[3] After growing frustrated with the bureaucratic delays in obtaining his visa to enter Canada, he made a phone call to then Canadian Prime Minister, John Diefenbaker.
[4] He, along with future Canadian Senator Anne Cools and others led an anti-racism sit-in at Sir George Williams University, Montreal, which resulted in the peaceful occupation of the computer centre as negotiations took place between the administration and the student leadership.
However, once an agreement was reached, the riot police infiltrated the occupation, escalating the matter into a violent conflict and fire, resulting in mayhem and destruction of the computer centre.
Douglas, who was not present at the time of the conflict, maintained that the fire was set by agent provocateurs, but was identified as the ring leader and charged with mischief.
He served 18 months in prison before being deported in hand cuffs and leg irons, vowing that he would only return as "Prime Minister of my own country".
Upon his release from prison Douglas, who had embarked on a cross Canada black unity tour building solidarity with native Canadians, was placed under RCMP surveillance as revealed by the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Certain Activities of the RCMP and in 1976 the Solicitor General Warren Allmand signed an order declaring Douglas a dangerous risk to Canada's national security, forcing his deportation.
[7] After his deportation, Douglas pursued a broad range of political activity on the world stage getting involved with the Socialist International, building relations with Cuba, The People's Republic of China, and the Soviet Union securing hundreds of scholarships for Dominican students.
[10] In Douglas's view, there was nothing extremist about his activities, centred as they were on defeating despots and freeing Nelson Mandela, who was steadfastly supported by the Gaddafi regime.
“And the freedom of Mandela wasn't a cakewalk on a Sunday morning - it was a revolutionary struggle in which people fought, died, and killed.” Douglas, in his capacity as Executive Chairman of the World Mathaba, was also part of a negotiating team seeking an Iraqi withdrawal from Kuwait to avert the Gulf War.
At the parliamentary elections on 31 January 2000, he led the DLP to victory against the governing United Workers' Party of Prime Minister Edison James.
True to his promise, in May 2000 Douglas returned to Canada on an official state visit as the Prime Minister of Dominica, holding bilateral talks with his Canadian counterparts.
Pierre Charles was named as his successor, but died in office in January 2004, paving the way for Roosevelt Skerrit to assume the position as Prime Minister of Dominica.