Jack Layton, Leader of Canada’s Opposition Party, Dies From Cancer at 61
Jack Layton, the influential leader of Canada’s opposition New Democratic Party, died Monday from his second bout with cancer. He was 61.
"He passed away peacefully at his home surrounded by family and loved ones,” according to a statement from his wife, Olivia Chow, and children, Sarah and Michael.
Layton brought Canada’s NDP from relative political obscurity to the status of Official Opposition through left-of-center policies. Those policies included higher corporate taxes, ending the “War on Drugs” through legalization of recreational drugs, and ending legal sexual discrimination against the LBGT community.
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Layton was a popular, career politician and part-time professor who wrote several books. He was personally known for his charm and passion for helping Canada’s under-privileged.
After obtaining a PhD in political science and teaching for several years at Toronto’s Ryerson University, Layton followed in his father’s and grandfather’s political footsteps in 1982 when he ran for alderman (the Canadian equivalent of an assemblyman) in Toronto’s Ward 6.
According to the CBC, the incumbent was heavily favored, but Layton won the election with the heavy backing of the NDP he would eventually become the leader of.
That victory set the pace for Layton becoming one of the Canadian left’s strongest voices. According to the Brandon Sun, a common joke regarding Layton’s outspokenness was that the most dangerous place to be was between him and a microphone, where “one might get trampled.”
Aside from being a published academic and a prominent, outspoken voice for the left, Layton will be best known for his political shrewdness that allowed his NDP to vastly increase its power in Canadian parliament.
After a decade of incremental seat gains through elections, Layton led the NDP to a resounding 103 House of Commons seats in the 2011 elections, which broke the party’s previous record of 88 seats. The victory solidified his ability to deal with all sides of the Canadian political spectrum besides being a stalwart of the left.
“He was a friend of ours for many years, and despite our political differences his decency, good humor and extraordinary resilience earned our deep admiration,” said Interim Liberal leader Bob Rae in a statement. “We remained friends throughout our political lives.”
In a statement Monday, Governor-General David Johnston said of Layton: "He dedicated his life to serving his fellow citizens. He did this with so much grace. He will be missed."
The admiration for Layton was evident on the internet, as condolences and wistful anecdotes were in abundance on Twitter, including a story about how a canvasser for the NDP in a college dormitory was stumped by a question from a student and went to “get Jack” to answer the question.
“Five minutes later, another knock on the door, and it's Jack Layton. He introduces himself and I invite him into my… residence common space and he comes in and sits down and we have a ten-minute conversation. I'm 20, I'm a…kid that doesn't know anything about anything, and he comes in and sits down and treats me as seriously as a Fortune 500 CEO or a labour leader or whoever,” the poster wrote.
“I voted for Jack. I've been voting NDP ever since that day.”
