Jack Layton dead of Cancer at 61

[Turgon]

Just read the news this morning, which is deeply saddening. He had a great run for office this year against Harper's regime. A legitimate threat to the Conversative/Liberal back and forth that has gone in Canada for so long. Now he has died of cancer after gaining so much ground. I wonder if there is more to it considering he may have been able to beat out Harper's conservatives in the next election.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/story/2011/08/22/layton-obituary.html

NDP Leader Jack Layton, who led Canada's Official Opposition, has died at his Toronto home at age 61 after a long battle with cancer.

Layton died peacefully at his home in Toronto early Monday, surrounded by family and loved ones, according to a statement from his wife, Olivia Chow, and his children, Sarah and Michael Layton.

"The struggle has ended for Jack Layton, I mean very quickly," said CBC's Chief Correspondent Peter Mansbridge, who broke the news over the air. "I think we all knew when we saw those pictures in late July that this was a difficult situation. But it went very fast in the month since then."

Jack Layton takes questions at a town hall meeting during an election campaign stop in Sudbury, Ont., April 1, 2011. As NDP leader, Layton led the federal party to its best showing ever on May 2. Andrew Vaughan/Canadian Press
After the news of Layton's death emerged shortly after 8 a.m. ET, friends, colleagues and Canadians reacted quickly.

Longtime NDP leader and MP Ed Broadbent told CBC News that he is "deeply saddened such a great Canadian is taken from us in the very prime of his life."

Interim Liberal leader Bob Rae said the news took his breath away and that Layton's death is not just a loss for his party, but for all Canadians.

"It's a loss for the country because he was a political guy who believed strongly in politics and who had a lot of resilience and a lot of guts," Rae told CBC News.

The leader of the Official Opposition announced on July 25 he was stepping away from the job, a role he coveted and had won only two months earlier, to concentrate on his cancer treatment so he could come back to Parliament in the fall, ready to fight for Canadian families.

Fighting with hope and optimism was a recurring theme in Layton's life. Long before his battles with cancer, Layton had developed a reputation as a fighter — a determined, goal-oriented, passionate one who would take on a cause and not let go.

In his teens in the 1960s, he led a fruitless bid to have a youth centre built in his hometown of Hudson, Que. Later, as a community organizer and activist in Toronto, and then in his political work, Layton showed a passion for such issues as the environment, AIDS, poverty, violence against women, public transportation and homelessness. Layton also fought for aboriginal issues, and was given credit by Prime Minister Stephen Harper in 2008 for his role in shaping the federal government's apology for the residential school system.

As longtime New Democrat and union leader Al Cerilli told CBC News in an interview several years ago, "Good or bad, he's on the front page, he's in your face," he said. "Jack is not shy, he is of that nature, of bringing the things out and putting them on the front page."

Born in Montreal on July 18, 1950, Layton had politics in his blood. His great-grand uncle William Steeves was a Father of Confederation. His great-grandfather Philip Layton came to Canada from Britain as a blind teenager and helped pressure the federal government to bring in a $25-a-month pension for the blind. His grandfather Gilbert Layton was a Quebec cabinet minister under Maurice Duplessis and his father Robert Layton was a Tory cabinet minister in Brian Mulroney's Conservative government.

That family tradition lives on. Layton's son Michael followed in his father's footsteps as a Toronto city councillor.

In addition to learning about politics first-hand from his family, Layton studied political science and economics at McGill University, graduating in 1970. He went on to earn a master's degree and his PhD in political science at York University in 1983. He wasted no time putting his knowledge from the classroom into practice and ran for Toronto city council in 1982 before he had even finished his doctorate.

Layton didn't leave the classroom after winning his seat on city council. While making waves at city hall, he taught politics at the University of Toronto, York University and Ryerson.

Layton ran unsuccessfully for mayor in Toronto in 1991, and twice failed to win a seat in the House of Commons that decade. But he kept fighting.

Layton's profile on the national scene was boosted by his election as president of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities in 2000, and three years later he made a run for the leadership of the New Democratic Party. He defeated several sitting NDP MPs in the heated race and in his victory speech, Layton talked about hope.

"Hope ... is what drives New Democrats," he said, adding that his party "will always be the party of hope."

He led the party for a year before he tried for a seat in the House of Commons, in the 2004 federal election, when he was finally victorious in the Toronto-Danforth riding. And in 2006, Layton's wife, Chow, joined him as the MP for the nearby Toronto riding of Trinity-Spadina.

 

[Gonzo]

Jack Layton's Letter to Canadians
(From _http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/story/2011/08/22/pol-layton-last-letter.html)

August 20, 2011

Toronto, Ontario

Dear Friends,

Tens of thousands of Canadians have written to me in recent weeks to wish me well. I want to thank each and every one of you for your thoughtful, inspiring and often beautiful notes, cards and gifts. Your spirit and love have lit up my home, my spirit, and my determination.

Unfortunately my treatment has not worked out as I hoped. So I am giving this letter to my partner Olivia to share with you in the circumstance in which I cannot continue.

I recommend that Hull-Aylmer MP Nycole Turmel continue her work as our interim leader until a permanent successor is elected.

I recommend the party hold a leadership vote as early as possible in the New Year, on approximately the same timelines as in 2003, so that our new leader has ample time to reconsolidate our team, renew our party and our program, and move forward towards the next election.

A few additional thoughts:

To other Canadians who are on journeys to defeat cancer and to live their lives, I say this: please don’t be discouraged that my own journey hasn’t gone as well as I had hoped. You must not lose your own hope. Treatments and therapies have never been better in the face of this disease. You have every reason to be optimistic, determined, and focused on the future. My only other advice is to cherish every moment with those you love at every stage of your journey, as I have done this summer.

To the members of my party: we’ve done remarkable things together in the past eight years. It has been a privilege to lead the New Democratic Party and I am most grateful for your confidence, your support, and the endless hours of volunteer commitment you have devoted to our cause. There will be those who will try to persuade you to give up our cause. But that cause is much bigger than any one leader. Answer them by recommitting with energy and determination to our work. Remember our proud history of social justice, universal health care, public pensions and making sure no one is left behind. Let’s continue to move forward. Let’s demonstrate in everything we do in the four years before us that we are ready to serve our beloved Canada as its next government.

To the members of our parliamentary caucus: I have been privileged to work with each and every one of you. Our caucus meetings were always the highlight of my week. It has been my role to ask a great deal from you. And now I am going to do so again. Canadians will be closely watching you in the months to come. Colleagues, I know you will make the tens of thousands of members of our party proud of you by demonstrating the same seamless teamwork and solidarity that has earned us the confidence of millions of Canadians in the recent election.

To my fellow Quebecers: On May 2nd, you made an historic decision. You decided that the way to replace Canada’s Conservative federal government with something better was by working together in partnership with progressive-minded Canadians across the country. You made the right decision then; it is still the right decision today; and it will be the right decision right through to the next election, when we will succeed, together. You have elected a superb team of New Democrats to Parliament. They are going to be doing remarkable things in the years to come to make this country better for us all.

To young Canadians: All my life I have worked to make things better. Hope and optimism have defined my political career, and I continue to be hopeful and optimistic about Canada. Young people have been a great source of inspiration for me. I have met and talked with so many of you about your dreams, your frustrations, and your ideas for change. More and more, you are engaging in politics because you want to change things for the better. Many of you have placed your trust in our party. As my time in political life draws to a close I want to share with you my belief in your power to change this country and this world. There are great challenges before you, from the overwhelming nature of climate change to the unfairness of an economy that excludes so many from our collective wealth, and the changes necessary to build a more inclusive and generous Canada. I believe in you. Your energy, your vision, your passion for justice are exactly what this country needs today. You need to be at the heart of our economy, our political life, and our plans for the present and the future.

And finally, to all Canadians: Canada is a great country, one of the hopes of the world. We can be a better one – a country of greater equality, justice, and opportunity. We can build a prosperous economy and a society that shares its benefits more fairly. We can look after our seniors. We can offer better futures for our children. We can do our part to save the world’s environment. We can restore our good name in the world. We can do all of these things because we finally have a party system at the national level where there are real choices; where your vote matters; where working for change can actually bring about change. In the months and years to come, New Democrats will put a compelling new alternative to you. My colleagues in our party are an impressive, committed team. Give them a careful hearing; consider the alternatives; and consider that we can be a better, fairer, more equal country by working together. Don’t let them tell you it can’t be done.

My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we’ll change the world.

All my very best,

Jack Layton

Edit: Fixed quote

 

[42k4n3]

I too, have wondered if there may be something more his passing, as what did him in was a second, previously undiagnosed cancer, as opposed to the prostate cancer he was combating through the campaign and prior. His "Orange Wave" along with the huge grounds the party made in Quebec presented him and his party as an imminent threat to the status-quo which has dominated Canadian politics. Now rudderless, the NDP no longer has the voice which helped prop it up to finally become the Official Opposition. He galvanized the party to get it to the status it has reached. He convinced hard-lined party faithfuls that for the party to grow in stature, they needed to drop some of their sacred cows which kept it in the fringes of federal politics for so long, and his engaging and approachable manner got the youth vote to come out in strong support for the first time in a long, long while. His personality crossed party and ideological lines. Many who disagreed with his politics and ideals could not deny what an stand-up man he was and enjoyed just being around him.

Canada has lost a rarity: an honest politician, and he will be missed.