Easygoing Eyebeast Dintiradan Posted August 22, 2011 Share Posted August 22, 2011 This may not be of any interest to anyone outside of Canada, but Jack Layton died early this morning. He had announced a temporary leave of absence at the end of July, but was intending to start work again once the House of Commons resumed in September. For those who don't know, Layton was the leader of the federal New Democrat Party. He was also the Leader of the Opposition as of last May's federal election, which marked a major change in the Canadian political landscape: the NDP went from 36 to 103 seats, the Liberals from 77 to 34, and the Bloc from 47 to 4. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Easygoing Eyebeast Jerakeen Posted August 22, 2011 Share Posted August 22, 2011 I can't believe I'm finding out about this via Spiderweb. That's too bad. He was the first NDP leader (in my memory, anyway) who had a bit of charisma. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Well-Actually War Trall Rowen Posted August 22, 2011 Share Posted August 22, 2011 Originally Posted By: The Turtle Moves I can't believe I'm finding out about this via Spiderweb. This is where I go for all my real time news updates. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magnificent Ornk Student of Trinity Posted August 23, 2011 Share Posted August 23, 2011 This is really too bad for Canada. Layton had stature and charisma. He lifted the New Democratic Party out of its traditional amateurish irrelevance. All my life it has been a party that knew it would never have to make any difficult decisions, since it would never get a national plurality, so it could always just whine for the moon. Layton was articulate — he was a journalism professor for a while. But he worked his way up through the ranks from municipal politics, and by the time he hit the national stage, he made a parachuted-in career academic like Ignatieff look really out of touch. He was the Lefty you had to take seriously, and a few months ago, he finally made the whole country take his party seriously. Now he's gone. The saddest thing is that his party doesn't seem to have anyone remotely like him left. It's got an awful lot of novice Members of Parliament, who will almost inevitably say and do things that make the New Democrats look amateurish and childish again. If Layton were there, he would have been able to prevent much of that, and counterbalance the rest. As it is, the heyday he gave his whole side of the political spectrum in Canada will probably not outlast the next election. That's a shame, no matter what persuasion you hold. There's a case that deserves to be stated well, regardless of whether it deserves to prevail. I probably wouldn't have agreed with him often, but I'm awfully damn sorry Jack Layton is gone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Understated Ur-Drakon Celtic Minstrel Posted August 26, 2011 Share Posted August 26, 2011 I first found this news, of all places, on Wikipedia; I think the same day he died, even. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Well-Actually War Trall The Ratt Posted August 26, 2011 Share Posted August 26, 2011 Wikipedia is actually pretty up to date on news type things. Not as up to date as dedicated news sites, but I still get most of my global news from it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Easygoing Eyebeast keira Posted August 26, 2011 Share Posted August 26, 2011 Wikinews! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Easygoing Eyebeast Dintiradan Posted August 26, 2011 Author Share Posted August 26, 2011 I don't think I've ever found out about any breaking news via Wikipedia (maybe I would if I ever visited the front page), but I usually use Wikipedia to confirm rumours. If there's no citation on the death, then it's probably just a rumour. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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