Tributes flow for Layton

In September, 2007, Elisapee Sheutiapik, who was then the mayor of Iqaluit, and Jack Layton, the ­federal New Democratic Party leader, shared a moment on the beach in front of the old Hudson’s Bay Company buildings in Apex. Layton travelled to four Nunavut communities during that trip to press Ottawa to spend more on infrastructure for Arctic communities. (FILE PHOTO)

RANDY BOSWELL
Postmedia News

Tributes are flowing for Jack Layton, who lost his battle with cancer Monday morning, dying at his home, surrounded by those closest to him.

The charismatic, 61-year-old politician had recently stepped down as federal NDP leader, but he had expressed hope that he would return when Parliament resumed next month.

On Monday, Canadians learned that was not to be.

Layton’s chief rival, Prime Minister Stephen Harper, was among those to offer condolences to his opponent’s wife, MP Olivia Chow, and to her family.

“I was deeply saddened to learn this morning of the death of Jack Layton,” Harper said in a statement.

“When I last spoke with Jack following his announcement in July, I wished him well and he told me he’d be seeing me in the House of Commons in the Fall.

“This, sadly, will no longer come to pass.

“On behalf of all Canadians, I salute Jack’s contribution to public life, a contribution that will be sorely missed.

“I know one thing: Jack gave his fight against cancer everything he had. Indeed, Jack never backed down from any fight.”

News of Layton’s death came Monday morning in a statement from his 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 a.m. today,” the statement said.

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

Layton was felled by an unidentified but aggressive cancer that took hold this summer following a battle last year with the same disease in his prostate.

The latest diagnosis came in mid-July, barely a month after Layton and his wife Olivia Chow, a fellow NDP MP from Toronto, had made their historic move into Stornoway, the official Ottawa residence of the country’s Opposition leader.

Nycole Turmel, who took over as interim NDP leader after Layton stepped down because of his illness, called her predecessor “a great Canadian.”

“Jack was a courageous man. It was his leadership that inspired me, and so many others, to run for office. We — Members of Parliament, New Democrats and Canadians — need to pull together now and carry on his fight to make this country a better place,” she said.

“And we remember the Tommy Douglas quote Jack included in every email he sent: `Courage my friends, `tis never too late to build a better world.”’

Green Leader Elizabeth May and Liberal leader Bob Rae also offered their condolences.

“Jack will always be remembered for his unfailing love of Canada and his dedication to this country and its citizens,” May said.

Added Rae: “He leaves a powerful legacy of a commitment to social justice in his work in Toronto as a city councillor and as a national leader.”

Layton’s chief of staff, Anne McGrath, said that Layton died peacefully at his Toronto home.

McGrath said she spent four hours with Layton at his home Saturday, and said he looked better as he battled cancer.

“It’s been an uphill battle. But he was a determined guy and he was doing his best to fight it. But it has been a rough summer.”

Still, she said, on Saturday, his voice was “stronger” than it had been at the mid-July news conference where he announced he was once again stricken with cancer.

“We talked about the party and how to grow the party. We talked about how the caucus was doing. The Jack Layton that we saw on the public stage was the same Jack Layton that I knew.”

But McGrath said that on Sunday, she received a call notifying her that his condition was deteriorating and that he might die overnight.

McGrath, who worked with Layton since he won the NDP leadership nine years ago, said he always brought a positive approach to politics.

“He was hopeful, he was optimistic, he was determined, he was up for a fight but always ready to work with others, even people who didn’t agree with him politically. Because he wanted to get things done. He wasn’t rigid in that way.”

“He was very principled. He would never allow anyone to say anything personal about our opponents.”

The greatest success of Layton’s 30-year political career — the historic NDP breakthrough in May’s federal election, catapulting his party into Official Opposition — was achieved, it is now clear, with time rapidly running out on his life.

That Layton’s moment of glory on the national stage was followed so swiftly by his death will leave chroniclers of Canadian political history forever pondering the what-ifs of a career cut short at such a promising point, and whether a man who unexpectedly became the country’s “prime minister in- waiting” earlier this year might one day have been able to complete the journey to the pinnacle of power.

When a thin and weary-looking Layton revealed on July 25 he’d been stricken by a second cancer, and that he would require a leave-of-absence to fight the illness “so I can be back to fight for families when Parliament resumes” in September, there were widespread doubts he’d be able to fulfil that promise or to direct his party’s ultimate quest: becoming Canada’s government in a future election.

“I am hopeful and optimistic about the personal battle that lies before me in the weeks to come,” Layton said at the time. “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.”

Layton will not lead that charge. But he will be remembered – fondly by his supporters, respectfully by his opponents – for his effective, down-to-earth brand of progressive politics, and for his rise from the relative obscurity of Toronto’s municipal government to become, at least in electoral terms, the most successful national leader in the 78-year history of the CCF-NDP franchise.

“On behalf of my family as well as the American people I want to express our sorrow to Jack’s wife Olivia Chow, his family, and his friends and supporters across Canada,” said U.S. ambassador to Canada David Jacobson in a statement.

“I will never forget the image of Jack campaigning as the happy warrior,” Jacobson said. “His energy, enthusiasm and passion for politics and for the Canadian people were undeniable. Something I will never forget. A standard for all of us.”

Former prime minister Jean Chretien told CBC: “He worked extremely hard for a long, long period of time, and just before he passed away, he had for his party a fantastic success. It’s a very big loss for the NDP and a very big loss for Canada too.”

Former colleague, MP Libby Davies, said people saw Layton as “someone who had such courage, and commitment, to work for people, for a better Canada, for social justice.

“He humanized politics. People feel so cynical about politics and politicians, we all get a bum rap. And I think Jack’s enthusiasm — he just loved what he did.”

“Jack Layton was a remarkable Canadian,” said Mary Simon, president of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami. “With his passing, Inuit have lost a friend and advocate.”

Layton was a key supporter of the need to address gaps in health care and social services, and he believed in the importance of partnership with Inuit in all issues affecting the Arctic, Simon said.

Simon also sent her condolences to Layton’s wife, Olivia Chow, MP for Trinity Spadina, and the entire Layton family, as well as to Interim NDP Leader Nycole Turmel and the NDP caucus.

If the NDP without Layton manages to cement its position ahead of the Liberals at the threshold of power, perhaps alternating with the Conservatives in forming future governments, he will likely be credited with permanently changing Canada’s political landscape.

“If I have tried to bring anything to federal politics, it is the idea that hope and optimism should be at their heart,” Layton said in his last public address, delivered the day he disclosed his new battle with cancer.

“We can look after each other better than we do today,” the fiery speaker stated in a suddenly fragile, raspy voice. “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.”

with files from Nunatsiaq News