanton, Steve Hasiak, Evan Rust, Al Sherbin, Warren St. Onge)
Streaming
As of 2017 the miniseries was released online on the Canada Media Fund Encore+ YouTube channel.
See also
*
Estevan riot
The Estevan riot, also known as the Black Tuesday Riot, was a confrontation between the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and striking coal miners from nearby Bienfait, Saskatchewan which took place in Estevan, Saskatchewan on September 29, 1931. T ...
*
Father of medicare Several individuals have been described as the father of medicare in Canada. Medicare is the country's publicly funded health system.
*Tommy Douglas championed public health insurance as Premier of Saskatchewan from 1944 to 1961 and federal leade ...
*''
The Greatest Canadian''
*
Co-operative Commonwealth Federation
The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF; french: Fédération du Commonwealth Coopératif, FCC); from 1955 the Social Democratic Party of Canada (''french: Parti social démocratique du Canada''), was a federal democratic socialism, democra ...
*''
Trudeau''
*
Politics of Saskatchewan
Politics of Saskatchewan relate to the Canadian federal political system, along with the other Canadian provinces. Saskatchewan has a lieutenant-governor, who is the representative of the Crown in right of Saskatchewan; premier, Scott Moe, leadi ...
References
Other sources
*For the love of Tommy; Dave Margoshes. ''The Globe and Mail''. Toronto, Ont.: May 10, 2005. pg. R.3
*''Moose Jaw Times Herald''. Moose Jaw, Sask.: March 21, 2006. pg. 2
External links
Official site*
Talking Dog Studios - audio post
{{Italic title
2006 films
2006 Canadian television series debuts
2006 Canadian television series endings
2000s Canadian television miniseries
English-language Canadian films
Films directed by John N. Smith
Television shows filmed in Saskatchewan
Television shows set in Saskatchewan
Canadian political drama television series