Inside the fight of Jack Layton’s life

By Aaron Wherry, Cathy Gulli, and Martin Patriquin - Monday, August 8, 2011 at 10:00 AM - 132 Comments

Rene Johnston/Toronto Star

Jack Layton died after a months-long battle with cancer in the early morning hours of August 22, 2011. He was 61. Below is Maclean’s cover story on the charismatic NDP leader, originally published on August 4, 2011. To read Maclean’s definitive profile of Jack Layton’s life in politics, click here.

He had started complaining of pain and stiffness in late June. He was perspiring a lot, and found it hard to stand for long periods of time. His chief of staff, Anne McGrath, who first worked with Jack Layton when he ran for the NDP leadership nine years ago, thought maybe he’d over-compensated for his surgically repaired left hip and injured the right one. She wanted him to take the summer off anyway. It would have been a deserved respite after a remarkable 18 months that began with a diagnosis of prostate cancer and climaxed with him hobbling to an unprecedented election result.

Tests were scheduled. But then he also started losing weight. McGrath prepared herself to find out what was happening on July 25, when a significant test was to take place, but that test was moved up five days. With those results came a diagnosis and on the evening of Wednesday, July 20, two days after his 61st birthday, Layton called McGrath to tell her it was cancer. “He’s so upbeat,” she says. “He really is. It’s so funny. I don’t get it sometimes myself.”

He told her to tell him that she was going to keep working. “ ‘We started this journey together…and look at how far we’ve come and look what we’ve done,’ ” she recalls him saying. “And he starts going through the things that we’ve been through and everything. He says, ‘And we’ve got more to do.’ He was talking to me about fundraising, about increasing the party’s membership. This is on Wednesday night, you know?”

Continue…

Team Layton

By Aaron Wherry - Tuesday, August 2, 2011 at 9:15 AM - 8 Comments

Joanna Smith looks at the advisors that have surrounded Jack Layton over the last nine years.

That vision, from the beginning, was called “The Project”, says Brad Lavigne, who is now principal secretary to Layton after having served in a number of senior positions. Nine years ago, Lavigne was part of a team that set out to make Layton leader of the federal New Democrats, meeting in his Toronto kitchen on evenings and weekends one summer to reach out to contacts nationwide.

“That was the code name for transforming the party into a modern party with broad support, where we would build the infrastructure of the party so that it could compete and eventually beat the main parties,” says Lavigne. “We understood at the time that this would be a long game. We would realize success if we were to see this as a long-term project and not one that would come within a year or within an election or even two elections, that it would take much more time, and seeing that project through is something that drives me.”

There is a parallel to be drawn here between Mr. Layton’s rise and that of Stephen Harper: think of the roles played by Doug Finley, Patrick Muttart and Ian Brodie and the similar objectives. Even if the formal line-up in the Prime Minister’s Office has understandably changed over the last five years, there remain individuals like Ray Novak and Jenni Byrne, who have served alongside Mr. Harper for years.

This is the week that was

By Aaron Wherry - Saturday, July 30, 2011 at 6:00 PM - 11 Comments

Jack Layton stepped away. Nycole Turmel stepped in. Anonymous New Democrats grumbled. Chris Selley watched Mr. Layton’s announcement. Colin Horgan and the Canadian Press wondered how much we needed to know. Andre Picard demanded to know more. Chris Selley disagreed.

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs declared a stalemate in Libya. John Baird redecorated the Foreign Affairs department. The Privy Council Office silenced a salmon researcher. Elizabeth May worried about wi-fi. Jason Kenney championed his most-wanted list. And Stephen Harper pulled in record ratings.

Charles P. Pierce considered rhetoric and violence. Christopher Moore reviewed Lafontaine and Baldwin. Peter Devries counselled Jim Flaherty. Daryl Copeland worried about the nation’s infrastructure. Brian Dunning chided Elizabeth May. Michael Valpy considered Michael Ignatieff. And John Pepall, Fareed Zakaria and Bob Rae considered the meaning of the American debt crisis.

What would be the value of more information?

By Aaron Wherry - Thursday, July 28, 2011 at 4:13 PM - 23 Comments

Chris Selley responds to Andre Picard’s column.

Picard offers lots of reasons why he thinks it should be no big deal for Layton to come clean, or why it would be nice. But the aforementioned are the only explanations we see in there for why he actually has a positive obligation to divulge the details — and we’re not even sure the first one’s true. Either the PM or opposition leader can perform his duties or he can’t. What would we do with the excess information?

And now, back to politics

By Aaron Wherry - Thursday, July 28, 2011 at 1:49 PM - 4 Comments

As Nycole Turmel’s interim leadership is confirmed, there are anonymous grumbles from within the NDP caucus.

Despite the strong support Turmel has seemingly received from the party, some parliamentarians are grumbling that she does not have the temperament to be a thorn in the side of the government. But CTV’s Ottawa Bureau Chief Robert Fife reports that these dissenting New Democrats did not openly express their views during Wednesday’s caucus meeting because of the circumstances surrounding Turmel’s ascension to the job.

“Nobody wanted to raise objections for the obvious reasons that it would have seemed unseemly to do so, particularly when Mr. Layton was listening in (to the Wednesday caucus meeting),” Fife told CTV’s Canada AM from Ottawa on Thursday morning. Fife said these same party members are concerned that Turmel could be overshadowed by Liberal Leader Bob Rae, who is a proven performer in the House of Commons and a better-known personality with Canadians. ”They think this could be a gift for Bob Rae and that Canadians will see him as the official leader of the Opposition,” Fife said.

This assumes, of course, that Mr. Layton won’t be back for September 19 and that Ms. Turmel will, consequently, have to lead the NDP in the House. (One thought: Even if Mr. Layton remains absent, does that necessarily mean Ms. Turmel has to lead the opposition’s questions each afternoon?)

Meanwhile, Robert Fife also reports that Conservatives are trying to tattle on Thomas Mulcair. That Mr. Mulcair talked to the Conservatives (and Liberals) before running for the NDP is already a matter of public record.

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

By Aaron Wherry - Thursday, July 28, 2011 at 10:28 AM - 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.

The leader of the opposition

By Aaron Wherry - Wednesday, July 27, 2011 at 3:30 PM - 5 Comments

The NDP caucus has officially backed Nycole Turmel as their interim leader.

“I’m overwhelmed by the support of the caucus today. I’m also ready to take on the job as long as the federal council accepts the recommendation of the caucus,” Turmel said following the caucus meeting Wednesday morning. “We have a strong caucus, we have a strong leader as Jack Layton. We want to give him the time to rest to come back in September,” said Turmel.

A vote of the party’s federal council should confirm the move tomorrow. I’m not entirely sure of the historical criteria in this case, but if this does move Ms. Turmel officially to the position of Leader of Her Majesty’s Official Opposition, she would seem to become the 43rd individual and the second woman to occupy that post.

What do we need to know? (II)

By Aaron Wherry - Wednesday, July 27, 2011 at 10:36 AM - 7 Comments

Jack Layton’s aides discuss their approach to disclosure and the Canadian Press explores the history of private health in public life.

“I think the nature, sadly, of this disease is that it’s changed,” says Monk. “And that’s why he announced yesterday his temporary leave. He admitted quite publicly yesterday that he’s facing serious medical challenges.”

Layton has not, however, divulged the form of cancer he is now battling, the treatment he’s receiving or the prognosis. ”I think that Canadians respect his right to keep some things about his treatment private,” says Monk.

The NDP caucus is presently meeting on Parliament Hill. Mr. Layton is due to address the gathering by phone. Before the meeting, party president Brian Topp described a conversation with the NDP leader this morning. Continue…

What do we need to know?

By Aaron Wherry - Tuesday, July 26, 2011 at 4:22 PM - 12 Comments

Colin Horgan explores the question of public life and personal health.

Privacy is an important consideration, says Asselin. “Unless something’s very meaningful in terms of disease or condition, I don’t think people should have the obligation to tell everyone about everything,” he said.

Meisel says it raises questions of the public’s reach into the private lives of those who serve their communities. “My guess with the media now being so invasive, we’re in danger of really depriving politicians of so much privacy that some people who could make a great contribution in politics won’t enter politics because they don’t want to expose themselves to that.”

This question came up yesterday on the specific of what type of cancer Jack Layton is now dealing with (it was later reported that doctors don’t yet know). There’s certainly a case to be made that the public isn’t necessarily entitled to much more than the basic information about the health issue and whether the politician will be remaining in his elected position. In batting the issue around yesterday on Twitter, I did wonder whether a prime minister might be expected to be more thorough in disclosure and explanation.

Jack Layton on the prayers sent his way

By John Geddes - Tuesday, July 26, 2011 at 1:38 PM - 4 Comments

The sight of Jack Layton, so thin, telling the country yesterday that he is again struggling with cancer, and, even more, the sound of his voice, so changed, will have many sympathetic Canadians feeling the urge to somehow express their best hopes for his recovery. But how?

I’m pretty sure Layton wouldn’t say no to some prayers. Early last month, when I interviewed the NDP leader for this profile, he talked about prayer in recounting what he experienced after he held a news conference on Feb. 5, 2010, with his wife, Olivia Chow, to announce that he had prostate cancer.

“When Olivia and I made the announcement,” Layton said, “I came home that night and I said, ‘I don’t know what I’m feeling here. I shouldn’t be feeling like I’m feeling. I’m feeling almost like a joyful feeling.’”

Continue…

A gaunt face and a wry smile

By Aaron Wherry - Tuesday, July 26, 2011 at 9:00 AM - 1 Comment

Chris Selley takes in Jack Layton’s announcement.

Looking back on the day, my dominant thought is: Wow. So that’s what it’s like to be a high-profile public figure and get cancer. Bad enough your component cells are conspiring to murder you, now you’ve got a pack of hounds dissecting your every utterance and demanding to know your most intimate medical details. It’s awful. And yet, it matters. Mr. Layton and his party matter, far more now than ever before. Canada needs its leader of the opposition. And the NDP doesn’t just need a leader — it needs Mr. Layton…

Nothing any journalist, politician or press flak says will change what happens. But if I had to pick an optimistic moment from the press conference, it would be a wry little smile that crossed Mr. Layton’s face when he spoke, in both English and French, of “replac[ing] the Conservative government, a few short years from now.” Haggard as he appeared, he very much seemed to be imagining himself not as an ill leader of the opposition, but as a fit prime minister. The man’s never wanted for optimism. And he is, after all, on a winning streak.

Jack Layton takes a leave

By Aaron Wherry - Monday, July 25, 2011 at 2:11 PM - 11 Comments

(This post last updated at 6:38pm.)

Looking gaunt and sounding hoarse, Jack Layton has told a Toronto news conference that while his fight with prostate cancer is going well, he is now dealing with a new cancer and will be taking a temporary leave from politics. He says he intends to return when Parliament resumes in the fall. In his place, he is recommending that Nycole Turmel serve as interim leader of the NDP caucus.

2:13pm… The official announcement is here.

If I have tried to bring anything to federal politics, it is the idea that hope and optimism should be at their heart. We CAN look after each other better than we do today. We CAN have a fiscally responsible government. We CAN have a strong economy; greater equality; a clean environment. We CAN be a force for peace in the world.

I am as hopeful and optimistic about all of this as I was the day I began my political work, many years ago. I am hopeful and optimistic about the personal battle that lies before me in the weeks to come. And I am very hopeful and optimistic that our party will continue to move forward.

We WILL replace the Conservative government, a few short years from now. And we WILL work with Canadians to build the country of our hopes Of our dreams. Of our optimism. Of our determination. Of our values… Of our love.

2:18pm… NDP president Brian Topp says the NDP caucus will meet Wednesday morning to consider Mr. Layton’s suggestion and who will lead the party until his return. Advice from the caucus will then be reported to the party’s federal council and then the council will choose the leader. Mr. Topp says Mr. Layton was in hospital for a period of time, but has no details on what his coming treatment will involve. “I wouldn’t bet against Jack Layton,” Mr. Topp says. Mr. Topp wrote about his own battle with prostate cancer last year.

2:25pm… Mr. Topp notes that Ms. Turmel is already caucus chair and thus already has a mandate from the caucus. More on Ms. Turmel here, here and here.

2:36pm… Video of Mr. Layton’s announcement is available here.

2:40pm… Early reports from the Canadian Press, Globe, Star and Postmedia.

2:46pm… The NDP has set up an online form for Canadians to send get well messages to Mr. Layton.

2:51pm… The Post’s Kathryn Blaze Carlson reports that doctors have not yet determined which type of cancer Mr. Layton is dealing with. Continue…

How do you know when to get screened for breast cancer?

By Julia Belluz - Monday, July 18, 2011 at 2:22 PM - 14 Comments

The Statement: “The benefits of mammography are going to depend a lot on what your underlying risk is, and the current guidelines look only at age… I think that, other things being equal, it’s reasonable for a patient and their doctor at that point to say, ‘we’re going to put off the next mammogram until age 50.’” (Dr. John Schousboe, 07/06/2011)

Dr. John Schousboe, of the Park Nicollet Clinic in Minnesota, is speaking here about a new health- and cost-effectiveness analysis of mammography (breast x-rays) he co-authored, which was published in the Annals of Internal Medicine. The study suggests that risk factors other than age—breast density, family history, and history of breast biopsy—should also be taken into account when determining who should be screened regularly. Continue…

Good news, bad news: June 30 – July 7, 2011

By macleans.ca - Thursday, July 7, 2011 at 1:45 PM - 0 Comments

Good news

Taliban hostages for 18 months, two French TV journalists return home. (Gonzalo Fuentes/Reuters)

Boots on the snow

Canada is planning its biggest summer military exercise in the far North. More than ever, a grand show of force in the Arctic is vitally important. Russia recently announced that it plans to send two new military brigades to the Arctic and is boasting of plans to build a year-round port there. Tensions between Arctic nations are on the rise over the drawing of borders in this resource-rich part of the world. And while flag-planting displays may seem trivial, when it comes to Arctic sovereignty, Canada needs to use it or risk losing it.

Adult intervention

The Greek government has prevented a likely tragedy by stopping a flotilla of pro-Palestinian protesters from embarking for Gaza. An attempt to break the Israeli blockade last summer ended in a confrontation on the high seas that left nine dead. With both sides bent for a repeat showdown, the results this year could have been even worse. The Greeks are offering to work with the UN to ferry the ship’s cargo—food, medicine and building materials—to the Gaza Strip’s many needy. A bit of reasonableness that should serve as an example to the radicals on both sides.

A liberating decision

Ottawa reversed course and approved trials for a controversial procedure used to treat multiple sclerosis called “liberation therapy,” which involves opening blocked neck veins. Canada, which has among the highest rates of MS in the world, said last year it would not fund the trials due to concerns about the procedure’s efficacy and safety. Advocates, though, argue it is life-saving. The trials may finally provide some much-needed answers.

Loose connections

Cellphones don’t cause cancer after all, according to a major academic review of research by experts in Britain, the U.S. and Sweden. The report comes two months after the World Health Organization said the devices should be classified as “possibly” carcinogenic (along with pickled vegetables and coffee). Such cancer scares haven’t curbed appetite for the technology. The last wireless patents held by Nortel were bought for US$4.5 billion by a consortium including RIM, Apple, Ericsson and Microsoft.

Bad news

Ongoing efforts to fight flooding in Manitoba will cost over $550 million. (Tim Smith/Brandon Sun/CP)

Crackdown

Bashar al-Assad’s Syrian dictatorship, one of the Middle East’s most repressive regimes, continues to plumb new depths as it confronts pro-democracy protesters. This week its security forces opened fire on peaceful crowds in several towns, wounding dozens and killing at least three. With the West focused on removing Moammar Gadhafi from power in Libya, Assad seems to feel untouchable. And to our collective shame, he appears to be right.

Upper-class twit(ters)

A couple of months back, Treasury Board President Tony Clement was criticized for tweeting a comment on a CRTC decision that was effectively a change in government telecom policy. Now he’s been caught out sharing photos of Will and Kate snapped at a private reception. Clement says he’s done nothing wrong, but clearly his desire to self-publicize is getting the better of him. Facing similar aggrandizers, the BBC is reportedly considering adding a clause to its contracts with its talent to prevent tweeted leaks and spoilers. But it all pales compared to the numbskull who hacked the Fox News Twitter account on July 4 and shared the “news” that Barack Obama had been assassinated. Can’t we all find better things to do with technology?

This case has no clothes

An Ontario court this week heard arguments about whether laws preventing public nudity are unconstitutional. Lawyers for Brian Coldin, who was arrested when he showed up naked at a Tim Hortons drive-through, argue police should have discretion when enforcing nudity laws. In Coldin’s case, restaurant employees testified they felt “uncomfortable” seeing his genitals on display. If anything, this case offers an all-too-clear example why nudity laws exist and shouldn’t be fiddled with.

Social ills

Researchers writing in the American Journal of Public Health say they have calculated how many deaths may be caused by poverty each year: 133,000 in the U.S. That’s not to say money guarantees good health. A Canadian study found low-income, urban children are more likely to walk or bike to school and are therefore in better shape than their more privileged counterparts.

‘Breathe different’

By Aaron Wherry - Tuesday, July 5, 2011 at 3:08 PM - 2 Comments

Tabatha Southey tries to help rebrand Asbestos.

“Asbestos: A different kind of silver lining.”

“Asbestos: It’s like cotton candy for your walls. (But ideally not for mine.)”

“It’s CARE-cinogenic.”

“Look, world, it’s practically the same colour as a baby seal, and we’re saving it. Get off our backs.”

“Asbestos, now with zero trans fats.”

Cell phones don’t appear to cause cancer, major review finds

By macleans.ca - Monday, July 4, 2011 at 12:33 PM - 5 Comments

Despite mounting concerns that cell phones may cause cancer, a new study—a major review of previously published research by a committee of international experts—concluded there was no convincing evidence the devices cause cancer, Reuters reports. It also found a lack of biological mechanisms by which a phone’s radio signals could trigger tumours. Two months ago, the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer said cell phone use should be classified as “possibly carcinogenic in humans.” The controversy surrounding mobile phone use and their possible conection to the main types of brain tumour, glioma and meningioma, has existed for decades. Other studies from many countries have shown no indication of increases in brain tumours up to 20 years after mobile phones were introduced, and a decade after they became widespread.

Reuters

White gold

By Aaron Wherry - Monday, July 4, 2011 at 9:40 AM - 2 Comments

The town of Asbestos stands by its namesake.

Gilles Morin, a popular community physician who worked for the company for 20 years before going into family medicine, agreed. “The rate of exposure to chrysotile fibres today is infinitesimally small,” he said. “I’m fed up with being treated like an imbecile or a contract killer because I support asbestos.”

Mr. Nicholls, one of his patients, walks slowly around his home, catching his breath as his lungs slowly harden from a disease that will eventually suffocate him. But he too feels the industry is “not as dangerous as it once was” – though he is genuinely worried about the health of less-protected workers abroad.

Conceding the point, sticking with the policy

By Aaron Wherry - Friday, June 24, 2011 at 2:54 PM - 0 Comments

The government’s delegation in Geneva offers an interesting admission.

The Canadian delegation at an international summit admitted Thursday it agrees with the work of a United Nations scientific panel that wants limits placed on the export of chrysotile asbestos, but Canada still won’t back the move … The Canadian delegation on Thursday said the expert panel’s guidance document, which included its recommendation to list the carcinogen on Annex III, was “appropriate and the criteria for listing was met. Canada is not in a position to support the listing.”

Meanwhile, Sarah Schmidt tries to get the government to unequivocally state its position on the Rotterdam Convention and is duly stymied.

Standing up for asbestos

By Aaron Wherry - Thursday, June 23, 2011 at 9:54 AM - 0 Comments

The Canadian delegation interjected yesterday to object to the inclusion of asbestos in the Rotterdam Convention.

At a summit in Switzerland, Canada’s delegation ended days of silence and speculation by opposing the inclusion of asbestos on a UN treaty called the Rotterdam Convention. “Yes, I can confirm they intervened in the chemicals contact group meeting this afternoon and opposed listing,” Michael Stanley-Jones of the UN Environment Program said in an email.

Vietnam, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan also opposed the listing.

‘The miracle is in the original asbestos fibre’

By Aaron Wherry - Wednesday, June 22, 2011 at 9:32 AM - 7 Comments

Randy Boswell digs into the history of asbestos mining in Quebec and finds Jack Layton’s father.

The late Robert Layton, a Quebec MP in the 1980s who served as federal mines minister in Brian Mulroney’s Progressive Conservative government, played a high-profile role in championing Canada’s asbestos industry at a time when the world had just come to recognize the serious health risks posed by handling the fibrous, fire-resistant mineral. Robert Layton, in fact, was probably best known during his two-year term as Mulroney’s mines minister for promoting asbestos as a “good product” in the face of growing international opposition to the mining and export of the cancer-causing material.

'Problematic if misused'

By Aaron Wherry - Tuesday, June 21, 2011 at 11:28 AM - 3 Comments

Former cabinet minister Chuck Strahl says the government should support the addition of asbestos to the Rotterdam Convention.

Canada has to decide if asbestos should be listed in the Rotterdam Convention as a product that is ‘flagged’ as potentially harmful. We should do that, not because chrysotile, or white, asbestos is the most dangerous (it’s not) or because it cannot be used safely in some circumstances (it can), but because importers and exporters have the right to know it can be problematic if misused.

While the government still refuses to say whether it will support the listing of asbestos, Julia Belluz takes to our new blog Science-ish to take apart the claim that chrysotile asbestos can be used safely.

Can asbestos be used "safely"?

By Julia Belluz - Tuesday, June 21, 2011 at 9:44 AM - 48 Comments

Photograph by Flickr user shaymus22

The Statement: “All scientific reviews clearly confirm that chrysotile [white asbestos] fibres can be used safely under controlled conditions.” (Dimitri Soudas, PMO communications director, 06/15/2011)

Chrysotile, or white asbestos, is back in the news again, and doctors around the world are questioning the Canadian government’s championing of a substance that has been banned in most developed countries. “My jaw dropped when I heard [Soudas’ statement],” says Dr. Matthew Stanbrook, a specialist in respirology at Toronto’s University Health Network and assistant professor in the department of medicine at the University of Toronto. “It’s so completely misrepresentative of the science.” Continue…

Patricia Davidson Maverick Watch

By Aaron Wherry - Friday, June 3, 2011 at 10:49 AM - 3 Comments

The Conservative backbencher pushed her government to reconsider its support of the asbestos industry.

“The myopic policy of supporting the asbestos industry without fail must be viewed rationally and scientifically, and from both viewpoints the current policy our government supports falls well short,” she told Natural Resources Minister Christian Paradis on March 25, 2010…

“In my view, this is not a partisan political issue, nor is it an issue where electoral politics should trump human health concerns that are truly at issue with the policy,” she stated.

A colour-blind man looks at Green and orange

By Colby Cosh - Tuesday, April 12, 2011 at 8:37 AM - 21 Comments

I’ve been catching up with the various party platforms, and doing my best to use one of the pet heuristics I developed in my columnist days: looking for the most positive thing I could possibly say about those whose overall philosophies I strongly oppose. In this election, that is pretty well everybody. But I started with the Greens and the New Democrats, because that is where the task of being sympathetic is hardest for a gun-crazed oil-drunk Albertan.

The contrast between the parties’ platforms is interesting: the Green ideas induce slightly more sheer nausea of the “literally everything in here is eye-slashingly horrible” kind, but at the same time there is a consoling breath of radicalism pervading Vision Green, a redeeming Small Is Beautiful spirit. At least, one feels, their nonsense is addressed to the individual. A typical laissez-faire economist would probably like the Green platform the least of the four on offer from national parties, but the Greens may be the strongest of all in advocating the core precept that prices are signals. At one point, denouncing market distortions created by corporate welfare, Vision Green approvingly quotes the maxim “Governments are not adept at picking winners, but losers are adept at picking governments.” (The saying is attributed to a 2006 book by Mark Milke of the Fraser Institute, but a gentleman named Paul Martin Jr. had uttered a version of it as early as 2000.)

The New Democratic platform is more adult and serious than the Greens’ overall, which comes as no surprise. But it occurs to me, not for the first time this year, how much some folks love “trickle-down politics” when they are not busy denouncing “trickle-down economics”. How does Jack Layton hope to remedy the plight of the Canadian Indian? By “building a new relationship” with his politicians and band chiefs. How does he propose to improve the lot of artists? By flooding movie and TV producers, and funding agencies, with money and tax credits. He’ll help parents by giving money to day care entrepreneurs; he’ll sweeten the pot for “women’s groups” and “civil society groups”. One detects, perhaps mostly from prejudice, a suffocating sense of system-building, of unskeptical passion for bureaucracy, of disrespect for the sheer power of middlemen to make value disappear.

There is one specific difference between the platforms that leaps out when they are read together: Vision Green has a section on “Ending the war on drugs.”

In 2008, according to the Treasury Board, Canada spent $61.3 million targeting illicit drugs, with a majority of that money going to law enforcement. Most of that was for the “war” against cannabis (marijuana). Marijuana prohibition is also prohibitively costly in other ways, including criminalizing youth and fostering organized crime. Cannabis prohibition, which has gone on for decades, has utterly failed and has not led to reduced drug use in Canada.

Green MPs, we are promised, would remove marijuana from the schedule of illegal drugs outright. It’s the “legalize and tax” approach, presented mostly without the usual cowardly conditions—though, being Greens, they can’t resist stipulating that regulations should confine production to “small, independent growers”. (There is no earthly reason giant industrial concerns shouldn’t be allowed to get in the game if they want to.)

The NDP platform is silent on the drug war and on marijuana. Jack Layton used to be the favourite son of the single-issue stoners, and decriminalization appeared in past platforms. Now we see the mustachioed one repeating “potent pot” fairy stories on the campaign trail and calling for an “adult conversation”, instead of for policies that treat adults as adults. Note that when the Star‘s reporter asked a follow-up question, Layton immediately started cracking wise; someone should explain to him that “adult conversation” about drug policy does not involve dropping smirking hints about the personal predilections of participants.

It would not be quite so extraordinary for Layton to play the smug ass, of course, were he not a cancer survivor currently reaping a hard-earned harvest of sympathy. As he knows—as some kindly professional has perhaps told him—many people in his plight find marijuana a useful part of their therapeutic regimen, particularly in overcoming the effects of chemical and radiation treatments. I don’t suppose he will have any trouble obtaining marijuana if he decides he should want it; maybe he already has. But what about the less privileged? Have they been altogether forgotten by their social-democratic tribune?