Steve and Jacko - Stately men
Not sure if I am alone, certainly an impulsive survey last night after a few beers, a few vodkas and of course a few plus one glasses of red wine, indicate that I am in the minority.Yesterday we, as Torontonians, Ontarians and Canadians said our final goodbyes to Jack Layton. Taken far too early in his life, but Jack as always, put up a fight to end all fights.
Inevitably, as with so many, cancer took his life, quickly and quietly.
I won’t get into Jack’s achievements, but suffice it to say they were many. City Council, runs for mayor, runs for Federal politics, and eventually taking the NDP to levels it had never reached in it’s long-storied history.
Jack worked hard and achieved much in life.
Jack worked hard and some might say achieved less than he should have.
Certainly I am in the latter camp. Jack Layton was someone I didn’t like as a politician. Certainly he was an individual I admired as a human being, hard working and stubborn as hell, but his politics were not mine.
I harken back however, Jack achieved less than he should have.
And therein lies the proverbial rub for me. Jack was celebrated in a state funeral yesterday, something that is typically reserved for royals, heads of state and heads of military. Albeit that Canada has precedence in delivering publicly funded state funerals to people who were not Governor Generals, Prime Ministers and Kings and Queens, it still strikes me as wrong.
We as Canadian’s paid for Jack’s funeral this weekend, the motorcades, the trip to Ottawa and back, Roy Thompson Hall and the security to shut down the downtown core, all paid by we, the taxpayers.
And what bothers me is that my personal belief is that it’s not right. I could, would and should call it a politically motivated decision by our PM, little Stevie Harpoon, because it appears to be nothing more than this. Steve-o is looking to find ways to smooth over the voters in this country following his most recent decisive election victory last fall. His biggest win ever did not come without residual effects. Jack was never a Mayor, a Premier or a Prime Minister. He in fact tried to be all of them and never succeeded. A great man he was, a political icon in Toronto as well, but to be only the second man in Canadian history to recieve a State Funeral (who wasn't a Minister, Prime Minister or Governor General), I am not sure it was justified.
Again, I loved Jack as much as anyone who is tied to centre-right politics could love Jack.
Steve-o’s no longer has to worry about the Liberals and the Bloc, his only worry seems to be the NDP. No other Prime Minister in Canada has had this as a problem. When the NDP’s leader dies, let’s make his a hero, a king amongst his people. This softened stance is to me, nothing more than a grandstanding of political grandeur.
So Steverino doesn’t change or alter taxes, doesn’t fund anything artistic, doesn’t lower gas prices, doesn’t send the largest city in his realm any more money for it’s weakening transit system, but still, in Toronto, Steve-o nailed it and won over the hearts and minds of the majority left populace.
Sadly, that’s how I see it anyway, and trust me, with the exception of Stephen Paige’s Hallelujah, it was a terrific ceremony, a fantastic send off to a fantastic man, but for me it was a misuse of public funds, something that the government’s of this country of becoming more and more famous for doing.
posted by G.M. Shier @ Sunday, August 28, 2011
1 Comments:
A Leader of the Official Opposition dying - there's very little precedent to decide if the funeral was appropriate or not.
Harper is politically motivated? You think? Chretien, by the way, was there. I don't think Rae was.
Anyway - I doubt there was a politician more motivated politically than Jack Layton. He never heard of a political office he didn't want to hold. People talk about his pragmatism - but the truth is the power of political office was what moved him.
Layton story - when running for municipal office (I believe mayor), he donated to his own campaign the max allowable. For this he got a tax credit back - not a tax deduction - a tax credit. Donations are so weak to municipal offices that you get (at least back then - a tax credit). Well - our good Mr. Layton not only made that donation - he also paid himself as an employee of the campaign - the exact same amount he donated. The net result - he pocketed the tax credit at tax payer expense.
Yes - he also lived in subsidized housing for a number of years. I could go on. I begrudge him many things; just not the funeral.
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