Jack Layton

Semi-protection

This article has been semi-protected. Semi-protection prevents edits from unregistered users (IP addresses), as well as edits from any account that is not autoconfirmed (is at least four days old and has at least ten edits to Wikipedia) or confirmed. Such users can request edits to this article by proposing them on this talk page, using the {{Edit semi-protected}} template if necessary to gain attention. New users may also request the confirmed user right by visiting Requests for permissions.

Hon. John Gilbert Layton
File:LaytonPortrait.jpg
Member of Parliament for Toronto—Danforth
Incumbent
Assumed office 2004 Federal Election
Preceded by	Dennis Mills
Personal details
Born	(1950-07-18) July 18, 1950 Montreal, Quebec
Political party	NDP
Spouse	Olivia Chow
Residence(s)	Toronto, Ontario
Profession	Politician
Cabinet	Leader of the New Democratic Party

John Gilbert "Jack" Layton, PC, MP, PhD (born July 18, 1950) is a social democratic Canadian politician and current leader of Canada's New Democratic Party (since 2003). He is a former city councillor and deputy mayor of Toronto, Ontario. On June 28, 2004, he was elected Member of Parliament for the constituency of Toronto—Danforth. He is married to fellow MP Olivia Chow.

Biography

Early life

Layton comes from a long line of politicians. His great-great-uncle, William Steeves, was a Father of Confederation. His great-grandfather Philip Layton was a blind activist who led a campaign for disability pensions in the 1930s. His grandfather, Gilbert Layton, was a cabinet minister in the Union Nationale government of Maurice Duplessis in Quebec, and resigned due to the provincial government's lack of support for Canadian participation in World War II. His father, Robert Layton, was a Liberal Party activist in the 1960s and 1970s, and served as a Progressive Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) and Cabinet minister in the 1980s.

Layton was born in Montreal and reared in nearby Hudson, Quebec, a comfortable and largely anglophone community. He was elected student council president of his high school, and his yearbook predicted that he would become a politician. He studied political science at McGill University, and in 1969, at age 19, he married his high school sweetheart Sally Halford, with whom he had two children, Sarah and Mike. (Layton and Halford's marriage ultimately ended in 1983 after 14 years.) At McGill, he was a member of the Sigma Chi Fraternity.

In 1970, the family moved to Toronto where Layton went to York University to obtain his Ph.D. in political science. Layton then became a professor at Ryerson University. He also became a prominent activist for a variety of causes. He has written several books, including Homelessness: The Making and Unmaking of a Crisis and, more recently, a book on general public policy, Speaking Out.

Toronto City Council

At York and Ryerson, Layton developed close links with a number of Toronto figures including John Sewell and David Crombie. He was first elected to Toronto City Council in 1982, in a surprise upset against incumbent Gordon Chong. He quickly became one of the most outspoken members of council, and a leader of the left wing. He was one of the most vocal opponents of the massive SkyDome project, and an early advocate for rights for AIDS patients. In 1984, he was fined for trespassing when he handed out leaflets at the Eaton Centre during a strike by Eaton's staff, but the charge was later thrown out on freedom of speech grounds. Layton was also one of the few opponents to Toronto's bid for the 1996 Summer Olympics. In 1985, he moved to the Metro Toronto council, in the first direct elections for members of that body.

File:Jackandolivia.jpg

Jack Layton with wife, Olivia Chow

In July 1988, he married Hong Kong-born Toronto school board trustee Olivia Chow in a ceremony on Algonquin Island. Their whitewater rafting honeymoon plans had to be abandoned, however, when days after the wedding Layton collided with a newspaper box while bicycling. Chow later joined Layton on Toronto City Council, and she has also been a candidate for the federal New Democrats three times, winning her seat the third time in a close race against Tony Ianno in the 2006 election.

In the 1988 municipal elections, Layton traded places with City Council ally Dale Martin, with Martin going to Metro and Layton returning to Toronto City Council. Layton was easily elected in a contest with former high school teacher Lois MacMillan-Walker. The election was a major victory for Layton as the reformist coalition of which he was the de facto head gained control of City Council, the first time in city history a coalition of New Democrats and independents controlled council.

Layton and Chow were also the subject of some dispute when a June 14, 1990 Toronto Star article by Tom Kerr accused them of unfairly living in a housing cooperative subsidized by the federal government, despite their high income. Layton and Chow had both lived in the Hazelburn Co-op since 1985, and lived together in an $800 per month three-bedroom apartment after their marriage in 1988. By 1990, their combined annual income was $120,000, and in March of that year they began voluntarily paying an additional $325 per month to offset their share of the co-op's Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation subsidy, the only members of the co-op to do so. Average Toronto market rent in 1989 was $782 per month, although the Vancouver Province newspaper claimed a comparable dwelling would have been worth $1,500.

In response to the article, the co-op's board argued that having mixed-income tenants was crucial to the success of co-ops, and that the laws deliberately set aside apartments for those willing to pay market rates, such as Layton and Chow. During the late 1980s and early 1990s they maintained approximately 30% of their units as low income units and provided the rest at what they considered market rent. In June 1990, the city's solicitor cleared the couple of any wrong-doing, and later that month, Layton and Chow left the co-op and bought a house in Toronto's Chinatown together with Chow's mother, a move they said had been planned for some time. Former Toronto mayor John Sewell later wrote in NOW Magazine that rival Toronto city councillor Tom Jakobek had given the story to Tom Kerr.

Originally known for coming to council meetings in blue jeans with unkempt hair, Layton worked to change his image to run for mayor in the 1991 civic election. He also started wearing contact lenses, abandoning his glasses, and traded in his blue jeans for suits. In February 1991, Layton became the first official NDP candidate for the mayoralty, pitting him against centrist incumbent Art Eggleton. In a move that surprised many, Eggleton elected not to run again. Layton was opposed by three right-of-centre candidates: Susan Fish, June Rowlands, and Betty Disero. Right wing support soon coalesced around former city councillor Rowlands, preventing the internal divisions Layton needed to win office. Layton was also hurt by the growing unpopularity of the provincial NDP government of Bob Rae, and by his earlier opposition to Toronto's Olympic bid. Bid organizer Paul Henderson accused Layton and his allies of costing Toronto the event. Despite this, October polls showed Layton only four points behind Rowlands, with 36% support. However on October 17, Fish, a former provincial Tory cabinet minister who had only 19% support, pulled out of the race, and many of her supporters moved to Rowlands. Layton lost the November 12 election by a considerable margin. However, in the same election Olivia Chow easily won a seat on City Council.

Layton returned to academia and founded the Green Catalyst Group Inc., an environmental consulting business. In 1993, he ran for the Canadian House of Commons in the riding of Rosedale for the NDP, but finished fourth in the generally Liberal riding. In 1994, he returned to Metro Council, and he resumed his high profile role in local politics. He also came to national attention as the leader of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities. He ran again in the 1997 federal election, but lost to incumbent Dennis Mills by a wide margin.

Leader of the NDP

Layton was elected leader of the NDP at the party's leadership convention in Toronto, on January 25, 2003. Layton won on the first ballot with 53.5% of the vote, defeating Bill Blaikie and Lorne Nystrom. He was the first candidate for federal NDP leadership to win on the first ballot since Tommy Douglas.

As Layton held no seat in the House of Commons, he appointed the runner-up, longtime Winnipeg-area MP Bill Blaikie, as deputy leader and delegated him to act as parliamentary leader. Layton did not seek election to the House of Commons by running in a by-election, as is the tradition among new party leaders without a seat. Instead, he waited until the 2004 federal election to contest the riding of Toronto-Danforth against Liberal Dennis Mills. Mills had defeated Layton by a wide margin in the 1997 election.

Jack Layton addresses the 2003 NDP convention in Toronto, where he was elected leader

Although he had no parliamentary seat, Layton was noted for trying to draw considerable attention from the Canadian mass media. Much of his rhetoric has involved attacking the policies of Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin as conservative, and arguing the ideology of the Liberal Party of Canada has shifted in a more right wing direction.

Another contribution has been to increase the party's profile in Quebec, one of the party's weaker provinces. A native of the province, he visited Quebec more times in the first year of his tenure than the previous leader, Alexa McDonough, did in her entire leadership, and has forged ties with various Quebec activist groups such as Montreal's Front d'action populaire en réaménagement urbain (FRAPRU). One of his opponents in the leadership race, Pierre Ducasse, was the first Québécois to run for leader of the NDP. After the race, Layton appointed Ducasse as his Quebec lieutenant and party spokesperson.

2004 election

During the 2004 federal election, controversy erupted over Layton's accusation that Liberal Prime Minister Paul Martin was responsible for the deaths of homeless people because he failed to provide funding for affordable housing. While rates of homelessness and homeless deaths skyrocketed during the eleven years of Liberal government, the Liberals argued that funding for affordable housing was cut under the government of Brian Mulroney. Regardless of who was to blame, even Ed Broadbent privately chastened Layton for that comment since that forced the NDP to stay away from issues of poverty and homelessness, which Broadbent personally wanted to champion. Layton's gaffe was seen as negative campaigning and the National Post had the front-page headline "Jack Splat". See also: Homelessness in Canada

Further controversy followed as Layton suggested the removal of the Clarity Act, considered by some to be vital to keeping Quebec in Canada and by others as undemocratic, and promised to recognize any declaration of independence by Quebec after a referendum. This position was not part of the NDP's official party policy, leading some high-profile party members, such as NDP House Leader Bill Blaikie and former NDP leader Alexa McDonough, to publicly indicate that they did not share Layton's views. His position on the clairty act was reversed in the 2006 election to one of support.

[2]

Layton advocated replacing the first-past-the-post system with proportional representation. He even threatened to use the NDP's clout in the event of a minority government. However, it was dismissed out of hand by the Liberal and Bloc Québécois leaders, as they tend to be favored by the first-past-the-post system, normally being allocated a greater proportion of seats than the proportion of votes cast for them. Historically, the NDP's popular vote does not translate into a proportional number of seats because of scattered support. This was most opposed by the Bloc Québécois, who usually had the lowest popular vote but nonetheless won many seats because their support was concentrated in Quebec.

Despite these problems, Layton led the NDP to a 15% popular vote, its highest in 16 years. However, it only won 19 seats in the House of Commons, two less than the 21 won under Alexa McDonough in 1997, and far short of the 40 that Layton predicted on the eve of the election. However, some potential NDP voters may have voted Liberal to prevent a possible Conservative win. Layton's wife, Olivia Chow, and several other prominent Toronto NDP candidates lost tight races and Layton won his own seat against incumbent Liberal Dennis Mills by a much narrower margin than early polls indicated.

Liberal minority government

On March 21, 2005, Layton was sworn into the Queen's Privy Council for Canada, allowing him to use the prefix The Honourable.

With the ruling Liberal Party being reduced to a minority government, revelations of the sponsorship scandal damaging its popularity to the point where both the Conservative Party and the Bloc Québécois were pressing their advantage for a snap election, the Prime Minister approached the NDP for its support. Layton demanded the cancellation of proposed corporate tax cuts and called for an increase in social spending. The ensuing compromise in the NDP's favour was protested by the other opposition parties who used it as a pretext to force a non-confidence vote. On May 19, two such votes were defeated and Layton's amendments went on to be passed on its final reading vote on June 23. As a result of this political coup and his apparent civil behavior in a spitefully raucous parliament, many political analysts have noted that Layton has gained increased credibility as an effective leader of an important party, becoming the major second choice leader in many political polls - for example, polling second in Quebec after Gilles Duceppe, despite the low polls for his party as a whole in the province.

In mid-November 2005, when Liberal support dropped after the Gomery Inquiry delivered its first report, Layton offered the Prime Minister several conditions in return for the NDP's continued support, most notably a ban on private health care in Canada. When the Liberals turned him down, Layton announced he would introduce a motion requesting a February election. However, the Martin government refused to allow the election date to be decided by the opposition. A motion of non-confidence followed, moved by Stephen Harper and seconded by Layton, triggering the Canadian federal election, 2006.

2006 campaign

In a media scrum during the 2006 winter election campaign.

With a vote scheduled for January 23, 2006 many New Democrats expected Layton to deliver substantially more seats than he did in 2004. They hoped the NDP would hold the balance of power in a new minority parliament, so that they could carry additional leverage in negotiating with the governing party.

During the election, Mike Klander (the executive vice-president of the federal Liberals' Ontario wing) resigned after making posts on his blog comparing Chow to a Chow Chow dog and calling her husband an "asshole". [3]

Through the course of the campaign, Layton attempted to cast himself as the sole remaining champion of universal health-care. Some opinion polls showed that Canadians found Layton the most appealing and charismatic of the leaders. Layton repeatedly insisted that "Canadians have a third choice", and urged Liberals to "lend us your vote". Some commentators and pundits mocked Mr. Layton for over-using these catchphrases instead of explaining the NDP platform.

The NDP's strategy had changed from in that they were focusing their attacks on the Liberals[4], rather than in 2004 where they criticized both the Liberals and Conservatives in equal measure, prompting some criticism from Paul Martin[5]. Andrew Coyne suggested that the NDP not only wanted to disassociate themselves from the scandal-ridden Liberals, but also because the Liberals were likely to receive credit for legislation achieved under the Liberal-NDP partnership. The NDP had also lost close races in the 2004 election due to the Liberals' strategic voting. Early in the campaign, NDP MP Judy Wasylycia-Leis had asked the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) to launch a criminal investigation into the leaking of the income trust announcement[6]. The criminal probe seriously damaged the Liberal campaign and preventing them from making their key policy announcements, as well as bringing alleged Liberal corruption back into the spotlight.

Layton's campaign direction also caused a break between him and Canadian Auto Workers union head Buzz Hargrove over the issue of strategic voting. Hargrove preferred a Liberal minority government supported by the NDP and he had earlier criticized Layton for participating in the motion of non-confidence that brought down the Liberal government. Hargrove allied with the Liberals and publicly stated that he "did not like the campaign that Jack Layton was running", criticizing Layton for "spending too much time attacking the Liberals". During the final week of the campaign, Hargrove and Martin urged all progressive voters to unite behind the Liberal banner to stop a Conservative government. Knowing that last-minute strategic voting had cost the NDP seats in several close ridings during the 2004 election[7], Layton intensified his attacks on the Liberal scandals, pledging to use his minority clout to keep the Conservatives in check. Shortly after the election, the Ontario provincial branch of the NDP revoked Mr. Hargrove's party membership, due to the fact that he had violated the party's constitution by campaigning for other parties during an election campaign. Mr. Layton disagreed with this action, though Hargrove retaliated by severing ties with the NDP at the annual CAW convention.

The election brought the NDP significantly increased presence in the House of Commons, increasing their total seats to 29 seats, from 18 MP before dissolution. Among the new NDP candidates elected was Layton's wife, Olivia Chow, thereby making the two only the second husband and wife team in Canadian Parliament history. (Gurmant Grewal and Nina Grewal were the first husband and wife team in Canadian Parliament after the 2004 federal election).

In the end, the NDP succeeded in increasing their seats to 29, though they had far fewer seats than the Bloc Quebecois (51) or the Opposition Liberals (103).

Conservative minority government

The NDP has the balance of power in the 39th Parliament. The Speaker only votes in a tie so that reduces the Liberal caucus by one, enabling the Conservatives to pass legislature with the cooperation of the NDP (125+29=154 versus 100+51+2=153). The Conservatives can also pass legislation with either Liberal or Bloc Quebecois support.

At the NDP's 22nd Convention, held on September 10 2006 in Quebec City, Layton received a 92-per-cent approval rating in a leadership vote, tying former Reform Party leader Preston Manning's record for this kind of voting.[8]. At the same convention, the NDP passed a motion calling for the return of Canadian troops from Afghanistan. On September 24 2006, he met with Afghan president Hamid Karzai to discuss the NDP position. After the meeting Layton stated that Canada's role should be focused on traditional peacekeeping and reconstruction rather than in a front line combat role currently taking place.[9]

Jack Layton and the NDP caucus voted to support the new proposed rules for income trusts introduced by the Conservatives October 31, 2006 . The short-term result of the tax policy announcement was a loss to Canadian investors of $20 Billion, the largest ever loss attributed to a change in government policy . According to the Canadian Association of Income Trust Investors some 2.5 million Canadian investors were affected by the change in Income Trust policy .

Jack Layton threatened to move a motion of non-confidence against the government over the "Clean Air Act" unless action was taken to improve the bill and its approach to environmental policy. Prime Minister Harper agreed to put an end to the Parliamentary logjam by sending the bill to a special legislative committee before second reading. Jack Layton released his proposed changes to the "Clean Air Act" on November 19 2006 [10]

Bibliography

• Homelessness: The Making and Unmaking of a Crisis ISBN 0-14-028888-0
• Speaking Out: Ideas that Work For Canadians ISBN 1-55263-577-5
• Speaking Out Louder: Ideas that Work For Canadians ISBN 1-55263-688-7 (revised and expanded edition of Speaking Out)

External links

• New Democratic Party - NDP official website
• How'd They Vote?: Jack Layton's voting history and quotes
• Audio interview with THECOMMENTARY.CA: Wednesday, 10 November 2004