EDITORIAL: Layton will be missed

Jack Layton never ruled Canada, but he was as fine a statesman as the country has ever produced.

A true champion of the North, Layton spent more time here than any other federal leader in recent memory.

Not because he felt obligated to do so, or because he thought it would win him seats.
No, Jack Layton came to North­western Ontario because he loved the area.

He vacationed here, he got to know the people of our region, and we loved him for it.

Canada lost one of its greatest amabassadors early Monday, when the news broke that Layton had succumbed to cancer at the far-too-young-age of 61.

Layton was a true man of the people, someone whose politics you might not agree with, but someone who you respected nonetheless.

The Toronto-based Layton took a party in shambles, with just 13 seats in 2003 to more than 100 in 2011, earning the NDP Official Opposition status.

To the bitter end, however, he was optimistic about the country’s future.

This, from a final letter written to Canadians, days before he died:

“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.”

Rest in peace, Mr. Layton, Canada is a better place because of you.