Actor Donald Sutherland was rightly eulogised, with much made of his Scottish roots. There was understandably considerable reference to his famous son, Hollywood star Kiefer Sutherland. But little was said, if anything in most obituaries, about his father-in-law who, unlike Sutherland, was actually born in Scotland and is arguably even more famous in Canada where his legacy remains, forming part of a perceived Canadian identity.

Advertisement Advertisement Sign up to our Opinion newsletter Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Donald Sutherland, who was proud of his Scottish heritage, married Shirley, the daughter of Tommy Douglas, who was born in Falkirk in 1904 and emigrated with his parents to Canada in 1910, although he returned to Glasgow during the First World War and spending his early teenage years there. Other than some reference at the Falkirk Wheel, little’s made of this famous Scottish Bairn despite his achievements and the veneration for him in his adopted land where he died in 1986 still speaking with a Stirlingshire brogue.

In his new homeland, he’s “the Great Tommy Douglas” and in 2004 he was voted the greatest-ever Canadian. Morality not Marxism When Douglas returned with his parents to Canada, they settled in Winnipeg. Two factors were to shape the great man.

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