Bye Jack

Canada has had 3 major federal parties for decades now. The youngest of those is the NDP. Little more than a fringe party for most of my life (amassing 5-10% of the seats), its fortunes turned around in our last federal election.

Starting out as a big farm-supporting party, it became synonymous with union support, exorbitant spending, and general leftist policies. I supported many of their beliefs (green before green was a thing, support for the needy, and generally being decent human beings), but not their economics. Plus, their leaders were often about as endearing as a soggy piece of toast.

Then Jack Layton came along. Still an NDP idealist, he seemed to recognize that they had to play ball with politics at some level if they wanted to be more than a disproportionately loud voice in the House of Commons. He got the NDP fundraising to a level its never seen, he dragged the party to a more centrist and populist point. He took his used-car salesman look and became an endearing man of the people.

I voted for him. My justification was that I couldn't get behind the other two serious options available - a right-wing party that wasn't the progressive conservatives I had grown up with, and a centrist party that had managed to do nothing of substance over my lifetime. The NDP was never going to win, but I liked them as a conscience vote. They could have swing power in the minority governments we'd been seeing. Their policies would have to be enacted to some degree, filtered through a more economically conservative sieve. They kept the other parties more honest.

Then something unexpected happened last time. They started winning seats. Lots of seats. Way more than they'd ever seen. The supporters of the do-nothing Liberals were sick of their smarmy leader and lack of achievement, and those of the Bloc Quebecois were heading to the NDP in droves. The NDP pulled in over 100 seats, when they'd seldom seen 20 in the past. They were the official opposition to an (unfortunate) Conservative majority, behind by only 63 seats, and 9% of the vote. They had a larger voice than ever, but very little power. Regardless, it was a watershed event in Canadian politics, and there was no doubt in anybody's mind that it was all due to Jack. His "nice smile", friendly demeanour, and promises of holding our Prime Minister accountable for his actions brought the whole party's standing upwards. Candidates who were nothing more than placeholders found themselves elected despite not running any sort of real campaign. The "orange wave" swept across the country and sent a message that people wanted a change. I actually found it a little scary, and recall fearing that they could actually WIN the election while I watched the votes come in. The party had never seen these heights. And it was all thanks to their leader.

This morning he died.

Three and a half months after his party swept to their greatest victory ever, he lost his battle with cancer and passed away at home with his family by his side. A sad day in Canadian politics to be sure.

His legacy will live on. His wife Olivia Chow is also a Member of Parliament for the NDP. His son Mike is a Toronto City Councillor. But neither has the charisma of Jack.

With Jack's death the fate of the NDP is very much up in the air. Think Apple if Steve Jobs died. The party will obviously continue on, and will maintain its position as the official opposition until the next election. But without the cult of personality that surrounds its departed leader, their chances of maintaining their momentum are in doubt. If they maintain a loud, unified voice over the next 4 years, and prove they have Canada's interests ahead of their own, then they might be able to continue being a force. But if they falter, if they return to their socialist roots (and they have been unabashedly so in the past), if they once again give the idea that they'd rather tax and spend then bring realistic economics to bear, then they'll find themselves back on the fringe.

But for now, they have a voice. Here's hoping they won't waste what their leader gave them.

One more thing. At this year's Toronto Pride Parade, there was no cheer louder than the one that went up when the NDP's orange float went by. The Conservatives were nowhere to be seen, the Liberals had all the oomph that would be expected of a defeated giant and felt like little more than vague political grandstanding, but the NDP float was pumped - flags, cheers, jumping, dancing, and smiles all around. Led by this guy:



Bye Jack.

Kaboom! (Photos)

We're a week and a bit away from Canada Day, and a week away from some other minor holiday in some other minor country.

But hey, fireworks are fun any time. Except at 4am after you've FINALLY fallen asleep and staring a killer hangover in the face whenever you wake up. Then, they're REALLY fun.

Happy July 11th!

Oh, Canada.

It wasn't Brodeur's fault.

Got it? Good.

Was Miller the better goalie last night? Maybe.

Was the US team the better team? Definitely.

People like placing blame on one scapegoat, but Marty isn't the right target here. Sure, he wasn't "Martin Brodeur", possibly the greatest netminder in the history of the game, but he was hardly a rank amateur flopping all over the place either.

The team let him down. The Canadian hockey ego said, as it did with Switzerland, that offense is the best defense. Sadly, Team Canada excelled at neither last night. Again.

45 shots. Whoop-dee-doo. 45 shots from the point, bad angles, or on the fly, on the ice. Could they not get the puck up? Could nobody position themselves to get a rebound or tip in? When you're facing a goaltender like Miller, who has been consistently solid ALL SEASON, and a US team that is hungry to beat you, then you need the ugly goals, and the opportune goals. You need to PUT THE PUCK ON THE NET and HAVE SOMEONE THERE TO MAKE SURE IT GOES IN. No screening, no grit.

No heart.

I'm not even going to get into the amount of dump-and-chase our guys played.

And in our own end? Please. Scattershot. Uncoordinated. A mess. Did they draw straws to see who would go in the corners? Did they sometimes forget to include a short straw? How about collapsing around your own net to protect the goalie? You know, like the US team did EVERY TIME THEY WERE IN THEIR OWN ZONE?!

Sure, having faith in your goalie lets you take more chances. But that doesn't mean you abandon him.

Marty had NO support. Not until Canada realized that they were in serious trouble and that another goal would kill them. THEN they started blocking shots and chasing the puck like it meant something.

Even then, Seabrook practically gifted the crazy empty-net goal to Chicago teammate Kane in the dying minutes. Kane literally breathing down his neck and his stick is OFF THE ICE? He should have stepped up the hustle and shot that puck away from the net instead of letting Kane flop down and knock it between the pipes. That's how you lose a game.

Maybe it'll be a wakeup call to the team. Maybe they'll remember that they aren't the only ones stacked with NHL superstars and quality goaltending. Or maybe they'll think the extra game they now have to play against Germany will be a cakewalk and get their asses almost handed to them again.

Regardless, it's better for them as a team to take this loss now and have to play the extra game. It SHOULD bring them closer together as a team and force them to face their egos and errors and right this ship.

If the outcry continues, expect Steve Yzerman to say or do something mildly controversial to draw the heat away from his guys.

It ain't over yet.