by Chris Bodenner
A reader remarks on the news from up north that broke this morning:
Given the Dish's interest in political conduct, it's a shame that (so far) there has been nothing written about the passing of Jack Layton, Leader of the Opposition in Canada, from cancer. The response has been overwhelming: astonishingly decorous, remarkably decent and emotionally genuine. Layton wrote a letter from his deathbed that has had newsreaders' voices cracking as they recited it on air. There's a kind of muted poetry to the way the country, more or less to a man, is responding with shock, respect and sincere sadness, even from his most ardent political opponents. It's a rather stunning reminder that politics needn't always be toxic: there can be admiration in dispute and nobility in purpose.
It is perhaps too easy to say that politicians make people cynical, but perhaps the problem flows both ways, as the more cynical we become so too do the politicians. Layton, for however one may criticize or traduce him, was anything but cynical: he was energetic and optimistic and these qualities made him immensely likable even to his foes. Today, people are remembering the man and celebrating him as honourable. It really is dulce et decorum est.
A country is genuinely mourning a politician, believe it or not. I wonder if this could happen for any politician in the UK or the US today without the cynical slime of insincerity and unspoken glee. Maybe there's a greater lesson to be learned here. Bertrand Russell famously said (forgive the paraphrasing), "Remember your humanity; forget the rest." That seems to me very much what's happening in Canada today. I can't help but wonder how much better our discourse and our politics would be if this tenet remained central to our thinking rather than a token of passing civility.
Colin Horgan looks at Layton's legacy. The above video shows the MP shortly after his diagnosis with prostate cancer. Layton is later seen in this video much less vital, having beaten prostate cancer as promised but suffering from a spreading of the disease.
The Dish 