Jack Layton's death

This week has been rough for me. I knew after press conference that Jack gave stepping down as leader temporarily that his days were running out. I had no idea it would only be a month later.

I didn't come into the NDP with Jack. I became a New Democrat in 1995 in the Ontario election by comparing the platforms of the different parties and realized it was Left (NDP) vs. Right (Liberal, Conservative). I had also become disenchanted with the Federal Liberals after they had promised and reneged on renegotiating NAFTA, getting rid of the GST and focusing on jobs so I started supporting the NDP when the leader was Alexa McDonough from Nova Scotia and when we had only 7 seats although that was a lot more than the Progressive Conservatives with 2. Basically, we were at our lowest level of support. I watched the NDP go from 9 to 21, back down to 13 and then Jack became leader. We went to 19, then 29, then 37, and of course the major breakthrough at 103 seats and Official Opposition. I haven't always agreed with Jack Layton, particularly when he suggested in 2006 negotiating with the Taliban to bring peace in Afghanistan. He was pilloried in the media for it and named Taliban Jack by his opponents but this year the Conservative government quietly announced that NATO would be doing just. I disagreed with his position on the Clarity Act too.

Even if you disagreed with Jack Layton, you had to admire his steadfastness. Once he took a position, he stuck to it. If somebody was just trying to get power for himself, they would have chosen a much easier route.

The other thing I admired about Jack was that he really did want a new level of civility in politics. Under him, the NDP was willing to work with the Liberals or the Conservatives to try and pass better legislation. He worked with the Martin government and passed an amendment to the budget that got more money for housing, for education, for healthcare and that was with 19 MPs! He worked with Liberal leader Dion on a coalition agreement that would've gotten rid of this regressive Conservative government even though the Liberals walked away from it with Ignatieff. He was a politician that was willing to bend over backwards to work with people across political lines if it meant making things better.

Canada lost a great leader this week. I'm torn up inside but watching his funeral today helped. He wanted us to be loving, hopeful and optimistic. I hope to keep his memory alive by doing just that. I hope you'll join me.