Editing Ross Thatcher (section)

==Political career==
===CCF and Member of Parliament (1942–57)===
Thatcher's politics were heavily influenced by the [[Great Depression]], after which he believed that private business alone could not stimulate economic development on the prairies. Thatcher consequently joined the socialist Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) and was elected to Moose Jaw City Council on a labour-reform slate in 1942. In the [[1945 Canadian federal election]], Thatcher was elected to [[Parliament of Canada|Parliament]] representing [[Moose Jaw (electoral district)|Moose Jaw]].<ref name=esask/>

Thatcher grew increasingly uncomfortable in the CCF. Despite the party itself moderating its socialist foundations and embracing a mixed-economy model, Thatcher consistently found himself on the pro-business right wing of the party caucus.<ref name=esask/> He gradually shifted away from the party, and became known for publicly breaking ranks with the CCF on policy issues.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Eisler |first=Dale |title=Rumours of Glory: Saskatchewan & the Thatcher Years |publisher=Hurtig Publishers |year=1987 |isbn=0-88830-311-4 |location=Edmonton |pages=12–13 |language=en-CA}}</ref> In 1955, Thatcher finally left the CCF over the issue of [[corporate taxation]].<ref name="esask" /> When he left the caucus, Thatcher pronounced that he was "opposed to Socialism and all it stands for".<ref name="obit" /> He sat as an Independent [[Member of Parliament (Canada)|MP]] for the rest of the term, before running unsuccessfully for the federal [[Liberal Party of Canada|Liberal Party]] in the [[1957 Canadian federal election|1957]] and [[1958 Canadian federal election|1958]] elections; he lost both times to the CCF's [[Hazen Argue]].<ref name=esask/>

===Mossbank debate and provincial politics (1957–64)===
During the 1957 federal campaign, Thatcher attacked the [[Saskatchewan CCF]] government's affinity for [[crown corporations]], describing them as a dismal failure.<ref name="ce">{{Cite web |last=Smith |first=David E. |date=2008-02-18 |title=Wilbert Ross Thatcher |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/wilbert-ross-thatcher |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160419225247/http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/wilbert-ross-thatcher/ |archive-date=2016-04-19 |access-date=2021-10-09 |website=The Canadian Encyclopedia |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Thatcher |first=Ross |date=1967-01-01 |title=Socialism in Saskatchewan |url=https://fee.org/articles/socialism-in-saskatchewan/ |url-status=live |access-date=2025-04-29 |website=Foundation for Economic Education |language=en}}</ref> In response, [[Premier of Saskatchewan|Saskatchewan Premier]] [[Tommy Douglas]] challenged Thatcher to a debate, which ultimately took place in the town of [[Mossbank, Saskatchewan|Mossbank]] and was broadcast by television and radio across the province.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Political History — The Debate of the Century |url=https://mossbank.ca/history/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230601215351/https://mossbank.ca/history/ |archive-date=2023-06-01 |access-date=2023-11-20 |website=Town of Mossbank}}</ref> The debate was widely regarded as a draw. However, the Liberals were buoyed by Thatcher holding his own against Douglas, who was renowned for his oratory. The debate established Thatcher as the province's principal CCF antagonist and free enterprise standard-bearer, and gave Liberals hope that they might challenge for government against the popular CCF.<ref name="ce" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Eisler |title=Rumours of Glory |pages=31 |language=en-CA}}</ref>

After his defeats at the federal level, Thatcher was courted by the Saskatchewan Liberal Party and became its leader in 1959, defeating three rivals—[[James Wilfrid Gardiner|Wilf Gardiner]], [[Frank Foley (politician)|Frank Foley]], and Alex Cameron—in a contested leadership election.<ref name="ce" /> While some in the party resented Thatcher's quick ascension to the leadership over long-time Liberals, his victory also created excitement among the party ranks.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Eisler |title=Rumours of Glory |pages=56–57 |language=en-CA}}</ref> Thatcher led the party into the [[1960 Saskatchewan general election|1960 provincial election]], which was fought principally over the issue of [[Medicare (Canada)|Medicare]], with the CCF planning to implement the first universal healthcare plan in Canada.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Medicare: A People's Issue — 1960–1962 |url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/14753/20201021223835/http://digital.scaa.sk.ca/gallery/medicare/en_intro2.php |access-date=2023-11-20 |website=Saskatchewan Council for Archives and Archivists}}</ref> The Liberals campaigned against Medicare, finding that they could not make a significant dent in the Saskatchewan CCF's large majority.<ref name="esask" /> Thatcher himself was elected to the [[Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan|Legislative Assembly]] from the rural southern riding of [[Morse (provincial electoral district)|Morse]].

The Liberals had gained momentum, however, and the anti-CCF opposition coalesced around them. This was particularly evident during the 1962 [[Saskatchewan doctors' strike]], which attempted to derail the implementation of Medicare and hurt the CCF's popularity.<ref name=":0" /> In addition, Douglas, premier since 1944, stepped down in November 1961 after he was elected leader of the nascent federal [[New Democratic Party]]. The Liberals won a string of [[by-elections]] over the following three years in the lead up to the next general election.<ref>"The Life and Political Times of Tommy Douglas", by Walter Stewart, 2003</ref>

===Premier of Saskatchewan (1964–71)===
Ahead of the [[1964 Saskatchewan general election|1964 provincial election]], the Liberals campaigned on growing economic development in the province; Thatcher also wooed [[Progressive Conservative Party of Saskatchewan|Progressive Conservative]] voters and worked to limit competition between free-enterprise candidates.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Waiser |first=Bill |url=https://archive.org/details/saskatchewannewh0000wais |title=Saskatchewan: A New History |publisher=Fifth House |year=2005 |isbn=9781894856492 |location=Calgary |pages=390 |language=en-CA |url-access=registration}}</ref> Thatcher's Liberals went on to win a narrow victory that ended 20 years of CCF-NDP government.<ref name=esask/><ref name=ccf>The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation became the New Democratic Party of Canada in 1961. The Saskatchewan CCF used CCF-NDP as a transitional name before it became the Saskatchewan NDP in 1967</ref> The popular vote was a virtual tie between the Liberals and the CCF; however, the distribution of the Liberals' votes and a sharp decline in [[Social Credit Party of Saskatchewan|Social Credit]] support allowed the Liberals to win a six-seat majority, making Thatcher the province's sixth Liberal premier and ninth overall.

Thatcher's government sold several crown corporations and declared the province "open for business" by encouraging private investment in the [[potash]] and other industries.<ref name=esask/> His approach to potash led to a rapid expansion of the industry in the latter half of the 1960s—the industry grew so rapidly that Thatcher eventually opted to negotiate a minimum price and production cap with American producers to avoid prices collapsing from oversupply.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Waiser |title=Saskatchewan |pages=401 |language=en-CA}}</ref> Thatcher was known to boast that potash would become for Saskatchewan what oil was for neighbouring [[Alberta]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Eisler |first=Dale |title=From Left to Right: Saskatchewan's Political and Economic Transformation |publisher=University of Regina Press |year=2022 |isbn=9780889778672 |location=Regina |pages=136 |language=en-CA}}</ref> On economic issues, Thatcher's government was [[classical liberalism|classically liberal]], and was well to the right of the federal Liberals. Thatcher often clashed with the federal Liberal governments of [[Lester Pearson]] and [[Pierre Trudeau]] over agricultural policy, social welfare policies—which the federal party supported and Thatcher opposed—and constitutional reform, as well as the federal Liberals' attempts to form a federal political organization in the province separate from the provincial party.<ref name="esask" /><ref name="ce" />

Thatcher also focused on downsizing the province's robust civil service.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Eisler |title=Rumours of Glory |pages=143 |language=en-CA}}</ref> During Thatcher's tenure, veteran Saskatchewan civil servants were known to move to other provinces or to the federal civil service—which at the time was expanding the federal welfare state—and these migrants became known in government circles as the "Saskatchewan Mafia".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Marchildon |first=Gregory P. |title=Saskatchewan Mafia |url=https://www.esask.uregina.ca/entry/saskatchewan_mafia.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170706200309/https://www.esask.uregina.ca/entry/saskatchewan_mafia.html |archive-date=2017-07-06 |access-date=2023-11-20 |website=The Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Pasolli |first=Lisa |date=2009 |title=Bureaucratizing the Atlantic Revolution: The 'Saskatchewan Mafia' in the New Brunswick Civil Service, 1960-1970 |url=https://journals.lib.unb.ca/index.php/Acadiensis/article/view/12473 |journal=[[Acadiensis]] |volume=38 |issue=1 |via=University of New Brunswick}}</ref> Thatcher himself became renowned for being a "ruthless" leader that "ruled the Liberal caucus with an iron fist" and ran what came to be seen as a "one-man government".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Waiser |title=Saskatchewan |pages=391–400 |language=en-CA}}</ref>

Thatcher's Liberals were re-elected with a slightly-increased majority in a snap election called in [[1967 Saskatchewan general election|1967]]. Thatcher then surprised observers by introducing an [[austerity]] program, which cut government services, increased taxes, and introduced medicare user fees. The provincial economy, which was still heavily resource-based, experienced a downturn, and reduced government investment hurt both the potash and agriculture industries, while oil and uranium production dropped as well.<ref name=":1" /> Thatcher's administration became increasingly unpopular as a result.<ref name=esask/> Thatcher pitched the next election, which took place in [[1971 Saskatchewan general election|June 1971]], as a stark choice between capitalism and socialism, promising for his part to continue running government like a business.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Eisler |title=Rumours of Glory |pages=265–66 |language=en-CA}}</ref> For their part, the NDP campaigned on increasing public ownership of resources and state-led development.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Eisler |title=From Left to Right |pages=78 |language=en-CA}}</ref> Although the Liberal vote share remained steady, they were defeated by [[Allan Blakeney]]'s NDP, who were helped by an increased voter turnout and the collapse of the Progressive Conservative vote.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Waiser |title=Saskatchewan |pages=403 |language=en-CA}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Eisler |title=From Left to Right |pages=80–81 |language=en-CA}}</ref> [[David Steuart]], Thatcher's top cabinet minister who would succeed him as Liberal leader later that year, quipped after the loss that, "If there was someone or some group that we hadn't alienated by the election of 1971, it was because we hadn't met them yet."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Quoted in Waiser |title=Saskatchewan |pages=403 |language=en-CA}}</ref>

In the aftermath of the election, Thatcher announced to the party that he intended to resign as Liberal leader, placing a one-year limit on the search for a successor.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Eisler |title=Rumours of Glory |pages=268–70 |language=en-CA}}</ref>