Mr. Layton cut his political teeth on the streets of Montreal at the height of the separatist movement in 1970. He was a member of the Front d’Action Politique (FRAP), a left-wing, grassroots municipal party opposed to autocratic mayor Jean Drapeau. FRAP went so far as to endorse the FLQ manifesto, though it did object to the FLQ’s tactics. You know, the whole terrorism thing.
Mr. Layton, too, was appalled by the violence. But he attributes his NDP awakening to Pierre Trudeau’s decision to send in the tanks — something he was “inclined to go along with” until Tommy Douglas protested on behalf of Quebecers’ civil liberties. “I said to myself, that’s a very unpopular position this NDP leader is taking,” Mr. Layton wrote in his 2004 book, Speaking Out. “Still, as I listened to his powerful arguments and his brilliant capacity to deliver them, I realized that this unpopular stance was right.”and this:
But it’s not just that Mr. Layton has always understood Quebec, and had mingled with its nationalists and radicals. As recently as 2003, as Michel Vastel reported in L’Actualité, Mr. Layton was deliberately gladhanding amongst Bloc- and Parti Québécois-friendly organizations, and developing the hybrid nationalist/federalist rhetoric that Canadians now hear on the campaign trail.
A party obsessed with minority rights now supports extending Bill 101 language laws to cover workers in Quebec under federal jurisdiction. A staunchly centralist party now supports devolving powers to Quebec. Mr. Layton’s support for the Clarity Act has never been warmer than tepid; of late, he’s been declaring nothing stronger than a general preference for a “No” vote in a referendum.
Centrist, he was not. In 1983, he endorsed a socialist manifesto put forward by the New Democrats’ left caucus, which called for “public ownership of the decisive sectors of the economy”; “massive public works programs and a shorter work week for the same take-home pay”; “free, universal access to all levels of education from day care to university”; and “immediate withdrawal from NATO … and NORAD.”How can anyone want this man running this country? I certainly do not! This man is DANGEROUS! A radical quasi-separatist it seems who wants to spend us into oblivion and destroy Canada in the process.
As a councillor, he criticized police raids on gay bathhouses. As chair of the Board of Health, he took up the AIDS cause. He opposed the city’s Olympic bid, spending taxpayer money on what would eventually become SkyDome, and commercial developments in the downtown railway lands that, he said, would benefit fat cat developers. (“People are tired of glitzy condos, fancy domes and more limousines,” he said in 1988.) He was against Sunday shopping, because 1980s society provided more than a week’s worth of crass commercialism in six days.
Mr. Layton was not above some pointless left-wing symbolism. He wanted to make Toronto “gun-free.” He insisted the city adopt a nuclear non-proliferation stance, and was chairman of the city’s Peace Committee. In 1989, he supported a move to have Toronto adopt Volgograd as a twin city — and responded to critics at a City Council meeting by comparing Soviet human rights abuses to those perpetrated by Canada against aboriginals. Some in attendance suggested he move to Russia.
JACK LAYTON MUST NOT BE ALLOWED ANYWHERE NEAR THE REINS OF POWER!!!! DON"T LET THAT SMILE FOOL YOU!!!
Think long and hard. The only way to do that since the Liberals are sinking ship is to VOTE FOR A CONSERVATIVE MAJORITY ON MAY 2!!!!!!
Does anyone think Layton's party will win a majority? He won't get to pass whatever he wants. Harper has a very ideological past also, and the prospect of him holding the total power over the executive and legislative branches scares many people. That is a real prospect and though many may say that Harper proved himself in a minority situation I am not convinced; he simply hasn't had a chance to do any of this transformative damage.
ReplyDeleteI suspect that when he says that a minority situation ties Canada's hands in a time of crisis and the major newspapers say this also, what he really means is that he cannot pass unpopular policies to create a Social Darwinist paradise in consultation with the banksters like Paul Ryan is doing in the United States. All he can do now is take the path of least resistance which is the totally inefficient corporate tax cuts but that beg in the future that workers take the hit to make up for the deficit these cuts cause. If he gets the majority it's Ireland-style austerity, where 20% of the economy has disappeared.
So I say give Jack Layton a minority government and there should be no problems at all. In fact, this should stop the movement towards voodoo economics and serving the banksters which is beginning to annoy many people throughout the world. Right now, with the state of the world today, Canada needs Jack Layton and not Stephen Harper charting the direction. Again, he will not have total power over the legislative and executive branches, one of the two other more traditional parties will be able to keep any "scary" things from passing.
You and I know he did and said those things because we pay attention to what is happening around us. The vast majority of Canada has never paid attention and the MSM is sure not about to tell them because mostly they agree that he was "doing the right thing". The crap of the last couple of days about Taliban Jack does not even scratch the surface of how dangerous the NDP policies are to Canada.
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