I awoke today thinking it was going to be a beautiful Monday, with plenty of free coffee at work, a hearty lunch after twelve and no crises to deal with during my shift.
Boy was I wrong. I realized it was a chilly temperature for August as soon as I stepped outside, my girlfriend did not get a good sleep last night so naturally she was a bit grumpy and I was still tired from going to bed at two in the morning.
But the coup de grace came at around 8:40 am, when ingesting my dose of daily Globe and Mail; I was shocked to find out that Jack Layton, the beloved leader of the New Democratic Party of Canada, lost his struggle with cancer.
According to his family, Jack died peacefully at their home surrounded by his loved ones.
Unfortunately, I have never really thought much of Jack Layton before. I was always under the impression that his success was always due to the fact that he presented to the public the image of a common man with no extraordinary skills and preoccupied by no grand design.
This was perhaps due to the fact that he was in fact a simple, kind and frugal man. Always appearing plain, never giving airs of greatness and constantly preoccupied with the plight of the common Canadian for greater equality, justice and freedom.
His way of speaking and political presence appealed to both the youth and the older political veterans in Ottawa.
Also, amongst the many slurs and puns at his expense dished out by his many political enemies, the moniker “Union Jack” was somewhat unfairly attributed to him for his party’s support of unionized labor in Canada.
Jack may have been a socialist of sorts, but he was not a union lackey.
But now with his untimely demise, the question, ‘What will happen to the NDP?’ begs to be answered.
Considering the new make-up of most of the NDP constituency, that is Quebecers of all stripes, a much too young for my taste base of MPs and the party’s new leader, the former separatist Nicole Turmel, it can be said that the NDP will shape up to become the new voice of separatism and Quebec nationalism in Canada.
Or, the ruling conservatives will seize the opportunity of Layton’s demise to mop the floor with the NDP and destroy the party entirely.
Thus, I wonder what will happen to Jack Layton’s most important legacy. However, my only regret is not having met the man in person. I only wish I could have seen him at a rally or to have shook hands after a speech, that would have been enough even if we were and are both politically different.
