Jack Layton (1950-2011)

Leaving the radio on while I tried sleeping, I was shocked when I heard that Jack Layton had died. After some searching, it turns out he'd died from a 1 month battle with cancer (Shows how much I check the news).

For those of you who don't know who he is, Jack Layton was the leader of the New Democratic Party, the official opposition party in Canada. I'm just posting this here because I know that there are some other NDP supporters on this forum (as was evident in the last election), and even though I vote for them, I had no idea Jack Layton had cancer and had stepped down. He brought the NDP to prominence, and I wonder what'll happen now that he's gone =(.

What! I had no idea about this either but man that sucks! He was an incredible leader and voice of reason. His position, even just in the House, was an integral one. This is terrible.

Oh wow, he died? That's horrible. He probably would have had a good chance at winning the next election, given the amount of support that the NDP had gained in the previous one. Such a good leader.

WOW! I didn't think he was in that bad of shape.. I was hoping he would topple Stephan Harper in the next election and publicly urinate on his shoe.

I swear this is one of the few times where I feel like crying to mourn a great leader who truly deserved to be called "Honourable". I voted for the federal NDP quite a few times, knowing they do have the ideals to kill the usual politics of fear mongering and greed.

On the other hand; when Harper dies, I believe we'll all be celebrating his loss by tossing pictures of his mug into a bonfire.

I swear this is one of the few times where I feel like crying to mourn a great leader who truly deserved to be called "Honourable". I voted for the federal NDP quite a few times, knowing they do have the ideals to kill the usual politics of fear mongering and greed.

On the other hand; when Harper dies, I believe we'll all be celebrating his loss by tossing pictures of his mug into a bonfire.

I agree. That's why I had always voted NDP. I'm not heavy into politics, so maybe I'm missing something, but on the surface, Jack Layton was for the people. While the Liberals and Conservatives were poking holes into each other in their ad campaigns, Layton was focused on how to improve the country. What I saw in Layton was a guy who actually cared about our country.

It'll be hard, in fact almost impossible, but I hope whoever the next NDP leader is will do Jack Layton proud, as hard as that may be.

I'll just leave this and this here.

The first made me proud to have supported him, the second one made me disappointed in humanity.

It worries me that the next election will potentially turn into a sideshow where party members--both supportive and opposition--will call forth his name to support their cause. Jack Layton stood for freedom!

It'll be interesting to see if the new NDP leader can keep up to the reputation that Jack Layton has made. Was watching about him on the evening news today, sad day.

I can see the end of NDP coming, but who knows, maybe they'll get another extraordinary leader?

I can see the end of NDP coming, but who knows, maybe they'll get another extraordinary leader?

What.

You don't need an extraordinary leader to run a party. See: Stephen Harper, Michael Ignatieff

What.

You don't need an extraordinary leader to run a party. See: Stephen Harper, Michael Ignatieff

To run one, maybe not, but the reason most people voted for NDP was Jack Layton. Some people they interviewed on the street before last election couldn't even name one idea of the party. Sad, really.

To run one, maybe not, but the reason most people voted for NDP was Jack Layton. Some people they interviewed on the street before last election couldn't even name one idea of the party. Sad, really.

People who vote, in general, don't know what they're voting for, they just know the leader of the party they're voting for. The way politics works now, Charisma always trumps responsibility. It's not the people that are sad, it's the system. (see Tea Party)