Jack Layton
Encyclopedia : J : JA : JAC : Jack Layton
 | |
| Riding | Toronto—Danforth |
|---|---|
| Political party: | New Democratic Party |
| First elected: | 2004 election |
| Profession(s): | Professor |
| Religion | United Church of Canada[link] |
John Gilbert "Jack" Layton, PC, MP, PhD (born July 18, 1950, in Hudson, Quebec) is a social democrat Canadian politician and current leader of Canada's New Democratic Party. 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.
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 grew up in Hudson, Quebec, a largely wealthy and anglophone community outside of Montreal. 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 Holford, with whom he had two children, Sarah and Mike. (Layton and Holford'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.
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."Layton Sues for Bike Mishap that 'Ruined' his Honeymoon." Toronto Star. Jul 5, 1988. pg. A.7 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."Well-to-do Layton lives in 'affordable co-op'." Tom Kerr, Toronto Star. Jun 14, 1990. pg. A.1 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."Co-op residents answer critics." Tom Kerr, Toronto Star. Jul 19, 1990. pg. A.21 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.
After returning to academia and operating an environmental consulting business, 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.Blaikie opposed the prominent role given to "identity politics" in the modern Canadian left, and argued that the NDP has placed an undue emphasis on "social issues" such as abortion and same-sex marriage. While Blaikie also holds socially liberal views on most issues (and, indeed, supports same-sex marriage in Canada), his position is that the economic needs of working-class and low-income Canadians should be the party's primary concern. Layton on the other hand was seen as supporting both "identity politics" and progressive economic policies.
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.
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, the province in which the NDP is the weakest. 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 the 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 CanadaFurther 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.[link]
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.
There was also criticism that Layton's focus on "identity politics" marginalized the NDP's traditional emphasis on the poor, the working class, and rural Canadians. Long-time NDP MP Lorne Nystrom and several other incumbents from the Prairie provinces were defeated.
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
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". [link]
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[link], rather than in 2004 where they criticized both the Liberals and Conservatives in equal measure, prompting some criticism from Paul Martin[link]. 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 tipped off the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) to launch a criminal investigation into the leaking of the income trust announcment[link]. 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[link], 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.
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, but had far fewer seats than the Bloc Quebecois (51) or the Opposition Liberals (103). With the new Tory government in a precarious minority (124), although the NDP did topple the old Liberal government, they still failed to become the "balance of power" in the new Parliament.
Two events set the stage for the NDP becoming the balance of power in the 39th parliament. in the house. There was the defection of Liberal MP David Emerson to the Conservative cabinet on February 6, and the re-election of Liberal Peter Milliken as the Speaker of the House for the 39th Parliament on April 3, 2006. 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 101+51+1=153).
Trivia
- His moustache is a frequent subject of discussion or affectionate joking; in the 2006 election, the rarely aired Jack Talk Conservative ad pasted his moustache on the faces of "ordinary Canadians" to argue that Layton did not speak for the average citizen.
- Was voted the candidate with whom Canadians would most like to have a beer with prior to the 2006 federal election.
Bibliography
- Homelessness: The Making and Unmaking of a Crisis ISBN 0140288880
- Speaking Out: Ideas that Work For Canadians ISBN 1552635775
Notes
External links
| Leaders of the CCF/NDP | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Woodsworth | Coldwell | Argue | Douglas | Lewis | Broadbent | McLaughlin | McDonough | Layton | |||
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