The “Great Orange Wave” that made such profound changes to the Canadian political landscape last May apparently didn’t recede permanently into the electoral ocean. Since Jack Layton’s passing on Monday, everything’s been coming up
orange!
And then there was the CN Tower. Now it’s Niagara Falls:
Niagara Falls will join the CN Tower in going orange in honour of Jack Layton.
Tony Baldinelli of the Niagara Parks Commission says they received phone calls and emails requesting the falls be turned orange for Layton, who died Monday of cancer.
There were also requests on Facebook.
Baldinelli says the request was approved by the Niagara Falls Illumination Board.
The falls will be illuminated in orange at various times on Saturday night.
Holy Great, no, MASSIVE Orange Wave, Batman!
Jack would get a kick out of it: not so much because these things are being done out of respect for his memory, but because he would have appreciated the quirky creativity and enthusiasm and sense of fun that memorializing him has inspired in the many Canadians who admired and respected and even loved him. These were, after all, some of the qualities that characterized Layton himself. Even those who were ideologically opposed to him recognized that, which is why the outpouring of grief over his death seemed to transcend politics.
A few wet towels will probably gripe that it’s over-the-top, tacky, tooooo too much. An orange Niagara Falls!? AIIIEEEE!!! Let the red-faced, pearl-clutching, hair-pulling outrage begin!
But so what? It’s fun. The only thing more fun would be if Christie Blatchford had booked a weekend vacay to get away from the sea of hate mail she says she’s drowning in, destination: oh, somewhere close, you know… like Niagara Falls.
