Makeshift Ottawa memorial grows for Layton : "He was such an inspiration to me and all Canadians, I think, no matter what party you support I feel like all Canadians connected with him," said Holly Stanczak,

 colourful makeshift memorial for Jack Layton continued to grow Tuesday around the Centennial Flame in Ottawa.

People are still strolling by Parliament Hill and leaving mementos, including dozens and dozens of flowers and cards.

The flag on the Peace Tower also continues to fly at half-mast in Layton's honour.

On Monday, large crowds congregated in Ottawa for noon and 8 p.m. vigils in honour of theNDP  leader, who died at his Toronto home early Monday morning.

"He was such an inspiration to me and all Canadians, I think, no matter what party you support I feel like all Canadians connected with him," said Holly Stanczak, who wanted to remember Layton with others who shared her same feeling.

Monday gatherings in both Toronto and Ottawa were organized through Twitter.

Elle Cooke, who runs the Twitter account "Ellebetz," said she was the first to tweet about organizing a memorial in the capital, encouraging people to bring candles and flags.

"We're just gathering to share a common grief," said Cooke, "it's really good to see this unity, I think Jack would've liked it, for sure."

A bouquet of bright orange daisies and a cans of Orange Crush also stood out amidst the flowers and cards.

A memorial for Jack Layton continued to grow Tuesday around the Centennial Flame on Parliament Hill. CBC

During the 2011 federal election, Orange Crush became a symbol representing the NDP’s sudden rise in popularity. Much of that has been accredited to the leadership of Jack Layton.

"I think he's made the federal NDP into a party that is very representative of the Canadian identity," said Allen Martin.

"He was a big part of the reason why I chose to come to Ottawa, to work and go to school," said Amy Kishek, who has worked with the NDP since 2004, "he was a big part of my influence in terms of my views on politics in Canada."

"Love is better than anger"

Layton wrote a letter to Canadians over the weekend with the help of his family and some NDP colleagues. His letter concluded with a simple message.

"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," it said.

Layton had strong feelings towards many social issues, including gay rights.

Monday was supposed to be the flag raising for Ottawa's Capital Pride, but the festival chose to leave it at half-mast.

“The Capital Pride Committee would like to extend our deepest condolences to Mr. Layton’s family, friends and loved ones," said Capital Pride chair Doug Saunders-Riggins in a statement.

"We are saddened by this incredible loss – Mr. Layton has been an outstanding spokesperson for GLBT rights in Canada and we are saddened to hear about the news of his passing.”

Ottawa mayor Jim Watson, who is in London, Ont. for a meeting of Ontario municipalities, released his own statement recounting Layton's work as a Toronto city councillor and as a federal politician.

"Canadians have lost a true representative of the voice of real people and my heart goes out to all who are close to Jack and Olivia in this time of mourning," he wrote, concluding the message.

Layton will have a state funeral in Toronto Saturday. There will also be a public lying-in-state from 12:30 p.m. Wednesday to 2 p.m. Thursday at the House of Commons foyer. A book of condolences will also be available.

There will be an opportunity for MPs and other dignitaries to visit starting at 11:00 a.m. Wednesday.

A lone mourner pays her respects to NDP leader Jack Layton

A lone mourner pays her respects to NDP leader Jack Layton at the Centennial Flame on Parliament Hill. Layton died of cancer at his Toronto home early Monday morning.

A letter to Canadians from the Honourable Jack LaytonAugust 20, 2011 Toronto, Ontario

August 20, 2011


Toronto, Ontario



Dear Friends,



Tens of thousands of Canadians have written to me in recent weeks to wish me well. I want to thank each and every one of you for your thoughtful, inspiring and often beautiful notes, cards and gifts. Your spirit and love have lit up my home, my spirit, and my determination.



Unfortunately my treatment has not worked out as I hoped. So I am giving this letter to my partner Olivia to share with you in the circumstance in which I cannot continue.



I recommend that Hull-Aylmer MP Nycole Turmel continue her work as our interim leader until a permanent successor is elected.



I recommend the party hold a leadership vote as early as possible in the New Year, on approximately the same timelines as in 2003, so that our new leader has ample time to reconsolidate our team, renew our party and our program, and move forward towards the next election.



A few additional thoughts:



To other Canadians who are on journeys to defeat cancer and to live their lives, I say this: please don’t be discouraged that my own journey hasn’t gone as well as I had hoped. You must not lose your own hope. Treatments and therapies have never been better in the face of this disease. You have every reason to be optimistic, determined, and focused on the future. My only other advice is to cherish every moment with those you love at every stage of your journey, as I have done this summer.



To the members of my party: we’ve done remarkable things together in the past eight years. It has been a privilege to lead the New Democratic Party and I am most grateful for your confidence, your support, and the endless hours of volunteer commitment you have devoted to our cause. There will be those who will try to persuade you to give up our cause. But that cause is much bigger than any one leader. Answer them by recommitting with energy and determination to our work. Remember our proud history of social justice, universal health care, public pensions and making sure no one is left behind. Let’s continue to move forward. Let’s demonstrate in everything we do in the four years before us that we are ready to serve our beloved Canada as its next government.



To the members of our parliamentary caucus: I have been privileged to work with each and every one of you. Our caucus meetings were always the highlight of my week. It has been my role to ask a great deal from you. And now I am going to do so again. Canadians will be closely watching you in the months to come. Colleagues, I know you will make the tens of thousands of members of our party proud of you by demonstrating the same seamless teamwork and solidarity that has earned us the confidence of millions of Canadians in the recent election.



To my fellow Quebecers: On May 2nd, you made an historic decision. You decided that the way to replace Canada’s Conservative federal government with something better was by working together in partnership with progressive-minded Canadians across the country. You made the right decision then; it is still the right decision today; and it will be the right decision right through to the next election, when we will succeed, together. You have elected a superb team of New Democrats to Parliament. They are going to be doing remarkable things in the years to come to make this country better for us all.



To young Canadians: All my life I have worked to make things better. Hope and optimism have defined my political career, and I continue to be hopeful and optimistic about Canada. Young people have been a great source of inspiration for me. I have met and talked with so many of you about your dreams, your frustrations, and your ideas for change. More and more, you are engaging in politics because you want to change things for the better. Many of you have placed your trust in our party. As my time in political life draws to a close I want to share with you my belief in your power to change this country and this world. There are great challenges before you, from the overwhelming nature of climate change to the unfairness of an economy that excludes so many from our collective wealth, and the changes necessary to build a more inclusive and generous Canada. I believe in you. Your energy, your vision, your passion for justice are exactly what this country needs today. You need to be at the heart of our economy, our political life, and our plans for the present and the future.



And finally, to all Canadians: Canada is a great country, one of the hopes of the world. We can be a better one – a country of greater equality, justice, and opportunity. We can build a prosperous economy and a society that shares its benefits more fairly. We can look after our seniors. We can offer better futures for our children. We can do our part to save the world’s environment. We can restore our good name in the world. We can do all of these things because we finally have a party system at the national level where there are real choices; where your vote matters; where working for change can actually bring about change. In the months and years to come, New Democrats will put a compelling new alternative to you. My colleagues in our party are an impressive, committed team. Give them a careful hearing; consider the alternatives; and consider that we can be a better, fairer, more equal country by working together. Don’t let them tell you it can’t be done.



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.



All my very best,

RCMP's Elliott bears 'some responsibility' for problems : 'There were some lessons for me to learn,' outgoing commissioner acknowledges.

The outgoing commissioner of the RCMP says he's partly responsible for some of the problems the police force has faced over the past four years.




William Elliott said in February he'd be stepping down at the end of the summer. On Thursday he announced he's taking a job as the international police agency Interpol's representative to the United Nations.



Elliott was the first civilian commissioner appointed to run the police force, leading to complaints within the organization before he even started the job. In 2010, senior Mounties complained about Elliott's management style, alleging he singled out people for criticism in front of their colleagues and drove some to tears.



The RCMP faced a number of challenges during his time as commissioner, Elliott told Susan Lunn in a candid interview on CBC Radio's The House airing Saturday.



"There was a whole range of influences with respect to that. I bear some responsibility as commissioner. [But] there were certainly lots of external factors," he said.



"Lots of things happened that we really could not have foreseen," he said, pointing to two deaths of on-duty RCMP officers and the stun gun death of Robert Dziekanski at the Vancouver airport in 2007.





Complaints affected RCMP

Elliott said the complaints about his leadership style "certainly affected the RCMP," but that the situation is much different now.



"I think that there were some lessons for me to learn with respect to my own style and communications," he said, adding later, "I think the biggest lesson to be learned, or relearned, with respect to my experiences at the RCMP is the importance of communication, the importance of sitting down and ensuring that people understand not just the words that you are saying or the voice that you are using to deliver those words, but the messages and feelings and thoughts behind the words."



The complaints and the events that followed, including a reorganization of the top officers in the force and testimony in front of a House of Commons committee, were "very unpleasant."



"They were unpleasant for the organization and certainly unpleasant for me personally," he said, though he acknowledged they became a catalyst for change.



Elliott said he's leaving the force better positioned in human resources, recruitment, as well as with appropriate policies and oversight.



He said the next RCMP commissioner should come from within the organization if at all possible.



"But I certainly don't think this is a failed experiment. I think that what you really need as commissioner is a dedicated person who's a good leader, and who's not going to think the challenges that face the force or policing more broadly are simple or can be addressed overnight," Elliott said.



CBC News reported Thursday that a short list of replacements for Elliott has already been prepared. The government will appoint his successor this fall.

Tories won't commit to Fords Sheppard

Progressive Conservative transportation critic Frank Klees wouldn't say if his party would provide $650 million in provincial funding for Toronto's Sheppard subway line as requested by Mayor Rob Ford, but indicated general support of his transit plans.




The Tories have pledged $35 billion in spending province-wide over the next three years to infrastructure if elected, and Klees said "much of that will be focused on transit and transportation and without question, the city of Toronto will be a priority under that program."



Klees said Thursday "we have yet to discuss" funding for Ford's new Sheppard subway line.



"We want to support the mayor if the people of Toronto who voted [for] him to take leadership," Klees said as part of a discussion on CBC's Metro Morning with Transportation Minister Kathleen Wynne and NDP transportation critic Cheri Di Novo.



"As the premier's indicated, a lot of details have yet to be worked out and we look forward to working those out with the mayor."



Klees's comments come one day after Ford asked Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty to provide $650 million in funding for Sheppard line by 2014. Without that money, Ford said $333 million in federal transit funding for the new $4.7-billion subway line could be in jeopardy.



Under Ford's March transit accord with the province, the old Transit City light rail plan was scrapped at the mayor's request. As a result, it is now up to the City of Toronto to fund and construct the Sheppard line, while the province would bear the full $8.2-billion cost of the Eglinton Crosstown underground light rail line.



The mayor said Wednesday that he was not asking for new money for the Sheppard line; rather, the province had already agreed to provide $650 million in Sheppard funding when it acceded to his transit plan.



Sheppard funding contingent on Eglinton budget

But McGuinty said the March agreement with the mayor stipulated that up to $650 million would be dedicated to the Sheppard subway only if the new $8.2-billion Eglinton Crosstown underground light rail line was constructed under budget.



The final costs of the Eglinton line — which will be borne entirely by the province — will have to be determined before provincial funding is committed for Sheppard, McGuinty said.



Klees also criticized the McGuinty government for its involvement in Toronto transit plans, suggesting the provincial government shouldn't play as prominent a role in transit planning.



"It's not for the province, contrary to the way the McGuinty government has been conducting itself, to impose its vision on the people of Toronto," said Klees.



Transportation Minister Wynne disagreed, saying the government talked with the mayor and agreed to scrap Transit City as he requested.



"Our priority is to get the lines built that we have committed to," said Wynne. She criticized the Tory Harris government for stopping work on an Eglinton subway line in the 90s.



"Mr. Klees, you know perfectly well there was a hole dug along Eglinton for an Eglinton subway and in 1995/96 you guys filled in that hole. So one of the reasons we're so far behind is because previous governments have not made the investments," she said.



The NDP's Di Novo lambasted the Liberals for "killing Transit City" in the 2010 budget, when it said it would delay the delivery of some $4 billion dedicated to the proposed light rail network.



"That was the beginning of the downfall as it were. We're 20 years behind in terms of our transit strategy in this province and in this city."



The NDP, she said, would take on 50 per cent of all operating costs for municipal transit systems so long as municipalities promise to freeze fares for four years.



Ford said Wednesday he hoped to speak with the Progressive Conservatives and the NDP about what they would be willing to provide for Toronto transit.

The NDP is accusing federal Conservative cabinet minister Tony Clement of using a controversial, $50-million G8 legacy fund to buy re-election.

OTTAWA—The NDP is accusing federal Conservative cabinet minister Tony Clement of using a controversial, $50-million G8 legacy fund to buy re-election.




Municipal documents obtained by the New Democrats show Clement met with local mayors and councillors in the midst of the 2008 election campaign. They discussed how to identify projects that could be eligible for the legacy funding.



Twelve days after that meeting, a local news outlet reported that Clement had posted video endorsements from “local townspeople, mayors and council members” on his campaign website.



“It gave him a major advantage over the other candidates,” New Democrat MP Charlie Angus said in an interview Thursday.



“I think the question has to be asked: Was this a $50 million price of an election?”



Clement, who had barely won his Parry Sound-Muskoka riding by a margin of only 28 votes in 2006, easily won re-election two years later with a whopping margin of almost 11,000 votes.



However, a spokesperson for the minister said Clement — as the minister responsible for northern Ontario’s regional development agency at the time — had a duty to be involved in legacy fund deliberations, including during the election.



“You will note that during the writ period ministers of the Crown retain their said duties and are required to continue to carry those duties out,” Heather Hume said in an email.



Hume added the meeting was scheduled several months before the election was called. She noted that the legacy fund did not actually exist at that point and said no funding decisions were made by local officials at that meeting, or any other subsequent meetings.



“The local committee was a non-decision making body. . . All decisions were made by the minister of infrastructure and his officials.”



The fund was supposed to help support the G8 summit, held in Huntsville in June 2010, and to provide a legacy for the region. It was spent on 32 projects throughout the riding, including gazebos, public toilets and other municipal beautification initiatives that were often hours away from the summit site and never seen or used by summit leaders and their entourages.



The auditor general has blasted the Harper government for keeping Parliament in the dark about the legacy fund. The money was taken from another fund that Parliament had approved for relieving congestion at border crossings.



The auditor general has also criticized the government for shutting bureaucrats out of the process and for maintaining no paper trail to explain how or why the projects were selected.



However, hundreds of pages of municipal documents obtained by the NDP through provincial freedom of information legislation, show that federal bureaucrats did in fact participate in local meetings about the legacy fund — including the one held during the 2008 campaign.



The documents also show that municipal officials were told to direct all questions and send funding applications to Clement’s constituency office, not the government.



“It’s a complete twisting of the role of government and distribution of funds to make it appear as if this was something that was being given out of the back of Tony’s car as his own personal gift to the riding,” Angus said.



Former Liberal MP Marlene Jennings said the latest revelations strengthen her call for an RCMP investigation into the legacy fund.



“They created a completely parallel (funding and project selection) system in order to hide what they did,” she said, and that suggests the government “knowingly and wilfully” broke the law.



Jennings asked the Mounties in mid-April to investigate whether the irregular way in which the legacy fund was set up violated the Appropriations Act and the Financial Administration Act. She was interviewed by three Mounties in June and received notification from the force on Thursday that its “review of the matter is continuing.”



Clement has dismissed the police review as a Liberal “PR stunt.” But Jennings said she’s heartened by the fact that the RCMP is still looking into the affair, four months after her initial complaint.



“It means they’re not treating it like it’s a PR stunt,” she said.

Michaela Keyserlingk V Harper government /The Conservative of Canada

Michaela Keyserlingk pauses when asked to recite her history of political activism.




She seems to recall writing a letter to the local school board some years back after it closed some schools.



But over the past 72 hours, the Ottawa woman has outsmarted the propaganda arm of the Harper government after it handed her a gift, allowing her to publicize a cause she has championed in honour of her late husband.



The Conservative party may have success demonizing the Liberal party or painting the national media as agents of evil, but it appears to have met its match in this Ottawa widow.



Keyserlingk lost her husband, a retired university professor and one-time Progressive Conservative riding association president for Ottawa Centre, to asbestos-related cancer in December, 2009.



They were married 47 years and had four children.



Robert Keyserlingk ran marathons, never smoked and pounded the pavement for his Conservative candidate at election time.



After watching her husband die a “horrible” death, Michaela Keyserlingk continued her husband’s letter-writing campaign to the federal government, decrying its hypocrisy in exporting chrysotile asbestos to the developing world, while guarding against its use at home.



When she was largely ignored, her son designed an online banner ad which reads “Canada is the only western country that still exports deadly asbestos!’’



She pays more than $300 per month out of her own pocket to maintain the ad online. It links to her website, which includes a personal essay about her life with her husband — who contracted mesothelioma as a young naval cadet — and stories about the dangers of asbestos and Canada’s export policy.



But the ad features the Conservative Party of Canada logo, and that’s where this story really begins.



Keyserlingk received an email warning from the party’s executive director, Dan Hilton, who told her the use of the logo was unauthorized.



“This usage . . . must cease immediately. Failure to do so may result in further action. Please govern yourself accordingly.”



Keyserlingk admits she does not have the right to use the logo and used it only to get the attention of conservative Canadians.



So, she says, she will take it down — after a senior member of the Conservative government meets with her to explain the export policy and hear her story.



No one from the party has offered such a meeting and they have all but fallen silent since Keyserlingk went public with the threat.



In one fell swoop, the party created a folk hero, brought attention to an issue they don’t like to publicize and came across as bullies.



“It is a step we are required to take whenever we discover there is an unauthorized use of our logo,” party spokesperson Fred DeLorey said in an email.



“We have nothing further to add to this.”



But Keyserlingk knows a media moment to exploit when she sees one.



“While they are thinking about my offer, tens of thousands of Canadians are learning about our asbestos exports,’’ she said.



“(The Conservatives) have given me a voice.”



Hundreds of Canadians have sent her supportive emails and she says she is stunned at the number of people who have contacted her telling their own tales of battling asbestos-related diseases or losing a loved one to such diseases.



In June, Harper’s government for the third time refused at an international conference to put chrysotile asbestos on a United Nations list of hazardous exports.



The Prime Minister has defended the Quebec asbestos mining industry even as this country’s export policy faces mounting global criticism.



Keyserlingk says she expects the next move will be the Conservatives issuing a court order.



“And wouldn’t you — and everybody else at every major newspaper — love to know about that?” she says, a hint of mischief in her voice.



Then she has to run.



A radio interview beckons.