Carolyn V. Mill

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carolyn victoria mill | writing

JACK LAYTON

Jack Layton Wants To Get This Party Started
- by Carolyn V. Mill

"Young people are feeling a hunger, there is a hunger there to be shaping the future. We're worried. And we are hungry to be involved.'

CVM interviews Jack Layton - the week before getting elected to the head of the Federal NDP party...

As I enter his headquarters on Grange Avenue, Jack Layton's campaign manager is on bended knee mopping the floors in a never-ending effort to remove slush dragged in by myself and others. Not a surprising gig for a man with such an important job, not when you consider that his boss is the ONLY politician I have ever seen ride past my house on his bicycle. Not militantly environmental, gay or vegetarian, Canada's front runner for the NDP rides a bike or takes the TTC because; like many city dwellers, he simply doesn't own a car. His campaign manager mops slush because; it's winter in Ontario. Functional reality plays a large role in this hands-on campaign. This year Jack Layton wants to play a larger role in Canadian politics by bringing this philosophy to the House of Commons, but with no seat he could be in for a bumpy ride.

Jack-detractors' tireless refrain that he doesn't have any Real Federal Experience just might be outweighed by the fact that Jack does have 'Average Canadian Citizen Experience'. As well as the energy to do something about it. He actually uses many of the resources and services that we are so proud of here in Canada, and feels he brings new ideas on how to keep them. Don't get me wrong, Jack has great respect for parliamentarians. His grandfather, and his dad were just that. But as he points out, "it's not rocket science, that's why they call it the House of 'Commons', anyone should be able to speak there." His doctorate is in Canadian public policy, and what Layton definitely does have is an impressive municipal and city track record. Something that is becoming increasingly more important in the governing of this great dominion. When many of our young people more and more often leave their rural hometowns and head for the big city to get educated and employed, what happens if we let those services and sectors in cities get brought low by those who don't use them?

All the same, the big question, and the only relevant question one might ask someone running for the head of the New Democratic Party is this; what are you going to do to make the NDP relevant to Canadian voters? The NDP being what it is, a party full of great ideas, perhaps too many, without a coherent mouthpiece. Jack's job as he sees it "Is to get our message out there a heck of a lot more effectively and creatively, using the wide range of media that is available. Instead of being somewhat afraid of or shy of the media, or even hostile. I've kind of wondered how we ever thought we were going to get anywhere as a party if we are hostile to the media. Instead we have to realize that these are communication opportunities." This from a man who has taken a lot of heat for his camera-ready smile and youthful involvement in everything from demonstrations to rock shows.

Once those stage lights are shining brightly on the party, Layton's next plan of action is to enlist and exploit his team. How? "By making sure that we've got really exciting and interesting solutions, some of the best ideas going. And that means drawing in the Canadians that have the best ideas into helping us shape our policies. We have to attract a whole lot of new candidates to the party, people with really good municipal experience, people who are trusted and respected in their local communities. We've done the beginnings of that in our campaign, and I'm really excited about it. Now, we've got to excite Canadians with what we are suggesting could be done, that means asking them to lift their sights, and really encourage that sort of vision for the country."

Sounds simple enough, but with the NDP numbers being what they are, what chance does the party have of getting started? Jack says its all about bringing the tribes together. "We've got to go out and start to work with Canadians that are really concerned about the issues, because they are not coming to us. They are joining or creating all kinds of movement groups, all across the country, and we've got to go and join with them and say, 'look we've got 80,000 members, they're wonderful people, how can we as a large group, help you with your particular issue?' - Like protecting our medical system from being privatized, saving our water sources from being sold off. Or achieving Kyoto, and going beyond Kyoto to really make a difference on climate change. And so going and linking with the different movements is key."

Organized labour plays a part in Jack's party too. A large part. "these organizations are first, democratic. The workers do have an important perspective and stake in the wealth of the country, and should get a fair share. What's exciting, what's going on in the trade unions these days, is they are becoming real advocates for human rights, environmental safety, and leading the way in trying to reduce discrimination. What they are looking at now is corporate irresponsibility, like how is it that directors of companies, where people are killed due to negligence, are not penalized?" But what about wooing big business? He doesn't see that as a goal. "We want to have a climate for good economic activity, that will attract business and create work. But there are some companies that simply have an agenda to squeeze absolutely everything they can out of this rock of ours, out of our trees and water, and our people. They are driven by the need to increase shareholder value, that's how they make their money."

Don't get him started about military spending verses saving lives through a reordering of financial priorities. There once was a time when the most conscientious and socialist voters were parents, they had to be. Now, it's the children of those parents. People who fear a world where they might have to try to raise a family, and look after the well-being of their ailing parents, without governmental support because that money was spent elsewhere. The need for a party who will fight to ensure that those people wont be left with insupportable healthcare costs has never been more relevant. "There has been a drift away from participating in politics or voting amongst younger people in the last decade. But I can feel that beginning to shift. One of our young workers put it very well when talking to some seniors, this was when I was touring rural Saskatchewan. He got up and I introduced him, they were all really happy to see someone under thirty cause they're just not used to that at NDP gatherings. He got up and said 'we young people are feeling a hunger, there is a hunger there to be shaping the future. We're worried. And we are hungry to be involved.' And I thought, wow, that's a powerful image, a very powerful image. In fact I gotta remember to use that in my speech on Saturday..."

When asked if Jack Layton wants the Prime Minister's job, or just to be close enough to keep him honest? He has to admit, he is ambitious.

* Some of Jack's Role Models: Hon. Steven Lewis, (United Nations Special Envoy for HIV/Aids for Africa). Jimmy Carter, and his own great grandfather; a piano tuning blind kid who came over from England, and started the Montréal association for the Blind and successfully campaigned for pensions for the blind in 1935. *

http://www.jacklayton.ca

RISE UP WITH JACK

80's Parachute Club hit joins the party for Jack Layton's NDP Campaign.

"Jack asked to use our song and I said, Forget it, we'll write you your own anthem." - Lorraine SegatoMill

The new song is called "Bringing All The Voices Together" and it's a re-write of the 1983 hit "Rise Up". If you live in Canada, you will undoubtedly remember that Segato originally released the song with her band the Parachute Club back in the early 80s. That infectiously positive single, produced by Daniel Lanois, went on to win several awards and became an anthem for many a different group.

Re-written by Vocalist/Director/Woman-about-town Lorraine Segato, with the help of Richard Underhill and Lynne Fernie, the song is now a bona-fide anthem for Toronto city councilor and NDP federal candidate Jack Layton. "It is a song we wrote for Jack Layton's campaign to get him elected as NDP leader. It will premiere at the convention on Jan 27th in Toronto, and that will be televised before the vote… Jack will probably use it as much as possible if he gets elected." says Segato. "The song will probably go onto to have a club re-mix at some point. That's all I know for now."

She is enthusiastic about the possibility, but hasn't always been so willingly involved in the song's usage. "Over the years, many political parties have either used or wanted to use the song "Rise Up" for their campaign. Most of the time, they don't ask. They just use it until you say no. Well, Jack asked to use our song and I said, Forget it, we'll write you your own anthem."

Recorded Thursday January 16, 2003, "Bringing All The Voices Together" is an all new take with inspiring new lyrics. When I asked Jack about it, he was obviously impressed. "It's a new version of Rise Up, not the lyrics but the spirit. Also, we are laying some French into the song. A guy by the name of Gregg Lawless, does a lot stuff with kids. He goes by the name of Gregg 'Laroche' when he's working at the schools". Jack is fluently bilingual, so his comedic impression is convincing. When asked if he speaks any Cantonese as well, he quips 'a little bit yeah. I have to communicate with mother-in-law if I wanna eat."

The track also includes vocal help from some of the city's finest pipes, all of which are old friends and supporters. "All these musicians from over the years, Richard Underhill from the old Shuffle Demons, you know, Spadina Bus, he's the sax player for Blue Rodeo now, he wrote the music. I went down when they were doing some of the chorus work, and oh man it was great, this was one serious group of singers." Molly Johnson, John Alcorn, Dave Wall, Alana Bridgewater and Colleen Allen, just to name a few. Lorraine, of course, sang as well. "it's so amazing to look into a room like that and know that every one of those people possess monster talents and all of them did the gig out of the expansiveness of their hearts. Just to know that people still do things because they believe in something was important for me to remember."

This guy sure does have a way with the artistic community, bringing them together and reaching out to all manner of folk. Music is one of the ways he achieves such high standing amongst the younger set, most notably with support from the Bare Naked Ladies. Not only has he been part of this community for years, but it's all part of the master plan.

"It's Young people who are shaping the future, lets get some of them to run for us, and reach out beyond our traditional source of candidates. And that I think will result in the media and the public becoming excited about our team." It does look like grey hair is a pre-requisite for government… "We have to encourage and involve young people generally, a lot more, in our party, and in politics. We've got to listen to what they say when they say 'here's how we'd like to be involved'. So if they say we want a rock concert cause that's gonna turn people on, then by golly that's what were gonna do. Some people might pooh-pooh the idea and look down their nose at it. They say that people who went to a rock concert and became members of the NDP aren't real NDPers, well I say nonsense. Its absolutely not so. What is a real NDPer then?"