Dead man campaigning?

[logicalview]

"Canadian taxpayers spent millions of dollars on a funeral your party turned into an infomercial. We can’t bill you for it. But you owe Canada honest answers about the final days of Saint Jack."

While some people are trying to shotgun a marriage between Grits and Dippers, can we ask some questions about a different kind of merger?

When do we get to merge accountability with ethics in the biggest political story of the year: Dead man campaigning?

Don’t we have the right to know if Jack Layton was on death’s door when he was knocking on your door?

If it seems like it was only yesterday, it’s because the May 2 election was only a few months ago. Even in a country with short-term memory, nobody can forget how physically hobbled he was throughout the campaign. Every scene of him getting off a plane or bus or podium had Jack leaning on his cane.

Ever the ham, Jack would morph into Moses for the NDP worshippers, waving his cane like a staff. It was epic Jack. He was possessed, fighting like a man with nothing left to lose.

Nobody likes to be the skunk at the picnic and so at those lengthy news conferences, there was reluctance to ask: Is there another cancer stalking Moses’ body? Bone cancer? Why did he need the hip surgery?

Did the public not have a right to know? If you’re asking voters to sign up for four years, are you obliged to tell them you may very well be signing off much sooner than that?

I am not here to posthumously stuff words in his mouth. But would it have been a bad thing for Jack to share the following words during the campaign?

“My fellow Canadians. I honestly don’t know how much time I have left. None of us really do. But based on the battle I am having with my own body, I may not be around much longer.

“I promise you this though. For as long as I can draw a breath, I will be thinking of you, working for you and working the hardest for those Canadians who need us the most.”

Since it’s been more than ten days since we got the tragic news of our friend’s demise, is it OK to ask the question, why wasn’t Jack a little more forthcoming? Should we stay in denial and pretend he had no idea what was going on? Denial is a very stinky dungeon.

The NDP never ceases to lecture the governments of the day about ethics, accountability and transparency. They owe it to the country to be honest, ethical, accountable and transparent about life and death.

For the NDP, the election campaign was all about Jack’s personality. If he didn’t want to be more candid about his ability to do the job he campaigned for, can his party at least do the right thing now?

At the state funeral, Stephen Lewis smugly talked about the NDP aspiring for a more generous Canada.

How about being generous with the facts? Did the NDP vote to defeat the government because their leader was terminal?

What really killed Jack Layton? What did the NDP know about his prognosis? When did they know it?

Memo to the NDP: Canadian taxpayers spent millions of dollars on a funeral your party turned into an infomercial. We can’t bill you for it. But you owe Canada honest answers about the final days of Saint Jack.

http://www.torontosun.com/2011/09/01/dead-man-campaigning

[Rwede]

That was my suspicion all along. I asked the question on a forum (can't remember if it was this one) and got the lefties all wound up. But that's what I'm here for, n'est-ce pas?

[The Green Barbarian]

I thought about it too - but didn't really want to make an issue out of it. You know, like everything else, if it had been Harper elected while dying, that the New Dumms would be screaming blue murder about "transparency" and "honesty". But since the guy in question that died was an NDP'er who "loved Canada" and was a "true patriot" who only "cared about the little guy" you aren't allowed to mention it. I for one don't really care, the NDP is now in serious trouble, having built a party all on a cult of Jack, and now with him gone, and a light finally able to penetrate past the glow of Jack and onto their crazy loony-tune policies, the NDP should be finished. The only thing I am worried about is that flip-flopping Quebecers go back to the Separatists now. The only value the NDP had at all to anyone was bringing the Quebecers back into Confederation, but that may be very short-lived.

[Carmencat]

I also thought it was odd that Layton did not disclose the 'new' type of cancer he was fighting. This is someone who has lived his whole adult life in the public eye, so he was hardly a person who valued privacy.

Mind you I always thought his rise to opposition leader was more about Quebec citizens wanting to get rid of/send a message to the Bloc than any great love of or belief in the NDP. I wonder if they would have voted in so many rookie MPs if they knew the party leader - and most likely the party itself - would be dead in a few months.

I didn't watch the funeral, other than some snippits of his daughter's eulogy shown on the news. However I did hear enough about it to be offended that my tax dollars were paying for an NDP rally, not a state funeral.

[Gone_Fishin]

I'm quite certain that the cancer had spread to his bones, hence the hip surgery and need for the cane.

And, I think it was deceitful of him not to disclose to Canadians during the campaign that he was fighting for his life. Of course, having swindled his way onto the dole throughout his political career, I'm not really surprised.

Here's a question: if he had retired from politics before the May election, would his MP's life insurance policy have been null and void? I suspect so, as it would in any job, but maybe someone on here knows for sure.

[Mr. Personality]

"Canadian taxpayers spent millions of dollars on a funeral your party turned into an infomercial. We can’t bill you for it. But you owe Canada honest answers about the final days of Saint Jack."

The only ones who turned it into an infomercial are the ones who seem to be against the funeral.

[logicalview]

I remember when I turned on my computer and checked the news, the main headline was said he was dead.

I thought ... Holy crap. Jack Layton is dead.

Then I reflected on some of his recent maneuvers. You may recall he pleaded for co-operation in the next parliament. I surmised that something was up. Come on, Jack Layton publicly declaring that he wanted to be nice, and in parliament of all places. That moment was the defining moment. I suspect that he could see the finish line.

Then, he appeared in public with the cane. He used it like a prop, he was like a two year old with an ouwie, one moment he remembered it the next he totally forgot. The only time he really ever used the cane was when he raised it in the air and paraphrased an Obama moment.

[Mr. Personality]

The guy is dead.
Why do you keep ragging on him. Newsflash - he can't hurt you anymore.

Seriously, did he run over your dog? Say you look like a dork?

Just let the man rest.

[logicalview]

What type of cancer did he die from? Did he put off treatment to fight the election? when did he know about it? What are the Layton's and the NDP trying to hide?

Layton was under constant doctor's supervision because of his prostate cancer and his hip surgery. Do you honestly believe that he and his doctors did not find this new cancer until suddenly after the election? Layton was vying for the most powerful position in the country. He should have come forth and been completely honest about his health. Now we have a separatist as the current leader of the official opposition. Even after the NDP hold their leadership convention, their leader will not be the person that they voted for.

[Mr. Personality]

What type of cancer did he die from? Did he put off treatment to fight the election? when did he know about it? What are the Layton's and the NDP trying to hide?

Layton was under constant doctor's supervision because of his prostate cancer and his hip surgery. Do you honestly believe that he and his doctors did not find this new cancer until suddenly after the election? Layton was vying for the most powerful position in the country. He should have come forth and been completely honest about his health. Now we have a separatist as the current leader of the official opposition. Even after the NDP hold their leadership convention, their leader will not be the person that they voted for.

Good thing in Canada you don't vote for the leader. Problem solved.

[logicalview]

If Layton and the NDP had won a minority government on May 2nd just think the mess Canada would be in today. Three parties. All with interim leaders and the interim Prime Minister a Separatist to boot. If it is true that Layton had the dire prognosis prior to the election being called he had an obligation to tell Canadians.

[Mr. Personality]

If Layton and the NDP had won a minority government on May 2nd just think the mess Canada would be in today. Three parties. All with interim leaders and the interim Prime Minister a Separatist to boot. If it is true that Layton had the dire prognosis prior to the election being called he had an obligation to tell Canadians.

You're right. Congratulations.
Can you let the man be dead now?

[logicalview]

Immediately after the election, Jack was essentially incommunicado, and then a few weeks later he held his final public appearance to reveal that he had a 'new' unnamed cancer. In a few weeks he was dead.

Chow and the NDP didn't openly disclose the name of this 'new' cancer... and the complicit Media didn't ask, until now. Why the cover-up?? Why are Dippers -in-the-know trying to stop normal inquiry? What shame are they hiding??

Rumours persist that Jack died of an AIDS-related cancer. It's even suggested Jack didn't have 'prostate' cancer. It was a lie to cover up his 'new' cancer.

To clear the air, Jack's medical record should be made public, and Chow together with Jack's doctor and oncologist should ethically explain everything. Canadians deserve to know.

Truth is better than deception.

[Mr. Personality]

To clear the air, Jack's medical record should be made public, and Chow together with Jack's doctor and oncologist should ethically explain everything. Canadians deserve to know.

Canadians don't deserve to know. He's dead, why do the reasons matter? So you can badmouth him for his medical record? Let the man be dead and get on with your life. Seriously.

[Al Czervic]

I suspect in time whatever type of Cancer that Jack Layton had will be leaked out and Canadians can judge accordingly. Personally I thought it was a bit distasteful to politicize a State funeral to the extent that the NDP did, however what’s done is done and is now in the past.

There is a reason why we say Rest in Peace and the focus should now be on the future and who replaces Layton. Obviously a topic for another thread….