BetterMost Community Blogs > My "Great White North"
Jack Layton 1950 - 2011, RIP
Sheriff Roland:
Anthony Jenkins / Globe & Mail
Sheriff Roland:
origins:
- Grandson of a Union Nationale (Québec provincial, untraconservative 1950's) minister
- Son of a Federal conservative minister (1980's)
- Born in Montréal, lived most of his life in Toronto.
achievements:
- elected as counsillor for the municipal government in 1982, and served in that capacity for 18 years.
- championed gay rights, the homeless, environmental issues. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/toronto/marcus-gee/jack-layton-torontos-gift-to-canada/article2138203/
- "He was an early fighter for gay and lesbian rights. As chairman of the Board of Health in the late 1980s, he spearheaded the city’s battle against AIDS, pushing for condom distribution and better safe-sex education. He once auctioned off a pair of his own jeans to raise money to fight the disease."
- "He was a leader in aiding the city’s homeless, helping to persuade governments to commit more money for housing"
- "He was one of the first to seize on climate change as an urban issue and helped create the Toronto Atmospheric Fund, which used a small endowment from the sale of city lands to dole out grants and loans for energy-saving, pollution-cutting projects. His passion for greenery also led him to posts as chairman of the city’s environmental task force and its cycling committee." and he was a avid cyclist. Also, he was in the forefront of banning smoking in public places - his first viictim - smoking in elevators.
- One cause Layton started was the White Ribbon Campaign, a coalition of men vowing to end violence against women. The movement was started in response to the 1991 Montreal Massacre. Its first office was in the Layton home. The campaign is now active in more than 60 countries. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/story/2011/08/23/layton-city-legacy-issues.html
- Elected as leader of the NDP in 2003 and in each subsequent election, increased the NDP's representation at the federal level, including 35% of the seats in the current parliament.
In his last days he wrote a letter to Canadians. it concluded with:
"My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair.
So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we'll change the world."
Sheriff Roland:
The Cyclist advocate:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/story/2011/08/23/layton-city-legacy-issues.html
Toronto cyclists rang their bells as they rode past Toronto's city hall on Monday, a tribute to Jack Layton's work to promote city cycling long before it was fashionable.
In the 1980s Layton helped develop the city's metal ring-and-post bike locks. They now number 16,000 and are a mainstay on sidewalks throughout the city. Layton also pushed to allow cyclists to carry their bikes aboard TTC vehicles (public trasit).
We have him to thank for the early days of bike advocacy in Toronto," said urban cycling co-ordinator Yvonne Bambrick.
"Jack was there at the start, he politicized cycling," said Bowker. "He rode his bike to work like it was a normal thing to do. He set an example. Everything he did, everything he talked about. That's what he lived."
Sheriff Roland:
People have been chalking up the calls of the ramp up at Nathan Phillip Square (city hall).
and when they ran out of space, they chalked up the grounds with messages
Sheriff Roland:
On gay rights:
http://torontoist.com/2011/08/mourning_jack_layton_in_nathan_phillips_square.php?gallery0Pic=7#gallery
Kyle Rae:
I learned my politics from Jack. He got elected in '82 in the downtown, and I learned from him. Being an activist in the gay community, I worked with him on pushing our agenda for equality rights here at City Hall.
He was our greatest advocate. No one else would touch us. Even though there was a closeted gay man on council who wouldn't help us one bit, Jack was the one we went to. We didn't have to explain to him what we were asking for.
Jack was our voice, I would say from about '82. And then I got elected in '91. I was the first openly gay [councillor], but for that first ten years he was our advocate. We fought Eggleton on declaring Pride Day, fought him about raising the flag. AIDS grants? Jack started them in 1987. And now this new, so-called mayor wants to dismantle them.
As chair of Toronto's Board of Health, in the late '80s, Layton was an advocate for devoting City resources to AIDS prevention, and helped organize a pioneering needle exchange program.
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