by Chris Bodenner
Some remaining thoughts on Jack Layton:
In the early '80s, when the AIDS crisis was in full bloom, when Toronto was shocked and saddened by the rape and murder of a 12-year-old boy committed by three men, and when the vice squad was raiding gay bathhouses, Jack Layton – then a young city counsel member – spoke up in defense of the baths and the Toronto gay community, just because that was the right thing to do. For years he was one of the few straight political figures at any level who'd march in the pride parade and campaign in the baths and bars. He was a remarkable man.
Another writes:
I’ve experienced a surprisingly intense emotional reaction to Jack Layton’s passing. He was truly one of the most authentic politicians that Canada has produced in my lifetime (one of the others was another federal NDP leader, Ed Broadbent) . My father was never really a party guy – he always encouraged me to vote for the person, not the party – but had he still been alive he would have voted NDP in the last election regardless of who they ran in his riding because of Jack Layton. He gave voice to our better angels, gave us hope, and resonated as a real person (especially next to the aloof leaders of the Liberals and Conservatives).
What has motivated me to write is the piece submitted by the reader from Quebec. He/she sure hit many nails on their heads with his assessment of Layton’s remarkable breakthrough in Quebec in the election, but it was this comment that help put words to some of the emotions I’ve felt in the last few days: "And leaving the left decapitated in front of the most conservative and ideological government Canada ever had."
I frequently joke with my American colleagues and friends that they’d be better off with a parliamentary system. "At least then the party in power could get something done instead of this consistent gridlock," I'd say. Well, I fear that those words will haunt me now with Layton's passing. The Conservative PM, Stephen Harper, will now face a parliament where none of the opposition parties have a leader – a situation unprecedented in Canadian history. An unfailing political opportunist, he will not let this one pass without exploiting it to the fullest. Harper has been hell bent on moving Canada to the right, through undercutting funding to the opposition parties, recasting the entitlement structure that funnels money from richer regions (the ones his party overwhelmingly represents) to poorer (the ones the current opposition parties overwhelmingly represent), even returning "royal" to the names of the branches of the military, to name but a few examples.
What I suspect I and many other Canadians are reeling from is not only the passing of a truly remarkable Canadian, but the dread that our nation may be on the verge of a change we don’t want and that will irreparably damage the character of our country.
The Dish 