Comments | tvnerdgirl: RIP Jack Layton

tvnerdgirl

RIP Jack Layton

Aug 24, 2011 11:44

I left the country on Monday to go shopping in the States for some clothes for my new job. That morning, it was reported in the news that Jack Layton, leader of the NDP had died after losing his battle with cancer ( Read more... )

Comments 6

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tvnerdgirl August 25 2011, 05:42:50 UTC

Thank you. I really struggled there to try to say just what he meant to me...and to the rest of Canada. I hope the NDP can continue what he started.

wendymr August 25 2011, 03:08:07 UTC

That's a lovely tribute :)

I never had the chance to vote for him, because I don't yet have a vote in Canada. But I admired him as an individual and a politician, and respected what his party stands for. I would have voted for him. In the last election, he was the only leader who really came across as genuine and likeable, unlike the plastic public faces of the others.

It does worry me that the NDP is so associated with Jack Layton, however; at the election, the posters were all 'Jack's team', and people were voting for him and not for their local candidates. That's concerning because what happens now? I hope the party can find a leader who can carry forward Layton's legacy and command the kind of respect he managed.

And in the meantime - yes, it's a sad day for Canada. I have been very impressed, though, at the tributes coming from all sides, including ordinary people who never would have voted NDP but respected Jack Layton for his values and commitment to what he stood for.

tvnerdgirl August 25 2011, 05:45:30 UTC

Thanks :)

I too am worried about just how centered the party was around him as a leader. I hope that whoever they choose is able to take the party to new heights. My initial thought (and I don't know how possible this is) is that his wife should be elected party leader because who better who continue what he stood for? But maybe that would be a bit too close to things, who knows? I am interested to see where the party goes...

What impresses me is the outpouring of respect given from the other party leaders. A more cynical person might write it off as simple politicking, but I truly think that those he opposed genuinely respected him even if they didn't agree with him...at least that's how it comes accross...

styrofoam_guy August 25 2011, 03:52:36 UTC

his last letter he left for us is amazing. I never had a chance to meet him but if I had I am sure I would be even more impressed with him then now.

It is sad that only when he is gone that I have finally appreciated what he tried to do for us.

I am hoping his legacy will guide the party to bigger and better things.

tvnerdgirl August 25 2011, 05:46:38 UTC

I had the honour of meeting him once...and he was lovely. So genuine and so easy to talk to. And yes that letter had me in tears.

conspiracygirl1 September 7 2011, 22:55:43 UTC

Not to make light, but...
this time when I was in America Jack Layton died.
the last time I was in America Elisabeth Sladen died.
a year before that, I was in America the day my grandmother had a heart attack and pneumonia and then she died a few days later. On my birthday.

Is someone telling me not to go over there?