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Jack Layton 1950-2011 R.I.P.

I am amazed at the outpouring. Repose in two locales (Ottawa, and then City Hall in Toronto), then a state funeral at RTH for an opposition leader. The CN Tower will be lit up in orange, the NDP colour. I don't think I can recall a show of this magnitude since Trudeau. Comments from the radio station I am listening to about the type of guy he was ... and then there is the stuff going on at Nathan Phillips Square.

Not bad for a labour type with a trench leadership style, one who never actually got a seat at the top, but who came close.

I have tried to imagine an outpouring of this size for any living Canadian politician at this point in time, and I seem to be drawing a blank.
 
The only recent local equivalent that I can think of, albeit on a much smaller scale, was when Richard Bradshaw died. I went to the service at the Cathedral then, but I don't know if I want to wait in line for hours to go to the RTH thing on Saturday.
 
TonyV said:
I have tried to imagine an outpouring of this size for any living Canadian politician at this point in time, and I seem to be drawing a blank.
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Trudeau? (Though perhaps more "removed" from Toronto matters, hence the lack of immediacy)
 
The last time I recall there being a spontaneous public memorial was outside the Princess of Wales theatre when Diana died. It would be quite a testament to the man's impact on people that it has indeed been that long since something like this happened.

Barring a tragic accident or surprise medical problem for someone like McGuinty, the next big one will be Hazel, and that will be a huge event in the GTA. Hazel is a legend.
 
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The tower, tonight through Saturday, lit up in memory of Jack. No light show at the top of the hour either, just pulsating red that shoots from the observation deck down, and skyward.

 
The Rev. Brent Hawkes will officiate at the state funeral for Jack, assuring that the political legacy will be commemorated in keeping with the situation. I won't be able to go (commitments) but I anticipate that those of you who go will witness a tad of showmanship combined with dignity.

Even the funeral will be political. And that's really okay with me.
 
Jonny5 said:
Barring a tragic accident or surprise medical problem for someone like McGuinty, the next big one will be Hazel, and that will be a huge event in the GTA. Hazel is a legend.
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She'll never die - they'll just keep replacing parts as they fail until she's entirely synthetic.
 
Admiral Beez said:
Of course he wouldn't care what you, me or anyone says or think about what he calls his wife - I only mention this because if it were me, I would care. That said, I believe that Jack wrote and asked Olivia to publish the posthumous letter in order to stir some thinking about what he wrote, and chose his words very carefully. He's referred to Olivia as his wife in the past, and chose not to this one last time, and this would have been intentional. Anyway, I didn't mean to make a big deal of this - I apologise for the distraction.
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I have wondered whether Jack Layton very deliberately used the term 'partner'.
And not to add to the distraction, but like Olivia Chow and Jack Layton my husband and I live/work hand-in-hand. We live together, parent together, run a science lab together, write together, teach together, cook, eat and sleep together etc. - there isn't much in each others lives that the other doesn't share and contribute to in some varying proportion. We almost always use the term 'partner' rather than husband/wife because that is exactly what we are to each other, and it means much, much more to us than husband/wife because it acknowledges the unity we have found in each others lives. (I can't imagine what it would feel like to lose my partner - something akin to having half of every cell in my body ripped away I suspect. Poor Olivia.)
I also know though that Jack Layton was a political animal, and I wonder whether he deliberately chose the word with a mind to the future of the NDP party - but now is not the time to speculate on that.

RIP Jack Layton
 
TonyV said:
The Rev. Brent Hawkes will officiate at the state funeral for Jack, assuring that the political legacy will be commemorated in keeping with the situation. I won't be able to go (commitments) but I anticipate that those of you who go will witness a tad of showmanship combined with dignity.

Even the funeral will be political. And that's really okay with me.
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I saw that on The National last night, very cool. I know Brent Hawkes casually, we also arranged for him to do the memorial for a very close friend of mine who died suddenly two years ago over at MCC.
Seeing the long lineups in Ottawa I can only imagine what the lines will be like in Toronto tomorrow and Saturday, so I'm going tomorrow when the lines will hopefully be a little shorter. I'm taking a small collapsible chair and planning on 3-4 hours. As for Roy Thompson I'd love to be there but I'm sure that there will be lines before sunrise to get the few seats available to the public so I'm watching it on CBC. In the end, it's incredibly inspiring how this tragedy has brought the country together in grief, even for many who aren't necessarily on that side of the political spectrum.
 
dt_toronto_geek said:
Seeing the long lineups in Ottawa I can only imagine what the lines will be like in Toronto tomorrow and Saturday, so I'm going tomorrow when the lines will hopefully be a little shorter. I'm taking a small collapsible chair and planning on 3-4 hours.
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I have an appointment a Yonge and Bloor tomorrow at noon. I'm hoping to be at City Hall by 7:30 am before it starts to avoid the lines.
 
I noticed people gathering on an overpass in Scarborough spanning the "Highway of Heroes" tonight with Jack Layton signs. Anyone else see this?
 
I made it to City Hall at about 3:15pm. The end of the line began about 30-50 feet from the Square along the east side of City Hall all along the east side, it wrapped along the back, down the west side and along the front to the main entrance.

The east side of City Hall looking south around 3:15pm on Thursday



North side of the building looking east



The north-west corner - the half way point



The west side facing south



The south-west corner looking north



The front with the entrance to the Rotunda, facing west



I asked a couple around the N/W corner of the building how long they had been waiting and they looked at each other and said about 2:00, and they were at about the half way point.
The Square is chalked everywhere, the only empty spaces I could find were the tiles on the far west and south area and the Queen & Bay area - everything else was marked including support pillars and anything reachable. Absolutely amazing, and incredibly moving.
 
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