MONTREAL – Quebecers expressed sadness and shock Tuesday at the news that Jack Layton is taking a sick leave less than three months after his historic electoral triumph in the province.
Major newspapers, politicians of different stripes and regular citizens offered words of encouragement to the NDP leader in his battle against cancer.
In the recent federal election, Layton’s NDP nearly wiped the Bloc Quebecois off the map – and Quebec voters were so keen to support his party that, in some cases, they elected people who had never even seen their riding. A common refrain heard in Quebec after the election was, “I voted for Jack.”
But even with Layton on the sidelines, one central Quebec businessman said Tuesday he still had no regrets about voting NDP. He insisted the party is bigger than just one man.
Jean-Guy Otis said people in his riding have already been impressed by their new MP, Ruth Ellen Brosseau – the one who managed an Ottawa pub and spent part of the election campaign in Las Vegas.
Otis said it’s the NDP’s philosophy that connects with the people in his mostly rural riding – and he insisted that while Layton is very popular in the area, the party transcends him. He said the new MP has appeared eager to meet with people and follow up on their concerns.
“I don’t believe that one leader, that one person can be the NDP,” said Otis, who co-owns a beauty salon on the main strip in the town of Louiseville.
“It’s an ensemble of individuals and there are very good individuals who are part of it.”
But others believe the party’s continued success in Quebec rests squarely on Layton’s shoulders.
A Bloc incumbent defeated in the federal election shared an anecdote Tuesday to illustrate the role Layton’s personal popularity played in the NDP breakthrough.
Marc Lemay, the former Bloc MP for Abitibi-Temiscamingue, said his election observers reported that, on May 2, at least three people left voting centres without casting their ballot.
They apparently refused to vote because they didn’t see Layton’s name listed among the local candidates.
“They voted for Jack because Jack is a good guy,” Lemay said.
“I think many, many voters will be orphaned and would have difficulty identifying with another leader.”
Lemay, who knows Layton well because they both used to train regularly at the same Parliament Hill gym, wished him a speedy recovery.
“I would be enormously disappointed if we lost him,” he said. “I’m not of the same political ilk, but I can say that I have lots of respect for him – lots.”
Layton, whose party won a staggering 59 of Quebec’s 75 seats in the election, also received words of support from Montreal newspapers.
The Montreal daily La Presse paid homage to Layton Tuesday with a headline that read, “A leader close to the people”; there were also get-well wishes expressed in a cartoon and an editorial, and the entire letters section was filled with eight notes of encouragement.
The timing of the NDP surge in Quebec can be traced, partly, to Layton’s campaign-time appearance on the extremely popular talk show, “Tout le monde en parle.”
The host of that Radio-Canada show, Guy A. Lepage, sent out a Twitter message after the gaunt-looking and raspy-voiced NDP leader announced his departure at a news conference.
“I am very sad for Jack Layton today,” Lepage wrote Monday.
The daily tabloid Le Journal de Montreal expressed similar sentiments Tuesday.
However, one columnist in the newspaper also wondered whether Quebec voters might now feel like orphans for blindly supporting Layton without knowing the rest of his party.
“Now that the man of your dreams has to leave to look after his health, how do you feel about voting for the guy who had the nicest smile and the nicest moustache?” Richard Martineau wrote in Le Journal.
Note to readers: This is a corrected story. An earlier version incorrectly stated that Ruth Ellen Brosseau lived in Ontario during the election.
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