The Urban Legacy of Jack Layton

On Monday, August 22nd, the leader of Canada's New
Democratic Party, Jack Layton, succumbed to cancer and passed away, mere months
after leading his left-leaning party to unprecedented electoral success as the
official opposition to Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservatives. Since
then, the public expressions of loss, and the celebration of his life, have
been extraordinary: impromptu memorials have sprung up in cities across Canada, especially in Toronto where he sat as a city councilor for almost 20 years before moving to federal
politics. Most significantly, he is being granted a state funeral, an
unheard-of honour for an opposition party leader. 

Jack Layton's leadership of the New Democratic Party (NDP) was such that the
party's rapid achievements were widely attributed to him, his passionate
commitment to social justice and the environment, his ability to connect different
interests and to his charming personality.

Clearly – and rare for a politician in any country or
context – Jack Layton was admired and loved, even by those who disagreed with
his views.

The NDP under his leadership showed great leadership in the
areas of the environment and urban issues, a platform rivaled only by the Green
Party. That this is so is owed in no small way to his tenure as a city
councilor.   

Between 1982 and 2003, he served alternately as a councilor
for Toronto and
Metro Toronto. During those years he chaired many key committees dedicated to
the environment. He established the Toronto Atmospheric Fund, which is, even after two decades, the only municipal agency
in the world dedicated to combating climate change
by promoting energy efficiency retrofits and alternative energy, and has included the
construction of a huge wind turbine.

He also sat on the city's sustainability roundtable and
chaired the city's cycling committee. His commitment to cycling was legendary:
following a winter night's meeting, he offered a fellow councilor a lift home,
which she accepted – only to learn that he meant on the back of his tandem
bicycle. His dedication to bicycles has also been featured in tributes
following his death.
 

He campaigned
to tear down Gardiner expressway, a goal partially met in 2001, when the
eastern hub was removed, leading to opportunities for waterfront renewal.Perhaps most famously, he fought to keep Toronto from shipping its garbage to a northern Ontario mine, which he largely achieved via a city council screening the Simpsons episode Trash of the Titans.

Layton was particularly passionate about Canada's
housing crisis. In 2000 he published his book Homelessness, which condemned the lack of a national housing policy in Canada and the
deplorable shifting of responsibility for housing between levels of government.
He was the subject of some controversy over this issue during the 2004 federal
election campaign when he accused then-Prime Minister Paul Martin of
contributing to the deaths of homeless people through government inaction.

His remarkable
leadership on these and other urban issues led to his election in 2001 as President
of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM), in which capacity he began to campaign for a "new deal" for cities, which are
far more constrained than their American counterparts in their ability to
finance their operations. As a result of his efforts, FCM's emergent urban
agenda would lead to the federal government to institute in 2007 the Gas Tax Fund,
which has provided Canadian municipalities with stable funding for infrastructure,
public transit and water and waste projects.

Layton
was acutely aware, however, of how fragile these successes were: speaking to
the FCM this past June, he warned that the austerity measures being instituted
by the Harper Government would be paid for on the backs of Canadian cities:

I know that some people think Ottawa's
temporary stimulus largely tackled the $123-billion dollar infrastructure
deficit. Clearly, we have some public education to do here - and
quickly. Because the job isn't done - not even close. Public housing,
arenas, bridges, and water systems are still crumbling. Community
policing and public transit need urgent attention. And 40 per cent of
federal investments to municipalties are set to expire during this new
government's mandate. [The June 3^rd] throne speech was gravely disappointing for municipalities. Barely a word about the
continuing role Ottawa
can play in the life of our cities and communities. Not a word committing
to develop a long-term infrastructure renewal plan with municipalities as
frontline partners And in this globalized 21st century, building a
stronger Canada
means building more competitive cities & communities. With world
class infrastructure. Effective settlement services. Exceptional learning
opportunities. And a compelling quality of life. That won't happen unless
municipalities have a seat at the table in Ottawa - as partners with other orders of
government.

Layton's powerful commitment to Canada's cities – especially Toronto -- is being reflected in calls to
name some urban amenity after him
– like a public space or bicycle commuting route.

As a parting gesture mere days before he died, Layton
composed a letter to Canadians (which has been widely reprinted on the Web and
shared on Facebook) in which he exhorted his followers not to give up on their
vision for a more progressive Canada
under a Conservative majority government:

Canada
is a great country, one of the hopes of the world. We can be a better one – a
country of greater equality, justice, and opportunity. We can build a
prosperous economy and a society that shares its benefits more fairly. We can
look after our seniors. We can offer better futures for our children. We can do
our part to save the world's environment. We can restore our good name in the
world. We can do all of these things because we finally have a party system at
the national level where there are real choices; where your vote matters; where
working for change can actually bring about change. In the months and years to
come, New Democrats will put a compelling new alternative to you. My colleagues
in our party are an impressive, committed team. Give them a careful hearing;
consider the alternatives; and consider that we can be a better, fairer, more
equal country by working together. Don't let them tell you it can't be done.

My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is
better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we'll
change the world.

Jack Layton's leadership made clear linkages between the fate of Canada's cities and its well-being as a country,
something that has largely escaped Canada's political establishment.
He will be profoundly missed; yet the inspiration that so many are taking from
his life and career may hopefully reignite efforts to help realize the country
-- and cities -- he tried to build.