The other evening I was talking with a friend about Jack Layton's death. I remember Jack all the way back to local politics in Toronto, remember his consistent voice. I respected the man.
But I haven't been affected by his death; I'll chalk that up to current personal circumstances. As I related to this friend, what's struck me more than his passing is the outpouring of emotion by Canadians. It's heartening to realize that you live in a country where someone can be acknowledged in the ways that Canada is expressing.
And then I read this Letter to the Editor in The Spec:
Canadians praise Jack, then lean right
Re: Jack Layton
I can’t quite get it. An electorate that this week has so clearly demonstrated its love and respect for Jack Layton, and, seven years ago, so resoundingly praised one of his predecessors, Tommy Douglas, calling him Canada’s Greatest Canadian in the CBC contest, is the same electorate that, faced with another scary ballot box in two months in this province, will once again forget the work these men did to bring about social justice for all of us.
The outpouring of affection we feel, at times, for the best Canada has to offer will be overmatched, as always, by the gusto with which we will once again embrace the negative politics of the next incarnation of Mike Harris, Stephen Harper and Rob Ford. We will buy into the rants of the Mammolitis, who rail against social democrats, calling them socialist nutbars and commies, with rabid enthusiasm. We will choose, again, to turn our backs on Jack and Tommy, having been convinced that leaning left is just not practical.
Why we Canadians insist on kicking ourselves in the head on election days is difficult to understand.
I wish I had Layton’s optimism.
Gord Dupuis, Dundas
