Jack Layton has passed away

[Next of Kin]

New cancer sidelines Jack Layton

Joanna Smith

July 25, 2011

OTTAWA Jack Layton had a gaunt expression, a hoarse voice and newly discovered tumours in his body, but, before he left the room, he promised he would see everybody soon.

“I'm going to fight this cancer now so I can be back to fight for families when Parliament resumes,” the NDP leader said in Toronto on Monday as he revealed he is stepping down temporarily to undergo treatment for a new kind of cancer.

The 61-year-old official leader of the Opposition has been battling prostate cancer since late 2009 and underwent hip surgery following a fracture shortly before the spring election.

The cane that Layton said he was using to keep his balance was often raised in a victorious salute to the growing crowds at rallies on the campaign trail this spring, but the NDP leader acknowledged Monday that his health had been deteriorating as the parliamentary session came to a close last month.

Link to the rest of the article.

I can't say that I am a Jack Layton or an NDP supporter but I wish the man a full recovery. I have to think that this will be a big set back for the NDP party until he returns.

[Coop D'etat]

New cancer sidelines Jack Layton

Joanna Smith

July 25, 2011

OTTAWA Jack Layton had a gaunt expression, a hoarse voice and newly discovered tumours in his body, but, before he left the room, he promised he would see everybody soon.

“I'm going to fight this cancer now so I can be back to fight for families when Parliament resumes,” the NDP leader said in Toronto on Monday as he revealed he is stepping down temporarily to undergo treatment for a new kind of cancer.

The 61-year-old official leader of the Opposition has been battling prostate cancer since late 2009 and underwent hip surgery following a fracture shortly before the spring election.

The cane that Layton said he was using to keep his balance was often raised in a victorious salute to the growing crowds at rallies on the campaign trail this spring, but the NDP leader acknowledged Monday that his health had been deteriorating as the parliamentary session came to a close last month.

Link to the rest of the article.

I can't say that I am a Jack Layton or an NDP supporter but I wish the man a full recovery. I have to think that this will be a big set back for the NDP party until he returns.

Hope he gets better, he seems a decent sort of fellow for a politician.

NDP has the problem that a lot of insurgent political parties have in that their leader is a lot more popular than the organization. If he ends up stepping down then they might have a heck of a time maintaining their #2 spot the next time they go to the polls. Of course that will be about 4 years from now which is an eternity in national politics so that's subject to change.

[ComradeClaus]

Sounds like his cancer mestasticized from his prostate. Odds are he's toast.

His party will be too if they can't get a charismatic replacement.

[Phantasee]

The main reason the NDP got so much support is because they had a strong leader and the Liberals haven't for a few years now. If the Liberals can get their shit together and get someone good, they have a chance of reclaiming the left, Official Opposition status, and maybe even forming Government.

Word is the new 'temporary' leader had strong ties to the BQ in the past.

[Koolaidkirby]

The main reason the NDP got so much support is because they had a strong leader and the Liberals haven't for a few years now. If the Liberals can get their shit together and get someone good, they have a chance of reclaiming the left, Official Opposition status, and maybe even forming Government.

Word is the new 'temporary' leader had strong ties to the BQ in the past.

Don't forget that one of the reason the NDP did so well this election was because they largely co-opted the BQ's platform in the french language debates.

[Enigma]

Bumping this because of new information.

Jack Layton has passed away this morning. Yahoo News

OTTAWA - Federal NDP Leader Jack Layton died today, just months after leading his party to unprecedented success in the federal election campaign. He was 61.

The party issued a statement from Layton's family.

"We deeply regret to inform you that The Honourable Jack Layton, leader of the New Democratic Party of Canada, passed away at 4:45 am today, Monday August 22," said the statement from his wife, Olivia Chow, and two children, Sarah and Michael.

"He passed away peacefully at his home surrounded by family and loved ones."

Funeral details were not immediately announced.

Condolences began to pour in, often through social media.

Gov. Gen. David Johnston first commented on Twitter:

"I learned with great sadness we just lost Jack Layton. Our thoughts are with his family and friends."

Bob Rae, a former NDP premier of Ontario and now federal Liberal leader, also sent a tweet:

"Deeply saddened by news about Jack Layton, Arlene and I send deepest condolences to Olivia and family. He is a loss to a grieving Canada."

New Democrat MP Jagmeet Singh was on Twitter:

"Dear Jack Layton — the inspiration that you are is unparalleled. Your legacy will live on — we promise!"

Layton's death came a month after he appeared at a news conference, looking frail and gaunt, to announce he was suffering from a new, unspecified cancer and would temporarily step down as party leader and head of the official Opposition.

Nycole Turmel, a rookie Quebec MP and veteran labour leader, took over within days, but the caucus and party all expressed hope for Layton's quick return to health.

It was not to be.

Layton had been diagnosed with prostate cancer in early 2010, but continued a crowded schedule while getting treatment. He suffered a hip fracture just before the start of the spring campaign but it was surgically repaired. He leaned on a cane during the campaign, but seemed as full of energy and optimism as ever.

[SCRawl]

I'm a little surprised at this, but only at how quickly he died. I'm not the only one who thought that Layton looked awful in that last press conference. His loss is probably crippling to his party, and likewise to his side of the political spectrum in Canada. And, you know, to his family.

[Phantasee]

I haven't really accepted this yet. I hadn't even thought he might die, despite knowing about his cancer. I guess I just didn't think a man like him could die. Figured he'd retire, maybe.

Damn.

[Enigma]

It wasn't surprising that he would die, but it is the quickness of his death. I thought he'd have at least a few more months at minimum. His fate was sealed the moment he announced that he had another type of cancer. The moment that it spread, he didn't have much time.

[Next of Kin]

His loss is probably crippling to his party, and likewise to his side of the political spectrum in Canada. And, you know, to his family.

Shame.

The NDP will be looking for another interim leader (or grant an extension to Turmel) but other than Layton, is there anyone else in the left that has name brand recognition?

[Darth Wong]

Frankly, while I'm sure he was a nice guy, Canada is better off without him. Jack Layton believed that centrism is harmful to politics. He spent more time attacking the centrist Liberals than the right-wing Conservatives in the last election debates because he wanted to tear the centre out of Canadian politics. He believed that politics is best-served with "two clear alternatives", which is basically another way of saying that he wants the massively partisan two-party system that we see in the United States.

[TithonusSyndrome]

Am I the only one who remembers every time Layton tried to start up a coalition government - and I mean every time, with particular respect to the murmurings of a 2006 Tory-NDP coalition? He may have just been grasping at whatever chance he could get to horse-trade his way into some electoral reforms, which our last election demonstrated to be one of the most urgent weaknesses in our democracy at large, but it nevertheless made him seem frantic and desperate to trade just about anything his party held in exchange for even just an inch closer to the prime minister's office. It was unbecoming, and so was how he allowed himself to be played by Harper along with the rest of the party leaders.

I don't see good things in store for the NDP after this. Most of their gains were made by younger candidates whose candidacies were embarrassingly frivolous, spurred by Layton's charisma and minor cult of personality. As Harper suggested, the NDP's "honeymoon" with Quebec may be short-lived, and even if voter disenfranchisement doesn't undermine their overstretched, unconsolidated gains, Darth Harper plays his game at a whole other level than them. And to think that only 15 years ago we were all joking that it would take a century for anyone to dislodge the political hegemony the Liberals enjoyed.

[Coop D'etat]

The weirdest part about this is how it leaves all three opposition parties without leadership after the last election. Both the Liberals and Bloquistes had their leaders resign after historically bad showings and are trying to rebuild themselves from the ground up. The NDP was in the best position they've been since they were a partner to minority Liberal governments for short periods in the 60's and 70's but seem fatally unable to exploit their gains. There is a strong possilbilty that they become a national joke through a very inexperienced caucus now that they've lost the strong leader that got them where they are. Especially since the NDP itself is far less popular than Layton was.

No one in the shadow cabinet has any kind of national profile, which is why they ended up with a complete unknown like Turmel as interim leader, so the next leader of the opposition is going to have to build their crediblity with the electorate from scratch. And if Harper has proven anything over the last few cycles there is nothing he does better than to define his opponents before they can define themselves, as seen by the shipwrecked careers of Stephane Dion and Michael Ignatieff. In a way its fortunate for the opposition it happened now after a majority government was formed so the next leaders have a good 3-4 years to build before an election and don't have to rise to Harper's bait all the time while doing so.

[Darth Wong]

I wonder if the NDP and Liberals will be more open to a merger now that Jack is gone and the NDP has been weakened. The Conservatives were reduced to a couple of seats when Kim Campbell was annihilated at the polls, and they ended up merging with the Reform party.

[The Romulan Republic]

I wonder if the NDP and Liberals will be more open to a merger now that Jack is gone and the NDP has been weakened. The Conservatives were reduced to a couple of seats when Kim Campbell was annihilated at the polls, and they ended up merging with the Reform party.

So we'd effectively end up with a two party system?

[Enigma]

I wonder if the NDP and Liberals will be more open to a merger now that Jack is gone and the NDP has been weakened. The Conservatives were reduced to a couple of seats when Kim Campbell was annihilated at the polls, and they ended up merging with the Reform party.

So we'd effectively end up with a two party system?

Not necessarily. The Bloc could make a resurgence and effectively chop off a merged NDP\Liberal party at the knees.

[Coop D'etat]

I wonder if the NDP and Liberals will be more open to a merger now that Jack is gone and the NDP has been weakened. The Conservatives were reduced to a couple of seats when Kim Campbell was annihilated at the polls, and they ended up merging with the Reform party.

So we'd effectively end up with a two party system?

Not necessarily. The Bloc could make a resurgence and effectively chop off a merged NDP\Liberal party at the knees.

A united left could win a majority without Quebec outside of Montreal same as the Conservatives, generally whoever takes the biggest swing region in suburban southern Ontario plus their own strongholds (currently the rural west for the Tories, urban core of the big three cities for the Liberals and now Quebec for the NDP) has enough seats to make a play for 150+ seats

Or the Greens would fill the void on the left. Canadian federal politics typically has two major parties and 1 to 2 minor or regional parties at one time. Its been this way since WWI since its not that difficult for a party to become regionally powerful like the BQ or Reform party without being credible on a national scale and there's enough diversity of opinion for a party to carve a place on the hard edges of the left or right if the major parties are tacking to the middle.

[Nieztchean Uber-Amoeba]

Frankly, while I'm sure he was a nice guy, Canada is better off without him. Jack Layton believed that centrism is harmful to politics. He spent more time attacking the centrist Liberals than the right-wing Conservatives in the last election debates because he wanted to tear the centre out of Canadian politics. He believed that politics is best-served with "two clear alternatives", which is basically another way of saying that he wants the massively partisan two-party system that we see in the United States.

I'm not sure that this is right at all; the events of the past few years have pretty clearly shown that there is very little ideological difference between the Republicans and Democrats at all (in fact, didn't you make a crack about the lack of a real American Left less than a week ago?). The partisanship there has nothing to do with the centrism or lack thereof, it's more of a cultural thing. Layton went after the Liberals in the last election as a strategic move - he was more likely to grab embittered Liberal and Bloc voters than Conservatives - and it worked. I don't think there was any more nefarious motive. I think the idea that a successful Jack Layton would Americanize Canadian politics to be a bit suspect.

[The Romulan Republic]

I'm not sure that this is right at all; the events of the past few years have pretty clearly shown that there is very little ideological difference between the Republicans and Democrats at all

Not to highjack the thread, but I am so fucking tired of this claim.

Let's see:

-One side got rid of Don't Ask Don't Tell and is at worst ambivalent towards gay marriage. The other side seems to mostly range from people who want a nationwide ban on gay marriage to people who want gays in prison or dead.

-One side wants to keep abortion legal. The other does not.

-One side wants tax hikes on the rich but gave in rather than go for mutually assured destruction and let America default. The other side is composed largely of people who a) think the country should default to destroy evil government, b) think the country should default rather than concede on taxes, or c) are corrupt bastards who pander to the other two groups.

-One side does not routinely pander to racism to win. The other does.

There are very big, important differences. When will people like you get this through their fucking heads?

[Bakustra]

Hahahahaha! You really think that the social-conservative wing of the Republican Party runs it? I'll give you a hint: Boehner, Steele, even somebody like Perry without his handlers, they don't care about the gays, or abortion, or race, really, except as a wedge issue. Notice how they aren't talking about DADT now? That's because it's no longer a wedge issue for the socially-conservative parts of the base- it's a fait accompli that the majority of Americans support. They talk about abortion because it's something that incites people, but the status quo would be difficult to change and so it's only cranks that try and illegalize abortion more than half-heartedly. They throw out racist dog-whistles because that gets racists to vote for them. Don't demonize your opponents to avoid the true horror that they're (mostly) a pack of Gordon Gekkos- slimy bastards willing to do anything to get ahead, uncomfortable though this may be to realize, along with the fact that your "side" is much the same.

The real similarity, however, is that the leadership of both parties is quite similar in its opinions, especially economically speaking. Obama went along with the framework of "entitlements" that needed to be "cut". He categorically refused to have public healthcare be on the table during the healthcare debate. The Democratic Party nationwide has done little for organized labor, one of their traditional strongest supporters. Obama has made halfhearted calls for raising taxes, which is the sole differentiation between his opinions and those of the Republican leadership, at least as they are expressed (after all, taxes are a wedge issue for segments of the Republican base too, and the White House has tried to suppress public awareness of Obama's more left-wing opinions pre-White House). Hell, Rahm Emanuel literally called the liberal/progressive wing of the Democratic Party "retarded" in a speech.

Face it- the Democrats and Republicans, at the important levels, pretend to have differences to mobilize the puppets in the junior ranks and among the populace into fighting it out not for ideology, but for victory alone, meaningless though it may be in the absence of anything to fight for. Ultimately, it is centrism manipulating left and right into conflict which is destroying America.