Jack Layton

Jack Layton
John Gilbert "Jack" Layton, PCwas a Canadian politician and Leader of the Official Opposition. He was leader of the New Democratic Party from 2003 to 2011, and previously sat on Toronto City Council, occasionally holding the title of acting mayor or deputy mayor of Toronto during his tenure as city councillor. He was the Member of Parliament for Toronto—Danforth from 2004 until his death...
NationalityCanadian
ProfessionPolitician
Date of Birth18 July 1950
CityMontreal, Canada
CountryCanada
I'd put it this way: Canadians want politicians to work together on their behalf. So that's what I'm committed to doing. I think it's been the goal of every NDP leader. Because we had a profound belief that we could do a good job on behalf of Canadians... if we were given that opportunity.
We want to try to have a productive parliament to focus on issues Canadians care about, ... If there is no significant action in the days ahead, we will have to make our choice.
Unfortunately it has become clear that Paul Martin and his team are not cut from the same cloth as Lester Pearson or Pierre Trudeau. And so, most Canadians think it's time for a change.
That doesn't seem right to me. Canadians paid for this.
They'll be working overtime to put spins on the ball so that they can try to control how Canadians respond to the report,
What the government is proposing is unacceptable, ... There's no basis for our party to express confidence in this government.
Quite often in negotiations people start out by saying no and then they turn around, ... A few more days and perhaps we'll see some movement.
Privatization is taking place right across this country and there's absolutely nothing to stop it,
Bono is no longer supporting the prime minister's position...niether are canadians.
Every member of Parliament has been sent there by Canadians, and that decision should be respected, and that member of Parliament should be respected.
That would be a confidence vote by definition, ... I can tell you where we're going to stand on that one: firmly opposed, as will the vast majority of Canadians.
There are many confidence-testing opportunities in the next number of weeks,
The government was comprehensive in its response ... (but) I would characterize the proposals as disappointing.
We have this historic problem that we have a quarter of our population, the people of Quebec, who have never signed on to the Constitution. That can't go on forever.