Jack Layton, my favourite superhero

     My Superhero is the Honorable  Jack Layton who  brought the NDP to prominence as the Her Majesty’s official  opposition last summer “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.”
― Jack Layton

     Layton's  favourite  quote was from Tommy Douglas, the founder of the CCF,  the NDP's  forerunner. Layton included the quote in every email he sent: “Courage my friends, ‘tis never too late to build a better world.”
     When most politicians drive us to despair with cynicism. Jack was a statesman, a visionary, an Ubermensch.  His superpowers included honesty, courage and conviction to help Canadians realize a more inclusive generous country which left no one behind. He championed women with his White Ribbon Campaign, fought  for gay/lesbian rights,  more bike lanes, Toronto wind power  20 years before it became fashionable. He married Olivia Chow and lived with his old Chinese mother-in-law downtown Toronto in an ecologically retrofitted old 2 story modest home. Spoke the Quebecois, people’s French and succeeded in uniting Canada if only for a short time.
     Stephen Lewis’ eulogy is an eloquent memorial to a man many called a friend and I call an inspiration, so full of life and gusto, unpretentious and the perfect  foil to archenemy  Stephen ‘the creep’  Harper who frittered away more than $2 Billion of our hard earned taxes on the infamous 3 day artificial lake, a hated $8 million chain-linked fence that divided Toronto  into a  weekend police state. Harper obviously learned nothing from the G20 summit in Quebec City 2001, dubbed the tear gas summit where peaceful protesters were tear gassed  repeatedly and shot with rubber bullets  singing in the parks nowhere near the notorious  $8 million dollar fence that circled old Quebec City.
Of course Jack was in his Clark Kent disquise waiting in the wings, preferring not to antagonize but to patiently wait and let the people wake up. Jack you passed the torch,  were we listening?