Growth amidst grief: The NDP reflects a year after Layton’s death

OTTAWA – It’s been a year since NDP leader Jack Layton died, leaving 102 MPs, many of them rookies, with the job of official Opposition for the first time.

In the months that followed his death from cancer on August 22, 2011, many raised questions about how the party would survive without Layton, the man who was credited with wooing so many people to the left-leaning party and leading it to historic heights.

Not only did the NDP have to replace an irreplaceable leader, the party had to learn a new role in the House of Commons, train dozens of rookie MPs and solidify a new base of support in Quebec.

Now a year later, party insiders are celebrating how far they’ve come as they pause to remember the man who helped them get there.

“It wasn’t a doubt in my mind that we would be okay, but it was certainly a doubt in my mind about how we would be okay,” said Halifax MP Megan Leslie. “It was hard to imagine how we would do this.”

Leslie said a year ago she couldn’t imagine a leadership race, a new leader, and being in the House without Layton.

But those are all things that the party has accomplished this year while maintaining its polling numbers.

“It’s probably one of the most difficult years our party will ever go through,” Leslie said. “Even our victories have been difficult.”

The party elected Quebec MP Thomas Mulcair as new leader in March. Veteran MPs have established a shadow cabinet. Rookie MPs too have taken up roles as critics; posing questions in the House and participating in announcements – all without any major gaffes. Party memberships, donations and polling numbers are all on the rise.

“A lot of people were saying with the death of Jack Layton, support for the party and caucus would plummet, when in fact the party and the caucus have risen to the occasion,” said Brad Lavigne, the NDP’s former campaign director.

With his magnetic smile and signature moustache, Layton was the NDP for many voters, especially in Quebec, where many of the new MPs were elected based on his name.

But party members said this year gave Canadians a chance to realize the ideas that attracted voters to Layton are alive and well.

“His ideas are our ideas. His legacy, whether it will still be considered Jack’s legacy or someone else’s in the future, I think it will carry on,” said NDP MP Matthew Dube. “If anything, the challenge for us was to show we could do it without him.”

Dube was one of the new MPs elected in Chambly-Borduas as part of the so-called ‘Orange Crush.’

The 24-year-old said he faced some doubt from his constituents in the wake of Layton’s death, but that has faded with time.

He said one constituent admitted she voted for Layton, but added: “You really carry (his) vision. In the next election, I would vote for you.”

That’s not a surprise to Olivia Chow, Layton’s wife and colleague.

“MPs young or old, experienced or not, they are all reflective of that very important vision that Jack had, which is also a part of the DNA of New Democrats,” she said.

While dealing with the personal loss of her “soul mate,” Chow said she has been encouraged by the young Canadians who tell her that they believe in the New Democrats and in making a difference.

Lavigne called the last federal election a once-in-a-generation political realignment that is here to stay.

“Those that support us in May, regardless of Jack’s passing, they still want that vision. They still want Ottawa fixed. They want politics to be done differently.”

The polls suggest support for the NDP has endured over the past year – a recent Ipsos-Reid poll done for Global News showed the NDP would capture 38 per cent of the popular vote compared to 35 per cent for the reigning Conservatives. It’s an increase from the 31 per cent of the popular vote that catapulted the party into official Opposition status back in May 2011. Just a month after Layton’s death, polling numbers hovered around 33 per cent for the NDP.

Spurred on by the leadership convention, NDP membership numbers increased by 50 per cent to 128,351 members as of February 2012. Quebec membership skyrocketed to 12,226 up from just 1,700 just four months earlier.

The party still faces challenges in advance of the next federal election in 2015. While a veteran politician, Mulcair is relatively new to the NDP and will have to continue to build unity within his caucus and increase his profile with Canadians. The party must diversify and expand its support so it reaches beyond Quebec and urban ridings if they hope to win more seats. The caucus will again face a tough parliamentary session, facing down the Conservatives’ determined legislative agenda.

Lavigne said voters have given the party a year to get its bearings, learn the ropes, and find a leader.

“The challenge for Tom and the crew will be to continue to hold the government to account and solidify that non-Conservative vote,” he said.

MPs say the year has helped equip them for the challenge.

Dube said the tragedy gave the party, a relative unknown, chance to show its strength – strength that can help in political hardships as well.

“Getting to show what we are made of is a blessing in disguise,” he said.

The caucus is really starting to gel thanks to a challenging parliamentary session that included a 24-hour vote, a filibuster and an omnibus budge, according to Leslie.

“We got through this year and that’s impressive, but I think we are ready to really just blow people’s socks off because we have this incredible team who has come through an extraordinary situation,” she said.

Leading by example is Chow, who is forging ahead with her political work while working through her personal grief. Just two days before the anniversary of her husband’s death, she was in Ottawa leafleting the Association of Ontario Municipalities meeting to build support for her private member’s bill on a national transit strategy.

It’s all part of what she sees important for keeping the NDP relevant for Canadians – presenting policies to make life more affordable and jobs more abundant.

“We need to persuade Mr. Harper to change his ways or we change the government come 2015,” she said.

There’s no doubt in Chow’s mind what Layton would say to that: “He would be smiling and say: ‘Go for it. Make history. Let’s move forward and form the first NDP government of Canada.’”