Down, But Far From Out

If there's one thing certain about Jack Layton, it's that you should never bet against him.

Jack Layton's surprise announcement that the opposition leader is battling a new case of cancer has shaken the NDP's foundations and generated a wave of genuine empathy among the political class that is rarely, if ever, seen in Canada. The National Post's Chris Selley sums up the sentiment better than anyone else: “So that’s what it’s like to be a high-profile public figure and get cancer. Bad enough your component cells are conspiring to murder you, now you’ve got a pack of hounds dissecting your every utterance and demanding to know your most intimate medical details,” says Selley. “It’s awful. And yet, it matters.” The timing, not that there's ever good timing to be diagnosed with cancer, could hardly have come worse. The party, still jubilant from its historic electoral showing and a record-setting filibuster, is now suddenly without its saviour, its leading voice reduced to a whisper just as the Conservatives get set to roll out their legislative agenda. There's not a progressive person in the country who doesn't wish for Layton's voice to come back.

As trite as political concerns might seem next to Layton's health, CTV's Don Martin notes the gravity of his leave of absence on his party's future. “Jack Layton doesn’t just LEAD the NDP. In most voter minds, he IS the party,” says Martin. “Backdrops to party announcements are plastered with Layton’s name, every policy moves at his command, House of Commons conduct is under his direction.” The NDP is “the party that Jack built,” that he steered from the labour-reliant fringes toward the centre, bringing in demographics broader than the party's ever seen before, all without compromising the party's principles. He's done it without lowering himself to the personal attacks or cynicism that pollute the other parties, a reamarkable feat unto itself. Considering what he's accomplished so far, beating cancer (for a second time) seems like just another surmountable challenge the mustachioed member from Toronto-Danforth.

Nycole Turmel, Layton's hand-picked interim successor, then, has quite the challenge cut out for her. Just in case you haven't heard of her, The Globe and Mail's Daniel Leblanc provides a thorough rundown of the woman who's landed the summer's biggest promotion. Turmel, a rookie MP from Gatineau, Que., had previously led the Public Service Alliance of Canada, the country's largest union, a pitch-perfect career choice for someone leading a party that owes its history to unions across the country. “The bilingual MP for the riding of Hull-Aylmer is used to communicating with Canadians on complex files and overseeing a large organization,” says Leblanc, “without being seen as an eventual contender for the NDP leadership, whenever the position next becomes vacant.” In other words, she's as perfect a placeholder as the NDP could hope for. Still, and without offense intended, Turmel's leadership is something we'd all wish to be over as soon as possible.