''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- ...

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 ...

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 to ...

'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 s ...

program as

Premier of Saskatchewan The premier of Saskatchewan is the first minister and head of government for the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The current premier of Saskatchewan is Scott Moe, who was sworn in as premier on February 2, 2018, after winning the 2018 Saskatc ...

. The production is directed by John N. Smith and produced by

Kevin DeWalt Kevin DeWalt (born 1959) is a Canadian film and television producer based in Regina, Saskatchewan. He is the former president of the International Quorum of Motion Picture Producers and the past Chairman of the Canadian Film and Television Product ...

with

Mind's Eye Entertainment Mind's Eye Entertainment is a Canadian film and television production and distribution company headquartered in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. The company produces television and film projects in Canada and the United States as well as internation ...

. ''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 ele ...

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 socialistThe follo ...

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 Senior management, executive vice president of Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, CBC/Radio Canada from October 1, 2004 to August 6, 2010, narrated in his 2012 memoir ''The Towe ...

, 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 sc ...

s, including: *Best Dramatic Mini-Series – Nomination (

, 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 Don McKellar (born August 17, 1963) is a Canadian actor, writer, playwright, and filmmaker. He was part of a loosely-affiliated group of filmmakers to emerge from Toronto known as the Toronto New Wave. He is known for directing and writing th ...

) *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.

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