Audio Transcript

​

The Woodrow Lloyd memorial you see here was dedicated in 1973 and honours the former Saskatchewan provincial premier. In 1944 he won a provincial seed in the constituency of Biggar. Lloyd played a critical role in developing the financial plan for the Medicare program and implementing it across the country.

​

After his death in 1972, he was cremated, with his ashes being interred at his memorial. He was first elected as a member of the legislative assembly of Saskatchewan in 1944. He served as education minister and then treasurer between 1944 and 1961. Lloyd then succeeded Tommy Douglas as the Premier of Saskatchewan in late 1961. 

​

He is best remembered as the man who piloted Canada's first Medicare program. Woodrow Lloyd was defeated in the next election, however answered the next 6 years as the leader of the official opposition party. He stepped down as the new democratic party's leader in 1970, and from the legislature in 1971. Lloyd was appointed to a United Nations post in South Korea, where he sadly he died of a heart attack in 1972, but not before leaving a lasting legacy in Saskatchewan politics.