Ross Thatcher

Wilbert Ross Thatcher, PC (May 24, 1917 – July 22, 1971) was a Canadian politician who served as the ninth premier of Saskatchewan from 1964 to 1971. Thatcher began his career as a member of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation in 1942, elected first to Moose Jaw City Council and then in 1945 as a Member of Parliament representing Moose Jaw. In 1959, Thatcher made the switch both to Saskatchewan provincial politics and to the provincial Liberal Party, which he led through four provincial elections, winning majority governments in 1964 and 1967. Following his defeat in the 1971 provincial election, Thatcher retired from politics and died shortly afterwards.

Born in Neville, Saskatchewan, Thatcher was a Moose Jaw-based businessman, who developed an interest in politics shortly after the birth of his son, Colin Thatcher. Thatcher's father had built a chain of hardware stores across the province, which Thatcher helped to manage.

Thatcher graduated from high school at age fifteen, and attended Queen's University, in Kingston, Ontario, where he earned a commerce degree at age eighteen. Immediately following graduation, Thatcher became executive assistant to the vice-president of Canada Packers in Toronto, but returned to Saskatchewan to run the family business after his father had become ill in the late 1930s. By this time, the family business included outlets in Regina and Saskatoon as well as the original Moose Jaw store. Thatcher employed his siblings to assist him.

In the late 1950s, Thatcher transitioned away from hardware and into farming and cattle ranching in the Moose Jaw area. He employed his son Colin as a full-time manager of his agricultural businesses, starting in 1962.

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 representing Moose Jaw.

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. He gradually shifted away from the party, and became known for publicly breaking ranks with the CCF on policy issues. In 1955, Thatcher finally left the CCF over the issue of corporate taxation. When he left the caucus, Thatcher pronounced that he was "opposed to Socialism and all it stands for". He sat as an Independent MP for the rest of the term, before running unsuccessfully for the federal Liberal Party in the 1957 and 1958 elections; he lost both times to the CCF's Hazen Argue.

During the 1957 federal campaign, Thatcher attacked the Saskatchewan CCF government's affinity for crown corporations, describing them as a dismal failure. In response, Saskatchewan Premier Tommy Douglas challenged Thatcher to a debate, which ultimately took place in the town of Mossbank and was broadcast by television and radio across the province. 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.

After his defeats at the federal level, Thatcher was courted by the Saskatchewan Liberal Party and became its leader in 1959, defeating three rivals—Wilf Gardiner, Frank Foley, and Alex Cameron—in a contested leadership election. 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. Thatcher led the party into the 1960 provincial election, which was fought principally over the issue of Medicare, with the CCF planning to implement the first universal healthcare plan in Canada. The Liberals campaigned against Medicare, finding that they could not make a significant dent in the Saskatchewan CCF's large majority. Thatcher himself was elected to the Legislative Assembly from the rural southern riding of Morse.