Memories of Jack

I woke up this morning to find out Jack Layton had died. My first thought was "No! This can't be!" You see, I had planned out Canada's future, and Jack was going to beat his cancer. He was going to be our next prime minister.

That's not going to happen now... and since he'll never have a chance to screw it up, I'll always think of him as the best PM Canada never had.

Even when I felt disillusioned about the state of our country, Jack got me caring again. Caring about him as a leader, about the progressive values he stood for, about the potential of politics to make changes for the good in our country and our world.

I'm proud to have had him as my local politician. I remember when he was my city councillor, and he was always willing to stop and chat. When I was on student council in grade 8, he worked with us to put up more street signs and change speed limits around our school. I remember his failed campaign against Dennis Mills, happening right as I was becoming more politically aware. I was about 13 years old, and just starting to get a sense of what all this politics stuff was about. I remember Jack answering my questions and teaching me a bit about politics, and what MPs did. I remember his rival trying to convince me to get my mom to vote for him, as he did every election. Jack wasn't like that. He was concerned with my interests and instilling in me the same passion he had for politics, not about seeking the votes of my family.

I remember in 2003 when Jack became leader of the NDP. I was bursting with excitement. My city councillor! The guy who got me interested in politics in the first place was going to be leader of the NDP! I remember going to the party the NDP threw at a local restaurant to celebrate. I forget what exactly I said to Jack, something fanboyish and over exuberant, but he responded in kind, telling me that it gave him goosebumps seeing young people so excited about politics.

I volunteered on that campaign, proudly putting up signs. It was an exciting election to be a part of, especially with such a narrow victory.

I can't find the poll data now, but I remember every election that Jack ran as leader showing that Canada trusted him more than any other federal leader, that more people thought he would be a good leader than any of the others.

I wish he could have had the chance to show the people of Canada that they were right.

Thanks Jack, for everything. We couldn't ask for more from you. You stood up for us on parliament hill, you fought off cancer for the right to stand up for us again. You changed the political fabric of our country, and inspired so many of us. You'll be missed, but your legacy will live on in all of us.