Tommy Douglas, Mouseland, And How The CCF Became the NDP ...
In a CBC Radio News Special broadcast on January 1, 1961, Canadians heard Tommy Douglas tell the story of Mouseland. In this humourous political allegory, he describes a troubled village of mice ruled by cats. Every four years the mice get together to elect a new parliament, but each time they either elect a group of fat black cats or a group of big white cats. “Now if you think it’s strange than mice should elect a government made up of cats,” Douglas quipped, “just look at the history of Canada for the last ninety years and maybe you’ll see they aren’t any stupider than we are!” (CBC Digital Archives). The story culminates with one mouse proposing a radical idea: maybe the mice should try electing one of their own instead. This simple allegory is a perfect illustration of what Tommy Douglas, who less than a year later would become the first leader of the freshly formed New Democratic Party, strived to offer to Canadians: a third political option that would provide an alternative to alternating between Liberal and Conservative rule – finally, a party for the mice ...
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