Jack.

There has been an enormous amount of press, regarding the passing of Jack Layton, so, naturally, I'm here to add to it!

For many years, I followed the struggles of the NDP, never really taking them seriously, even though I enjoyed many of their views on what Canada should be. Throughout this same period, I watched Canadian politics turn more and more into the embarassing shambles that has overtaken the US system. Bitterness, rapproachment and old-fashioned name-calling have come to mark our trip to the polls, instead of factual accounts of the major issues and problems facing our world.

Jack changed all of this.

In the most recent election, in which Harper knew it was do or die for his career if he didn't secure a majority, the vitriol was stunning. All of this talk of coalitions being unconstitutional, among other lies and fearmongering (not to mention the fraud perpetrated on some by, Im' sure, both major parties), sickened me and made me feel like Canada had lost its sense of self, the quiet dignity that had always marked our time on this Earth.

Jack changed all of this.

His poise, his determination to avoid stooping to personal attacks, his refusal to take the bait when the "massage" accusations came out, his pride in his party, and most of all his profound sense of belief in his party, which has never been taken that seriously, made me realize that there was more to this party, and this man, than met the eye. So, while being a life-long Green supporter (even with Elizabeth May as leader, yes), I decided to look at his platform, and followed more closely the debates and the speeches he took part in. Looking at the past, considering our former Prime Ministers, I always thought the PM should be aloof, analytical, considered.

Jack changed all of this.

He made me believe that as a people, as Canadians, we are deserving of more, of better. That there is nothing shameful in being passionate, even when everyone around you thinks you have no chance. He took this feeling, this passion, and fought through personal attacks, through cancer, through a media that showed him no respect until the NDP seemed poised to become the Official Opposition, and turned it into what is now called "The Orange Wave". That wave swept over Quebec, and anyone who understands Quebec politics knows how stubborn Quebeckers are about change. For so many of us to have chosen the NDP, and to be more specific, for so many of Quebeckers to have voted for Jack, shows how profoundly we yearn for something different, something other than the nonsense displayed by our "leaders", each and every day.

I wish we had all had a chance to see Jack's vision for Canada. The man was so full of hope, I can only imagine it would have been a bright place I would have been proud to call home, as I once was. I don't know what the future holds, anymore, and I never really had much hope for our future.

Jack changed all of this.

R. I. P.