A Great Loss to Canada

[grav_ity]

Jack Layton, leader of the NDP and my favourite living/active Canadian politician, has died of cancer. He was 61.

I want to say I'm worried about my party, worried about what this means in Ottawa, what it means in Quebec, and what it will mean in 2014 when we have another chance. But I can't. I'm just sad.

Rest in peace, Jack. We're better off for having you work so hard for us. Thank you.

Comments

[emmaorgana.livejournal.com]

I just read about this on the news and thought of you. It made me sad, because I know how much you liked him and that meant he was good people.

<3

[shadadukal]

:( *hugs*

[lone-pyramid.livejournal.com]

Oh, I hadn't heard that yet. That's just terribly sad and something of a shock -- I hadn't realized he was that sick. This is just... oh.

[grav-ity.livejournal.com]

Prostrate cancer is never good. But still. Yes. I am very sad.

(and now I'm having thoughts like "This means that 2 out of 3 parties have interim leaders!" and "Dammit, Stephen Harper is going to say something on the news tonight, and I'm going to want to punch him.")

[lone-pyramid.livejournal.com]

This is going to be messy, isn't it? From what I've heard, not many people were thrilled with the NDP's interim leader but we were expecting him back in September, so....

I don't know. Take some time to feel sad and then get angry at the politicians later. (And, well, I think approx. 2/3 of Canadians generally want to punch Stephen Harper at least once per week, so don't let it make today worse for you.)

[grav-ity.livejournal.com]

I will say, though, he's the second best Prime Minister we never had, and there's nothing bad to be said for coming in second to Tommy Douglas!

[pellucid.livejournal.com]

I suspect it had metastasized to something else, as well. His announcement last month called it a "new" cancer, by which I assume he meant cancer of the something else. And healthy 60-year-olds don't just randomly break their hips. If it got into his bones, that's bad, bad news; my grandfather, for instance, died of bone cancer less than six months after he was diagnosed (though, granted, that was 25 years ago, and presumably treatments have improved).

Regardless, yes, very sad. He was a great man and seemed like he was still very much ascending.

[grav-ity.livejournal.com]

If nothing else, I'm glad the press respected his privacy.

[pellucid.livejournal.com]

So sad about this!

[camm-shenylle.livejournal.com]

It's very sad news and a big loss for Canada.

Make sure to read his 'final message' (here). It's very heartfelt and inspirational, but something of a tear-jerker, so be warned.

[grav-ity.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I've been trying to get through that all day.