great great canadian. sad. his letter ended on an uplifting note though.

and scenes like this are amazing.



edit: this scene is at toronto city hall and all the chalk is notes and goodbyes people left for jack.

i am going to frame that picture in a double frame with his final quote below it written out in chalk.

My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we’ll change the world.

Full letter, for those interested:

http://www.documentcloud.org/documents/ ... ayton.html

It's amazing to think that those words were written by a man on his deathbed who knew he had very little time left, and that's what makes the words so much more moving. What a great man... he was a very, very rare breed in that he was universally respected, regardless of political views.

I've never been an NDP backer, but I am really saddened by this. What he did for the party was absolutely astounding, taking the NDP from a small corner of seats in the House of Commons to becoming the official opposition. It's tragic beyond fucking words that Jack won't be leading once the House is back in session. I hope his party remains strong for some time to come.

a step up from quoting che

that pictures gone so here it is again

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lewolf011/6076393292/

i enjoyed this post

thanks for the link. Those pictures are incredible.

I love Bruce Mackinnon.

It's amazing how much people's opinion of you changes after you die

I wasn't aware that anybody had a bad opinion of him while he was alive. Certainly there were many who's views didn't align with his politically but you'd be hard pressed to find someone that spoke ill of him. Even that hateful wench Christie Blatchford said some nice things about him in between her tactless barbs about the publics response to his death.

Yeah, this isn't a case of people changing opinions because he died. No matter how vehemently some people opposed hi political beliefs, they still respected him at a level rarely seen in politics.

and those that liked jack really liked jack. even those that only kind of liked him really respected him for his commitment, optimism and strength. especially those who have battled with cancer or and illness themselves.

i know there's not many people that could have campaigned the way he did while fighting cancer, with a broken hip, winning over all of quebec, taking his party to historic highs and the royal opposition status no one thought was possible.

The near deification of Jack Layton is amusing. He was a career politician, no more honorable or unhonorable than other career politicians. He did seem like one you'd like to share a drink or two with. For this he exalted as a great Canadian. Some of the accolades are so over the top, such as those that say he gave his life for Canada. If he died for Canada then so has every career politician.

Is it ethical for someone to run for office with a four year commitment without letting the truth be known about the seriousness of their health condition? That barring a miracle they will not be able to serve their commitment.

So you're saying that cancer has a definitive prognosis that everyone stricken with the disease can give us a heads up on?