jack layton
Jack
Layton Wants To Get This Party Started
- by Carolyn V. Mill
'-
young people are feeling a hunger, there is a hunger there to be shaping
the future. We're worried. And we are hungry to be involved.'
As I enter his headquarters on Grange Avenue, Jack Layton's campaign manager is on bended knee mopping the floors in a never-ending effort to remove slush dragged in by myself and others. Not a surprising gig for a man with such an important job, not when you consider that his boss is the ONLY politician I have ever seen ride past my house on his bicycle. Not militantly environmental, gay or vegetarian, Canada's front runner for the NDP rides a bike or takes the TTC because; like many city dwellers, he simply doesn't own a car. His campaign manager mops slush because; it's winter in Ontario. Functional reality plays a large role in this hands-on campaign. This year Jack Layton wants to play a larger role in Canadian politics by bringing this philosophy to the House of Commons, but with no seat he could be in for a bumpy ride.
Jack-detractors' tireless refrain that he doesn't have any Real Federal Experience just might be outweighed by the fact that Jack does have 'Average Canadian Citizen Experience'. As well as the energy to do something about it. He actually uses many of the resources and services that we are so proud of here in Canada, and feels he brings new ideas on how to keep them. Don't get me wrong, Jack has great respect for parliamentarians. His grandfather, and his dad were just that. But as he points out, "it's not rocket science, that's why they call it the House of 'Commons', anyone should be able to speak there." His doctorate is in Canadian public policy, and what Layton definitely does have is an impressive municipal and city track record. Something that is becoming increasingly more important in the governing of this great dominion. When many of our young people more and more often leave their rural hometowns and head for the big city to get educated and employed, what happens if we let those services and sectors in cities get brought low by those who don't use them?
All the same, the big question, and the only relevant question one might ask someone running for the head of the New Democratic Party is this; what are you going to do to make the NDP relevant to Canadian voters? The NDP being what it is, a party full of great ideas, perhaps too many, without a coherent mouthpiece. Jack's job as he sees it "Is to get our message out there a heck of a lot more effectively and creatively, using the wide range of media that is available. Instead of being somewhat afraid of or shy of the media, or even hostile. I've kind of wondered how we ever thought we were going to get anywhere as a party if we are hostile to the media. Instead we have to realize that these are communication opportunities." This from a man who has taken a lot of heat for his camera-ready smile and youthful involvement in everything from demonstrations to rock shows.
Once those stage lights are shining brightly on the party, Layton's next plan of action is to enlist and exploit his team. How? "By making sure that we've got really exciting and interesting solutions, some of the best ideas going. And that means drawing in the Canadians that have the best ideas into helping us shape our policies. We have to attract a whole lot of new candidates to the party, people with really good municipal experience, people who are trusted and respected in their local communities. We've done the beginnings of that in our campaign, and I'm really excited about it. Now, we've got to excite Canadians with what we are suggesting could be done, that means asking them to lift their sights, and really encourage that sort of vision for the country."
Sounds simple enough, but with the NDP numbers being what they are, what chance does the party have of getting started? Jack says its all about bringing the tribes together. "We've got to go out and start to work with Canadians that are really concerned about the issues, because they are not coming to us. They are joining or creating all kinds of movement groups, all across the country, and we've got to go and join with them and say, 'look we've got 80,000 members, they're wonderful people, how can we as a large group, help you with your particular issue?' - Like protecting our medical system from being privatized, saving our water sources from being sold off. Or achieving Kyoto, and going beyond Kyoto to really make a difference on climate change. And so going and linking with the different movements is key."
Organized labour plays a part in Jack's party too. A large part. "these organizations are first, democratic. The workers do have an important perspective and stake in the wealth of the country, and should get a fair share. What's exciting, what's going on in the trade unions these days, is they are becoming real advocates for human rights, environmental safety, and leading the way in trying to reduce discrimination. What they are looking at now is corporate irresponsibility, like how is it that directors of companies, where people are killed due to negligence, are not penalized?" But what about wooing big business? He doesn't see that as a goal. "We want to have a climate for good economic activity, that will attract business and create work. But there are some companies that simply have an agenda to squeeze absolutely everything they can out of this rock of ours, out of our trees and water, and our people. They are driven by the need to increase shareholder value, that's how they make their money."
Don't get him started about military spending verses saving lives through a reordering of financial priorities. There once was a time when the most conscientious and socialist voters were parents, they had to be. Now, it's the children of those parents. People who fear a world where they might have to try to raise a family, and look after the well-being of their ailing parents, without governmental support because that money was spent elsewhere. The need for a party who will fight to ensure that those people wont be left with insupportable healthcare costs has never been more relevant. "There has been a drift away from participating in politics or voting amongst younger people in the last decade. But I can feel that beginning to shift. One of our young workers put it very well when talking to some seniors, this was when I was touring rural Saskatchewan. He got up and I introduced him, they were all really happy to see someone under thirty cause they're just not used to that at NDP gatherings. He got up and said 'we young people are feeling a hunger, there is a hunger there to be shaping the future. We're worried. And we are hungry to be involved.' And I thought, wow, that's a powerful image, a very powerful image. In fact I gotta remember to use that in my speech on Saturday..."
When asked if Jack Layton wants the Prime Minister's job, or just to be close enough to keep him honest? He has to admit, he is ambitious.
* Some of Jack's Role Models: Hon. Steven Lewis, (United Nations Special Envoy for HIV/Aids for Africa). Jimmy Carter, and his own great grandfather; a piano tuning blind kid who came over from England, and started the Montréal association for the Blind and successfully campaigned for pensions for the blind in 1935. *
more: 80's Parachute Club hit joins the party for Jack Layton's NDP Campaign