Late Career and Retirement
He resigned as NDP leader in 1971, but retained his seat in the House of Commons. Around the same time as the leadership convention held to replace him, he asked the party not to buy him an elaborate parting gift. Instead, he and his friend and political mentor M.J. Coldwell were honoured by the party with the creation of the Douglas-Coldwell Foundation in 1971. He served as the NDP's energy critic under the new leader, David Lewis. He was re-elected in the riding of Nanaimo–Cowichan–The Islands in the 1972 and 1974 elections. He retired from politics in 1979 and served on the board of directors of Husky Oil, an Alberta oil and gas exploration company that had holdings in Saskatchewan.
In 1980 he was awarded a Doctor of Laws, honoris causa by Carleton University in Ottawa. On 22 June 1981, Douglas was appointed to the Order of Canada as a Companion for his service as a political leader, and innovator in public policy. In 1985, he was awarded the Saskatchewan Order of Merit. In the mid-1980s, Brandon University created a students' union building in honour of Douglas and his old friend, Stanley Knowles.
In June 1984 Douglas was injured when he was struck by a bus, but he quickly recovered and on his 80th birthday he claimed to The Globe and Mail that he usually walked up to five miles a day. By this point in his life his memory was beginning to slow down and he stopped accepting speaking engagements but remained active in the Douglas-Coldwell Foundation. Later that year, he became a member of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada on 30 November.
Douglas died of cancer on 24 February 1986 at the age of 81 in Ottawa. In a national TV contest, conducted by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) in 2004, he was crowned "Greatest Canadian" by viewers in an online vote, almost 18 years after his death.
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