POSTED RESPONSE TO A COLUMN IN TORONTO'S GLOBE AND MAIL
We are a poorer people today for the loss of this heroic and humane voice.
Jack Layton was simply an exceptional man, and that fact is what made him an exceptional politician.
Honesty, decency, and bravery are everywhere and always rare qualities, but Jack Layton displayed them many times.
They were combined with a sharp intelligence and a genuine conscience.
True heroism - that quality of holding gracefully to your purpose despite the odds and pain - is so rare: its true possessors require neither a uniform nor war.
Jack displayed it in so many parts of his life: from the announcement of his first cancer and promise to beat it and from his views on human waste of Afghanistan to the way he led an historic campaign despite sickness and to the graceful way he bowed out.
I certainly will not forget one of the most gifted politicians and most decent public men of my time.
