Beyond The Commons

 Beyond The Commons

Aaron Wherry covers all the goings-on in and around Parliament Hill. Follow Aaron on Twitter: @aaronwherry

Categories: Beyond The Commons, Capital Read

‘We deserve to know a lot more than we’ve been told to date’

by Aaron Wherry on Thursday, July 28, 2011 10:28am - 30 Comments

Andre Picard says Jack Layton has a responsibility and an opportunity to explain his medical situation fully.

Mr. Layton should tell his political family – the electorate – what he tells his immediate family: what kind of cancer he has, the treatment he will undergo and the prognosis. That is part of being a modern-day political leader … during his sick leave he still has an opportunity to make a powerful statement about transparency and openness, and to serve as an inspiration for cancer patients at the same time.

I’m not sure there’s a sturdy connection to be made between demanding the release of Afghan detainee documents—”the culture of secrecy that has enveloped federal politics under Stephen Harper’s Conservatives”—and disclosing the details of one’s personal battle with cancer. I also don’t know if the leader of the opposition should have to discuss his personal health because of a public proclivity for gossip and cynicism. But there is that question of what we would accept from a prime minister and, if we would demand more, whether that should apply to the opposition leader.

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  • AVR

    I think the gold standard for this remains the gory details shared to national media about Ronald Reagan’s skin, colon and prostate cancers and various surgeries thereupon. Surely Jack would find it repugnant to be less open and transparent than Reagan, no?

  • AVR

    I think the gold standard for this remains the gory details shared to national media about Ronald Reagan’s skin, colon and prostate cancers and various surgeries thereupon. Surely Jack would find it repugnant to be less open and transparent than Reagan, no?

    • Anonymous

      It’s not a bad point, but I’m not sure that the analogy is quite as precise as it needs to be.  After all, I’m almost CERTAIN that Jack Layton does not have access to a nuclear arsenal that is capable of destroying the entire planet. I think it’s possible to have a different standard for the man being followed around by an American service member carrying the nuclear football and the Leader of the Official Opposition of Canada and not be hypocritical.

      • AVR

        Point taken about their comparative importance, to be sure. But given the health disclosures made by many politicians in the last 30 years or so, I don’t see the problem with more information. It’s hardly shameful or embarrassing to be treated for cancer.

  • TonyAdams

    Hallelujah!!!

    Layton doesn’t want to talk about his treatment because he is having coffee enemas or some such and doesn’t want to talk about it.

    Layton also has chinese mother in law and I guarantee she has all kinds of peculiar remedies that will seem strange to people who follow western medicine. Chinese med might help, might not, who knows but I would love to watch Layton explain what he’s taking and doing to fight cancer. 

    NDP is anti-science and pro-quackery. Orwell knew what he was talking about. 

    “The first thing that must strike any outside observer is that Socialism, in its developed form is a theory confined entirely to the middle classes ….

    In addition to this there is the horrible–the really disquieting–prevalence of cranks wherever Socialists are gathered together. One sometimes gets the impression that the mere words ‘Socialism’ and ‘Communism’ draw towards them with magnetic force every fruit-juice drinker, nudist, sandal-wearer, sex-maniac, Quaker, ‘Nature Cure’ quack, pacifist, and feminist in England.” Road To Wigan Pier

  • TonyAdams

    Hallelujah!!!

    Layton doesn’t want to talk about his treatment because he is having coffee enemas or some such and doesn’t want to talk about it.

    Layton also has chinese mother in law and I guarantee she has all kinds of peculiar remedies that will seem strange to people who follow western medicine. Chinese med might help, might not, who knows but I would love to watch Layton explain what he’s taking and doing to fight cancer. 

    NDP is anti-science and pro-quackery. Orwell knew what he was talking about. 

    “The first thing that must strike any outside observer is that Socialism, in its developed form is a theory confined entirely to the middle classes ….

    In addition to this there is the horrible–the really disquieting–prevalence of cranks wherever Socialists are gathered together. One sometimes gets the impression that the mere words ‘Socialism’ and ‘Communism’ draw towards them with magnetic force every fruit-juice drinker, nudist, sandal-wearer, sex-maniac, Quaker, ‘Nature Cure’ quack, pacifist, and feminist in England.” Road To Wigan Pier

    • Anonymous

      ban

    • Anonymous

      ban

    • Anonymous

      Other than the racism, this would be really funny.  Orwell was a social democrat, and the NDP are Canada’s social democratic party.  Or are you trying for double irony?

      • TonyAdams

        “Other than the racism …. ”

        I have been to Orient, spent two years there, and thought it was terrific because of how different society was to ours. Your ignorance doesn’t make me racist.

        “…. and the NDP are Canada’s social democratic party.”

        TorStar june 2011:

        “New Democrats will remain socialists for now as delegates voted to send a controversial change to the language in the party constitution back to the drawing table to avoid a divisive debate.”

        Have you heard of: 

        “Sigmund Freud termed this, “the narcissism of small differences.” As Freud wrote, “It is precisely the minor differences in people who are otherwise alike that form the basis of feelings of hostility between them.”

        http://therawness.com/raw-concepts-priority-analysis-and-narcissism-of-small-differences/

        • Anonymous

          TonyAdams posts: “Your ignorance doesn’t make me racist.”
          Without any respect whatsoever towards your personage, Sir, YOUR ignorance is showing, and it is very telling.
          You, Sir, demonstrate, quite adequately, the behaviors and mentality of the typical British soccer hooligan.

        • Anonymous

          LOL

          When defending oneself against a charge of racism, I’m not sure that referring to Asia as “the Orient” bolsters one’s case.  It’s true that the dictionary doesn’t list “the Orient” as  pejorative term per se, but given that using the noun “Oriental” to describe a person of East Asian origin is explicitly tagged as offensive in the Canadian Oxford Dictionary, I’d probably suggest avoiding using “the Orient” in this context too, just to be safe.

          • TonyAdams

            Do you really think I care what a few witless Canadians think? 

            And while I was in Korea and China I was told they didn’t appreciate being lumped in with Indians and Pakistanis. 

            Orient and Asia are different parts of world, different histories, different people.

            Is it racist to think of North and South America? If not, why not? 

            When you start calling people racist for talking about South America I will take you and Canadian Oxford Dictionary more seriously. 

            Han:

            http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Han

            Asia:

            South Asia, which consists of the nations of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, is ethnically diverse, with more than 2,000 ethnic entities with populations ranging from hundreds of millions to small tribal groups.

            http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Asia#Ethnic_groups

          • Anonymous

            Thank you TonyAdams for proving my point.  You do have the intellect and mentality of a British soccer hooligan.
            Pray tell us Sir, is your older smarter brother, the head of lettuce, still making tossed salads?

          • Anonymous

            When you start calling people racist for talking about South America I
            will take you and Canadian Oxford Dictionary more seriously.

            LOL

            Just so we’re all perfectly clear, I never called anyone a racist.

          • Anonymous

            I’d also point out Tony that while you’re apparently using a British (and to my mind anachronistic) usage of “the Orient” you’re not commenting on a British blog. 

            You point out that “while (you were) in Korea and China (you were) told they didn’t appreciate being lumped in with Indians and Pakistanis”.  Well, I hate to tell you this, but “the Orient” means “the East”, and has been used to describe peoples, countries and cultures from Mesopotamia to Japan and everything in between (Roman usage of the term referred to an area that stretched all the way in to the Balkans, though that’s a truly ancient usage of course).  By the nineteenth century most people were using the term to refer to China, Japan and Korea, even if the British tended to use it simultaneously in relation to India, or more broadly the Indian subcontinent.  Historically, “the Orient” is no more precise a term than “Asia”, though it generally comes off as pretty dated in 2011.  As is stated on the Wikipedia entry above “An important factor in the usage of ‘Oriental’, regardless of perceptions of pejorativeness, is that it collectively refers to cultural, ethnic, and national groupings of people who do not necessarily identify themselves as associated, and hence an lead to inaccurate assumptions about similarity. (Compare ‘the West.’)”

            If people in China and Korea told you they didn’t like being lumped in with Indians and Pakistanis, imagine for a moment how they feel about being lumped in with Indians, and Pakistanis, and Syrians, and Iranians, and Iraqis, and Egyptians and Turks and the Japanese…

          • Anonymous

            Also, if you’re main objection is to my citing the CANADIAN Oxford Dictionary, you may be interested to know how the OED defines “the Orient”: 

            “That part of the world situated to the east of a
            particular point; eastern countries, or the eastern part of a country;
            the East.”

            The entry then adds “Originally used
            with reference to countries lying immediately to the east of the
            Mediterranean or Southern Europe (i.e. east of the Roman Empire); now
            usually understood to mean East Asia, or occas. Europe or the Eastern
            hemisphere, as opposed to North America”.

            Again, it seems to me that even the British understanding of the term makes it a term that lumps an awful lot of people under one label!

  • Anonymous

    “We deserve to know a lot more than we’ve been told to date”
    NO, we don’t. This is a private matter. True he is a public figure, but Inquiring Minds can mind their own darned business. The ghouls and voyeurs can live their meaningless lives in some other vicarious fashion.

    • Anonymous

      Totally agree.  We  know as much as we need to. 

  • Anonymous

    “We deserve to know a lot more than we’ve been told to date”
    NO, we don’t. This is a private matter. True he is a public figure, but Inquiring Minds can mind their own darned business. The ghouls and voyeurs can live their meaningless lives in some other vicarious fashion.

  • Phil King

    What I can’t figure out is why anyone thinks they should have a RIGHT to know such things?

    I can certainly see some PR benefits in being fairly open, but ultimately it has to be Jack’s decision what to do about it.

    There’s always going to be people who will want as much information as they can get, but somehow I don’t think the “public good” is really what they’re concerned about.

  • Phil King

    What I can’t figure out is why anyone thinks they should have a RIGHT to know such things?

    I can certainly see some PR benefits in being fairly open, but ultimately it has to be Jack’s decision what to do about it.

    There’s always going to be people who will want as much information as they can get, but somehow I don’t think the “public good” is really what they’re concerned about.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_VSOCKYMBAHT7THGZJQVIF6GAVE girlbcca

    Every individual has the right to medical privacy, whether they are a public figure or not.   If you think you have the right to Mr. Layton’s medical information then  you must also believe that your employer has the right to know about your medical information.  He has been courageous enough to share his battle with us in the past and he must have his reasons for not relaying further details this time.  Whatever those reasons are, he deserves our respect, compassion and encouragement.  Please take care of yourself Mr. Layton, Canadians need your voice!

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_VSOCKYMBAHT7THGZJQVIF6GAVE girlbcca

    Every individual has the right to medical privacy, whether they are a public figure or not.   If you think you have the right to Mr. Layton’s medical information then  you must also believe that your employer has the right to know about your medical information.  He has been courageous enough to share his battle with us in the past and he must have his reasons for not relaying further details this time.  Whatever those reasons are, he deserves our respect, compassion and encouragement.  Please take care of yourself Mr. Layton, Canadians need your voice!

  • Anonymous

    Mr. Picard has done an excellent job of covering the health beat for
    a long time. On this one I have to disagree. If a leader’s medical condition
    is such that it will have a negative impact on his/her capacity to perform the
    duties required by the position, there is a need for the public to be informed.
    That is what Mr. Layton did.

  • Anonymous

    While this may appear off-topic, I must give credit to one “Lord Kitcheners Own,” for his scintillating prose. Whilst, in comparison, I used brute force to apply a cudgel to the comments of one TonyAdams, Lord Kitchener took the High Road. He honed the man, with a finely stropped edge.

  • Anonymous

    Whether or not “we deserve to know a lot more” is a trite point.  Mr. Layton – whose politics I can’t stand btw - deserves to be left alone at this point. The political post-mortem can begin soon enough.  Regards his health, here’s a hint; a picture does indeed tell a thousand words and the recent image of him this week tells “all we deserve to know” and that is that he is very soon to die. God bless… of course, only if you believe in that silly stuff.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_KNMP5FTLAE432BQSPOKU65OSJI MEGHAN

    I believe Mr. Layton is entitled to his privacy. He may be the Leader of the Official Opposition, but Government can and does operate regardless of his individual participation. I understand his importance to our democratic process, but I’d err on the side of letting him decide what is publicly announced at this point. He has a fight on his hands and I wish him all the best….

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_KNMP5FTLAE432BQSPOKU65OSJI MEGHAN

    I believe Mr. Layton is entitled to his privacy. He may be the Leader of the Official Opposition, but Government can and does operate regardless of his individual participation. I understand his importance to our democratic process, but I’d err on the side of letting him decide what is publicly announced at this point. He has a fight on his hands and I wish him all the best….

  • P.M. Laberge

    RE:  ”Mr. Layton should tell his political family – the electorate – what he tells his immediate family: what kind of cancer he has,” 
    ** Here I can agree.  But, I do not want a big long medical report, though.  In other words, we must balance privacy of a man, vs information for a nation.   But mayhaps Mr Layton will inform us more in the future. ***”the treatment he will undergo and the prognosis.”***  No.  I don’t much care whether he takes frozen chemo or frozen yogurt to try heal himself. And as for prognosis, well, in the early stages that’s as much a guessing game as anything else.  Only in the end stages are prognosis matters at all accurate.  We do not care who his doctor is, or what he does.  I admit:  He is a public figure.  Even his opponents have been known to respect him.  So, he too must respect us.  We are paying his paycheck while he takes a hiatus, and we are paying his health care.  And his plan is much better than any average citizen’s.  *** ”That is part of being a modern-day political leader … during his sick leave he still has an opportunity to make a powerful statement about transparency and openness, and to serve as an inspiration for cancer patients at the same time.”

    *** Well let us hope that he chooses to do that.  Jack, if you EVER wanted to be a REAL leader… If you EVER wanted to be a real inspiration…. Well, NOW, now sir, is your time.  Choose it.  Use it.  BUT: You must decide, and soon… how much you really care about your fellow country men/women… and how much you can/will as a result share…  ***
     

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