A Canadian on Politics

Round-Up - Jack Layton’s Life, Death and Funeral

Canada.com - Funeral Photo gallery - Remembering Jack Layton

Montreal Gazette - Funeral Photo Gallery

The Globe and Mail - Funeral Photo Gallery - The life of Jack Layton Photo Gallery - Jack Layton in Quotes

The National Post - Jack Layton in Repose at City Hall - Jack Layton Loses Battle With Cancer (A series of photographs of Jack in both personal and political settings)

CTV.ca - State Funeral of Jack Layton - Jack Layton’s Lasting Legacy - Remembering Layton

CBC.ca - Jack Layton and Oliva Chow - The Death and Legacy of Jack Layton

iPolitics - Stephen Lewis’s Eulogy

Links for Live Coverage of Jack Layton’s Funeral

Mr. Layton’s Casket brought by pallbearers to the hearse which will carry him, followed by family and close friends, to the funeral

CTV - Video

CBC - Video and Tweets

Montreal Gazette - Social Media

National Post - Social Media

A Letter to Canadians from the Honourable Jack Layton

August 20, 2011
Toronto, Ontario

Dear Friends,

Tens of thousands of Canadians have written to me in recent weeks to wish me well. I want to thank each and every one of you for your thoughtful, inspiring and often beautiful notes, cards and gifts. Your spirit and love have lit up my home, my spirit, and my determination.

Unfortunately my treatment has not worked out as I hoped. So I am giving this letter to my partner Olivia to share with you in the circumstance in which I cannot continue.

I recommend that Hull-Aylmer MP Nycole Turmel continue her work as our interim leader until a permanent successor is elected.

I recommend the party hold a leadership vote as early as possible in the New Year, on approximately the same timelines as in 2003, so that our new leader has ample time to reconsolidate our team, renew our party and our program, and move forward towards the next election.

A few additional thoughts:

To other Canadians who are on journeys to defeat cancer and to live their lives, I say this: please don’t be discouraged that my own journey hasn’t gone as well as I had hoped. You must not lose your own hope. Treatments and therapies have never been better in the face of this disease. You have every reason to be optimistic, determined, and focused on the future. My only other advice is to cherish every moment with those you love at every stage of your journey, as I have done this summer.

To the members of my party: we’ve done remarkable things together in the past eight years. It has been a privilege to lead the New Democratic Party and I am most grateful for your confidence, your support, and the endless hours of volunteer commitment you have devoted to our cause. There will be those who will try to persuade you to give up our cause. But that cause is much bigger than any one leader. Answer them by recommitting with energy and determination to our work. Remember our proud history of social justice, universal health care, public pensions and making sure no one is left behind. Let’s continue to move forward. Let’s demonstrate in everything we do in the four years before us that we are ready to serve our beloved Canada as its next government.

To the members of our parliamentary caucus: I have been privileged to work with each and every one of you. Our caucus meetings were always the highlight of my week. It has been my role to ask a great deal from you. And now I am going to do so again. Canadians will be closely watching you in the months to come. Colleagues, I know you will make the tens of thousands of members of our party proud of you by demonstrating the same seamless teamwork and solidarity that has earned us the confidence of millions of Canadians in the recent election.

To my fellow Quebecers: On May 2nd, you made an historic decision. You decided that the way to replace Canada’s Conservative federal government with something better was by working together in partnership with progressive-minded Canadians across the country. You made the right decision then; it is still the right decision today; and it will be the right decision right through to the next election, when we will succeed, together. You have elected a superb team of New Democrats to Parliament. They are going to be doing remarkable things in the years to come to make this country better for us all.

To young Canadians: All my life I have worked to make things better. Hope and optimism have defined my political career, and I continue to be hopeful and optimistic about Canada. Young people have been a great source of inspiration for me. I have met and talked with so many of you about your dreams, your frustrations, and your ideas for change. More and more, you are engaging in politics because you want to change things for the better. Many of you have placed your trust in our party. As my time in political life draws to a close I want to share with you my belief in your power to change this country and this world. There are great challenges before you, from the overwhelming nature of climate change to the unfairness of an economy that excludes so many from our collective wealth, and the changes necessary to build a more inclusive and generous Canada. I believe in you. Your energy, your vision, your passion for justice are exactly what this country needs today. You need to be at the heart of our economy, our political life, and our plans for the present and the future.

And finally, to all Canadians: Canada is a great country, one of the hopes of the world. We can be a better one – a country of greater equality, justice, and opportunity. We can build a prosperous economy and a society that shares its benefits more fairly. We can look after our seniors. We can offer better futures for our children. We can do our part to save the world’s environment. We can restore our good name in the world. We can do all of these things because we finally have a party system at the national level where there are real choices; where your vote matters; where working for change can actually bring about change. In the months and years to come, New Democrats will put a compelling new alternative to you. My colleagues in our party are an impressive, committed team. Give them a careful hearing; consider the alternatives; and consider that we can be a better, fairer, more equal country by working together. Don’t let them tell you it can’t be done.

My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we’ll change the world.

All my very best,

Jack Layton

(Source: ndp.ca)

Local Events Across the Country in Memoriam of Jack Layton

Saturday - August 27th

Halifax

Bella Rose Arts Centre
283 Thomas Raddall Drive
Doors 2:00pm, Service 3:00pm–5:00pm

Quebec

La bibliothèque de Charlesbourg
7950 1ère Avenue, Québec
1:00pm

Montreal

Société des arts technologiques (SAT)
1201 Boulevard Saint-Laurent
Doors 1:00pm

Beauharnois-Salaberry

Willy’s Pub
1205 Boulevard Monseigneur-Langlois
1:00pm-4:00pm

Winnipeg

Knox United Church
400 Edmonton St
12:30pm

Sasktoon

Ecole Canadienne Francaise de Saskatoon
2410 Woodward Ave
Doors 11:00am, Service 12:00 noon

Regina

Tommy Douglas House
1122 Saskatchewan Drive
Doors 11:00am, Service 12:00 noon

Prince Rupert

Ocean View Pub
950 1st Avenue West
11:00am

Kitimat

CAW Hall
233 Enterprise Ave
11:00am

Terrace

Community Room - Skeena Mall
4741 Lakelse Avenue
11:00am

Smithers

Alpenhorn Pub
1261 Main Street
11:00am

Courtenay

Florence Filberg Conference Hall
411 Anderton Ave
10:30am

Nanaimo

Diana Krall Plaza
90 Commercial St.
11:00am

Victoria

First Metropolitan United Church
932 Balmoral Rd.
10:30am

(Source: ndp.ca)

Jack Layton Makes One Last Trip to the Hill

Jack Layton’s remains were transported in a hearse with police escort along highway 401 to the House of Commons today. For two days Mr Layton will lie in state so Canadians can pay their respects. Visitation begins at 11am eastern for dignitaries and opens for the public between 12:30pm and 8pm. There will be a book of condolences for the public to sign and MPs of all affiliations have opened their constituency offices for the public to sign books and drop off messages. NDP MPs are expected to attend as well as Mr Layton’s wife, Ms Olivia Chow and their children and grandchild.

Thursday will have visitation between 9am and 1:30pm. At 2pm Mr Layton’s casket will be escorted from House of Commons to 15 gun salute and the Dominion Carillonneur will play ‘O Canada’ on the Tower bells.

Mr Layton will return to Toronto where the public can visit him at Toronto City Hall between 9am and 8pm in Friday and 9am and 11am on Saturday.

Saturday’s state funeral will be held at 2pm at Roy Thomson Hall and will be officiated by Rev. Brent Hawkes, whose congregation welcomes LGBT, in a nod to Mr Layton’s support of gay rights.

More than half of the 2630 seats will be for invited guests but Ms Chow has insisted that as much space as possible be reserved for the public. Screens will also be erected in David Pecaut Square and other options are being explored for the overflow of crowds.

(synopsis via Globe and Mail newspaper section A1 and A8, please forgive typos, I am using my phone to post!)

Jack Layton’s Statement

On February 5th, 2010 I shared with Canadians that I, like 25,000 other Canadian men every year, had been diagnosed with prostate cancer.

I have received overwhelming support from my loving family, my friends, my caucus and party, and thousands of everyday Canadians.

Their stories and support have touched me. And I have drawn strength and inspiration from them.

In the closing days of the most recent session of the House of Commons, I suffered from some stiffness and pain.

After the House rose, I undertook a series of tests at Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto.

My battle against prostate cancer is going very well. My PSA levels remain virtually undetectable.

However, these tests, whose results I received last week, also indicate that I have a new, non-prostate cancer that will require further treatment.

So, on the advice of my doctors, I am going to focus on treatment and recovery.

I will therefore be taking a temporary leave of absence as Leader of the New Democratic Party of Canada. I’m going to fight this cancer now, so I can be back to fight for families when Parliament resumes.

To that end, I have requested that the President of our party, Brian Topp, consult our Parliamentary caucus and then convene a meeting of our party’s federal council to appoint an interim leader.

The interim leader will serve until I resume my duties.

I intend to do so when Parliament meets on September 19th.

I am also making a recommendation on who the interim leader should be.

I suggest that Hull-Aylmer MP Nycole Turmel be named interim leader during this period.

Ms. Turmel enjoys unanimous support as the national chair of our Parliamentary caucus. She is an experienced national leader in both official languages. And she will do an excellent job as our national interim leader.

Let me conclude by saying this.

If I have tried to bring anything to federal politics, it is the idea that hope and optimism should be at their heart.

We CAN look after each other better than we do today. We CAN have a fiscally responsible government. We CAN have a strong economy; greater equality; a clean environment.

We CAN be a force for peace in the world.

I am as hopeful and optimistic about all of this as I was the day I began my political work, many years ago.

I am hopeful and optimistic about the personal battle that lies before me in the weeks to come.

And I am very hopeful and optimistic that our party will continue to move forward.

We WILL replace the Conservative government, a few short years from now.

And we WILL work with Canadians to build the country of our hopes
Of our dreams
Of our optimism
Of our determination
Of our values…
Of our love.

Thank you.

Jack Layton

[Source] - click here for links to send Jack Layton a get-well message or to donate to the Canadian Cancer Society