Regina, Saskatchewan -- a birthplace of Canadian public healthcare, Tommy Douglas, use of STV, and other history

Regina was located in the old District of Assiniboia and was the seat of government of the North-West Territories, of which the current provinces of Saskatchewan and Alberta formed part. Cree called the location Wascana (from Cree: ᐅᐢᑲᓇ, romanized: Oskana kâ-asastêki "Buffalo Bones").^[11] This was translated as "Pile of Bones", which was further entrenched when the location became a focal point for the harvest of bones for export.

It was renamed to Regina (Latin for "Queen") in 1882 in honour of Queen Victoria. The name was proposed by Queen Victoria's daughter, Princess Louise, who was the wife of the Governor General of Canada, the Marquess of Lorne.^[12]

When the city of Regina was being planned, due to the treeless flat plain where it is located, Regina has few topographical features other than the small spring run-off, Wascana Creek. Planners took advantage of the opportunity by damming the creek to create a decorative lake to the south of the central business district with a dam a block and a half west of the later elaborate 260-metre (850 ft) long Albert Street Bridge across the new lake. Regina's importance was secured when the federal government designated Regina as the seat of government for the new province of Saskatchewan in 1905.

The Regina Cyclone destroyed much of the town in 1912.^[17] and in the 1930s, the city was the site of the Regina Riot during the 1930s drought and Great Depression, which hit southern Saskatchewan hard due to its economic dependence on dry land grain farming.^[18]

The CCF (now the NDP, a major left-wing political party in Canada), formulated its foundational Regina Manifesto of 1933 in Regina.^[19] The CCF, led by Tommy Douglas, was elected to provincial government in 1944.

In 2007 Saskatchewan's agricultural and mineral resources came into larger demand, and Saskatchewan was described as entering a period of economic growth.

History

From 1920 to 1926, Regina used Single transferable vote (STV), a form of proportional representation, to elect its councillors. Councillors were elected in one at-large district. Each voter cast just a single vote, using a ranked transferable ballot.^[34]

Regina grew rapidly until the beginning of the Great Depression, in 1929, though not attaining the original anticipated population growth that its proponents first expected. By this time, Saskatchewan was considered the third most important province of Canada^[35] in both population and economics. But with the Depression and drought, Regina's growth slowed and at times reversed.^{[citation needed]}

In 1933, Regina hosted the first national convention Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (predecessor of the NDP). At the convention, the CCF adopted a programme known as the Regina Manifesto, which set out the new party's goals.^[36] In 1935, Regina gained notoriety for the Regina Riot, an incident of the On-to-Ottawa Trek. (See The Depression, the CCF and the Regina Riot.)

Regina became known as a centre of political activism and experimentation as its people adjusted to new, reduced economic realities by ascribing to socialism, the co-operative movement, and public healthcare. This included Tommy Douglas leading the CCF to victory in 1944 and wielding power in Regina's capital buildings.

Tommy Douglas pioneered Canada's public healthcare system.