Jack Layton
I was saddened to hear that Jack Layton died following a year long battle against cancer. He just turned 61 a few weeks before his death.
I first became aware of Jack Layton in 1998 when I moved to Toronto. I moved to the Broadview & Danforth area in what is known as Greektown. Because I respect what my ancestors sacrificed to allow me the freedom to cast a ballot, I’m extremely interested in politics and took an interest in learning more about the politicians that represent me.
The Toronto city councillor who represented me in the Broadview & Danforth area was Jack Layton. On the political spectrum, he’s on the left. Although my own politics is still evolving (am I right of center or just center? Am I a Tory or a Red Tory?), what I do know is that I’m not left of center. Not at all.
Despite the fact that I lean more to the centre (and on some issues centre right), I always cast my ballot for the left leaning Jack. So, why did a Red Tory like me “waste” a vote on a social democratic like Jack election after election?
As you can imagine, I didn’t vote for Jack based on his political views. While Jack would constantly bemoan the plight of poor families, the Red Tory in me says that all can get out of their situation through time limited government assistance (if needed) and hard work.
Jack would trumpet high taxes against corporations and the rich. Of course, being an entrepreneur with the potential to become rich, I don’t mind paying taxes, but leave me more than enough so I can make my own choices as to which causes my money should be donated to. The government shouldn’t make those choices for me.
Jack was a true champion of ensuring that Canadians could still access the wealth of social services available to them. I agree, but the fiscal side of me would always ask “But, how do we continue to pay for these services without putting the burden on those who have more?”
Politically, Jack and I could never agree, yet he charmed me with his patriotism, his commitment to those who couldn’t (or wouldn’t) speak up and his drive to ensure that all Canadians were treated equally.
I, a Red Tory, voted for Jack over and over again because I admired his integrity, his charisma and his passion. On top of that, he was an eloquent speaker, had a swagger in his walk and sounded confident in both English and French. I couldn’t help but vote for who I thought was the best man (or woman) for the job.
I shall miss seeing him on television berating the Prime Minister on some policy misstep. I shall miss hearing Jack’s confident voice during Question Period as he stood up for Canadians. Most of all, I’ll miss his influence. Because to me, influence is when you can convince someone to follow your ideas even if they don’t agree with them.
And that’s what Jack did to me.
Update #1: I may be a Pink Tory, although the definition on Wikipedia needs to be expanded before I can fully embrace that label. Or maybe I’m having difficulty with any label at all because I find that labels restrict my freedom of thought and indentity.
Update #2: After reading this article, I much prefer the term Blue Grit. It’s represents “a subtle shift to the right economically while maintaining a balance with the Liberal’s traditional stance on social issues.” Yes, this sounds more ideal to me.
