Today Canada lost the greatest Prime Minister it never had. I am a Conservative and I disagree with the NDP platform, but the Honourable Jack Layton was a charismatic, intelligent, honest, hard-working, determined individual and the best possible thing to happen to Canadian politics in a long time. His passing brought a tear to my eye. As leader of the opposition he brought a voice for the people to the House of Commons and a good check for the Conservatives. He was the perfect person to stand up for the little man and he never got the chance. It's a sad day for every Canadian, regardless of their political affiliation.
What makes his death worse is those people who think this is the right time to post their partisan views. However, it's not the Liberals, Greens, BQ or Conservatives that have upset me, but comments from followers of the NDP, who dishonor Jack Layton's memory. One Facebook remark particularly stands out: "
The hypocrisy of the person and others like her is unbelievable. The complete heartlesssness, lack of humanity and compassion saddens me. The man barely passed away, with a message of hope,optimisim, and love in his dying words and here are his "so-called" followers saying that Prime Minister, Harper, or maybe someone in his family should have died instead. This is not the time, nor the place for such a comment and in truth there is never a time or a place for one like it.
When I first read it, I was literally dumbstruck. Then I saw that 18 people "Liked" it and I couldn't conceive that there are so many narrow-minded and insensitive people out there, who are so blinded by their hate that they don't even realize what they say. I'm sure that had the comment been exposed to a greater audience, there would have been many more. I wanted to respond and I know I should have, to not only stand up for the human spirit, but to defend a good man's memory. In the end I couldn't, as it would have jeopardized a friendship, but not with the person who wrote their opinion. A normal human being does not wish death, or disease on anyone, no matter how much they may dislike them and it makes me ashamed that people like this exist.
RIP Jack. My sincerest and deepest sympathies to your family, friends and all those lucky enough to have known and loved you. I truly wish we could have seen how much you could achieve in your new role and who knows, perhaps someday I would have voted NDP, if you had changed your program just a little.
