by Chris Bodenner
Some final thoughts on Jack Layton before closing the thread:
As an American who has lived in Toronto the last five years, I've greatly enjoyed the coverage from your readers on Jack Layton. It would be difficult to to underestimate the loss of Jack, especially for young Canadians. I thought it would be nice to share with you one of the more light-hearted memorials of Jack, a collection of his appearances on "This Hour Has 22 Minutes", a Canadian political satire show.
Another writes:
Lest you get too carried away with Jack Layton hagiography, here is a link to a Christie Blatchford column for which she has taken a LOT of heat. Christie is an award-winning author and fabulous columnist IMHO. And here's a supporting post by Jonathon Kay. The line in the now-famous deathbed letter about "restoring Canada’s standing in the world" is the part that irked me the most. It is a standard NDP leftist trope that we have become something of a rogue state under the Conservatives, an assertion that has no basis in fact.
Mainly it comes from the global-warming people and Guardian readers. North Korea doesn’t like us anymore because we refuse to participate in the UN sham disarmament committee under their esteemed leadership. As our Foreign Minister said, he considers their disapproval "a badge of honour". Arabs don’t like us so much because we are tilting more towards Israel and we compete with them in energy. So what?
Look at recent history. Canada came through the financial crisis better than any G7 country and is widely respected for that. (Considerable credit for this belongs to Liberal government of the '90s and especially then-Finance Minister Paul Martin. We had a debt downgrade of our own.) Our current Finance Minister, Jim Flaherty, is apparently highly respected in G7-G20 circles. We acquitted ourselves very well in Afghanistan, Haiti etc. A Canadian general is in charge of Nato efforts in Libya, etc.
Anyway, I think it was a cheap political shot. It is troubling that they actually seem to believe their own propaganda and would stick it in a "deathbed letter". That being said, I did appreciate Jack Layton’s phenomenal performance in the last campaign and his positive message. As your correspondent noted, the stirring of the political pot in Quebec is going to have very interesting and profound ramifications.
Another:
Jack Layton was a decent man who regretfully passed away far too early, but his beatification by a media sympathetic to his policies – and your reader who describes him as "[giving voice] to our better angels" – should not be used as an excuse to slam Harper with cheap political digs. Harper granted Layton a state funeral (something he wasn't required to do) and was elected to a majority by Canadian voters. [Update from reader: "Try 39.62%. Layton got 30.63%. Nobody had a majority."] Calling him an "unfailing political opportunist" – what politician isn't? – and attacking him for espousing conservative policies is unfair. It's not Harper's fault that the opposition parties are in total disarray or that one of their leaders has been felled by cancer. Give me a break.
Ending on a high note:
Thought I'd send this Flickr link to an incredible photo of Toronto's City Hall, where people have left messages of grief, condolences and hope for Jack Layton written in chalk. It has been incredible to witness such public displays of emotion for a politician, especially in an age where they are not well regarded.
The Dish 