Hon. Jack Layton (NDP, Toronto-Danforth), 1950-2011

I am not sure that a state funeral is appropriate for leader of the opposition, but it is happening on Saturday, 27 August 2011. The body was taken to the foyer of the House of Commons to-day to lie in state.

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.
[last message of le bon Jack, 20 August 2011]

Certainly he was colourful, energetic, and spunky, but neverthless less than a statesman. Still, he was always a friend of gays, minorities, and underdogs, and worked to improve their condition.

NDP leadership gaffe

I find it preposterous that the NDP would choose a recent member of the Bloc Québécois, still currently enrolled in separatist Québec Solidaire, to be the interim party leader. Nycole Turmel (Hull-Aylmer) may be federalist now but the past is entirely relevant. She was in the Bloc for four years, until January 2011, yet says she was always federalist.

I detest this level of political opportunism, and question the judgment of the NDP in this important matter.

Elizabeth May (Saanich-Gulf Islands), Green Party leader, sees no problem with Turmel's affiliations, perhaps because of her own tergiversations. That finishes her in my eyes.