(no subject)

[merrily]

I'm feeling pretty sad this morning.

The picture, above, is of Jack Layton & Olivia Chow.

Jack died this morning.

You wouldn't know it from the costume (in fact, I have no idea why he & Olivia are dressed in Star Trek uniforms ETA - it was the 1991 Star Trek Convention, held at City Hall! Here's another pic), but he was the Leader of the Federal Opposition in Canada, a position he won in the last election, after his party, the NDP, blew through to an unbelievable number of seats.

We all thought he'd be Prime Minister five years from now.

Jack was a polisci academic and professor, then a city councillor in Toronto, then a federal member of parliament.

As a councillor, among other things, he fought for gay and trans issues (when we had our Stonewall - the Toronto Bathhouse raids of 1981 - Jack commandeered all the phone lines at City Hall, to help organize a protest march), helped protect the Toronto Islands community from being dismantled, and rode his bike to work every day.

As an MP and leader of his party, the NDP started making a point of running equal numbers of women and men for federal seats. They became devoted to issues of climate change and environmental sustainability. And they started agitating for small, important issues for the average Canadian - credit card interest rates, ATM fees, the cost of heating your house in the winter.

Jack and Olivia met when they were both city councillors ETA correction! when he was running for council, and she for school trustee, fell in love, and (so it is reported) were sometimes a little late for council meetings, coming in somewhat flushed and disheveled.

Jack learned Cantonese, because it was Olivia's first language, and because Olivia lived with her mum, who doesn't speak English. After they got married, Jack & Olivia & her mum all shared a house.

Every year in July, they hosted a huge party on the Toronto Islands, to celebrate their anniversary. Everyone was invited.

(Olivia was far and away the favourite city councillor, and it was bittersweet when she decided to become an MP, too. But she did - and does - great work federally. I still want her to run for Mayor, though, but when I asked, she politely said no. I'm probably going to ask again, though.)

The first time I met Jack, it was in 2002, at a party to kick off his first campaign for a federal seat. The Barenaked Ladies were playing, and then some gorgeous Indian singers got up on stage and taught us all Bollywood dancing. There's lots of Teamsters in the NDP, and it was pretty amazing to see them all learn to dance.

Jack was a kind guy, and he seemed to have decided early to make his politics the can-do type. Canada Post says his office sent out more mail than anyone other MP -- and the mailings always with little postcards attached for people to send back comments.

He had a reputation - and thus, the NDP got the reputation - for promptly answering every piece of correspondence sent their way. Every time I sent in a concern (usually cc'd to all the party leaders, and to my local rep), his office would respond first, with a well-thought out statement of their stand on the issue, and a thanks for contacting them.

Not everyone agreed with his politics, but everyone agreed that he was a genuine guy, concerned with the wellbeing of the country, and that he elevated the political discourse. I think we would all have happily sat down with Jack for a beer.

(In fact, when Olivia was asked what thing she should do to be more environmentally friendly, but just couldn't manage, her answer was "We should really get rid of our old beer fridge in the garage, but it's so handy for parties!")

He fought a bout with prostate cancer, and seemed to have won, but when he announced he was taking a leave of absence a few weeks ago, he was alarmingly gaunt.

He was 61. It was way too soon.

Tonight I'm going to go to the pub in his riding where his first federal campaign started, and raise a beer for Jack. It's possible I'm going to cry in it, but I'm pretty sure I won't be the only one doing so.

Comments

[littlemousling]

This is a wonderful post. I'm still having trouble believing that he's gone, but you're absolutely right that he accomplished more with his 61 years than most of us could if given several times that.

[merrily]

I'm still having trouble believing that he's gone.

Me too. I absolutely thought he'd run the country one day. Hell, he was doing a pretty good job of directing the debate right now.