John Faulkner (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Tonight I want to acknowledge the life and work of Mr Jack Layton, the Leader of the Opposition in the Canadian parliament, who recently lost his battle with cancer. He will certainly be remembered as an effective activist and courageous politician. Jack Layton was born in Montreal but raised in an Anglophone community in Hudson, Quebec. He was a teacher before entering politics as a city councillor in Toronto, where he became deputy mayor. In 2003 he was elected leader of the Canadian New Democratic Party before being elected to the House of Commons in 2004.

Jack Layton led his party's renaissance until his untimely death just a few weeks ago. At the general election in May 2011, the NDP under his stewardship became the official opposition in Canada for the first time in Canadian history. The NDP, like the Australian Labor Party, is an affiliate of the Socialist International and is a fraternal social democratic party in Canada. Under Jack Layton, the NDP went from strength to strength. In the 2004 election, a gain of six seats to 19 seats ensured the NDP would be a powerful parliamentary force in the Martin minority government. In 2006, the NDP gained 10 seats in the House of Commons and in 2008 another eight seats. During the incredible surge of 2011, the NDP went from 37 to 103 seats. No-one doubts that Jack Layton deserves great credit for his party's success.

Jack Layton did not win every battle he fought, but he fought his battles with vigour and passion. He presented a positive policy platform. In 2007, Jack Layton took on the banks when he criticised ATM fees. He said:

We believe it's gouging when a person comes up and they want $40 or $60 of their cash and the bank is charging them $1.50 or $2, $2.50... That's a rate of payment which is very, very high—and unfair.

It appears there was little likelihood of success in this campaign but he was not deterred. He also proposed a limit on credit card interest rates to no more than five per cent above the prime rate, more power to federal regulators and tougher requirements for easy to understand terms and conditions. When the NDP supported the Paul Martin minority Liberal government from 2004 to 2006, Mr Layton campaigned hard to secure tax cuts for small and medium sized businesses and to delay tax cuts for big business in the budget. Intense negotiations ensued and resulted in a deal which produced a budget that delivered $1.6 billion for affordable houses, $900 million for the environment, $500 million for foreign aid and $100 million for a pension protection fund for workers.

Jack Layton continuously fought for reforms to democratic processes in Canada. In 2004 he said a referendum on electoral reform would be a necessary condition of support for any minority government, although no referendum took place. He was an advocate of proportional representation. He recommended that electors have a right to vote in the local divisional or riding ballots, as well as voting for a party list in the separate PR ballot. He proposed that a certain number of seats in the House of Commons be allocated on a PR basis, in addition to the traditional first-past-the-post counting system for local constituencies. He was committed to the abolition of the unelected Senate chamber.

Jack Layton was also an advocate of government accountability. He proposed reducing the influence of lobbyists, strength­ening freedom of information legislation and other accountability measures. On the issue of executive accountability, the NDP did achieve real legislative gains. The Federal Accountability Act of 2006 placed restrict­ions on former politicians and staff from becoming lobbyists for five years. The act also reduced the influence of political dona­tions from corporate, personal and union donors, as well as significantly increasing protection for whistleblowers and providing increased powers for the Auditor-General to track government expenditure.

Jack Layton was outspoken against all forms of corruption, and government accountability issues twice led him to support motions of no confidence which dissolved the House of Commons. He deftly walked the delicate tightrope of Canadian language politics. He earned respect from both sides of the Ottawa River or, La riviere des Outaouais, and this was demonstrated by the NDP's success in winning an additional 58 seats in the province of Quebec in the 2011 election. Jack Layton said in his final letter to Canadians that like-minded Queb­ecers had voted for 'something better...by working together in partnership with progressive-minded Canadians across the country'. His approach to politics was one of mutual respect and tolerance.

I join with all those across the globe who mourn this remarkable Canadian, and my sympathy goes to Jack Layton's family, his party and the people of Canada.