Jack Layton’s State Funeral: Others Died Too

After a lot of reflection, I now have to wonder whether yesterday's state funeral for Jack Layton, NDP Leader and Leader of the Official Opposition, was too much; whether it wrongly implied he was the only person of importance who died this week. The public outpourings of emotion and the positive sentiments about him, expressed by average people in the streets and at the funeral service itself, were heartwarming and apparently warranted. By all accounts, he deserves the accolades bestowed on him recently, including yesterday at his state funeral, since his untimely death last week at the age of 61 after a second bout with cancer. The state funeral apparently wasn't his idea. Prime Minister Stephen Harper reportedly offered the rare honor to Layton’s widow, fellow NDP MP Olivia Chow, which she accepted.

Yet, in hindsight I question if the state funeral led too many people to not realize or care that many others in this country also died this week; people who were just as important in their own right, and just as significant to their families and friends, as Jack Layton was to his. In saying this, I am mindful that Layton's situation was unique compared to 'ordinary' Canadians, because his high profile and the nature of his work allowed him to meet, 'connect with,' and potentially help many people over the years; and to simultaneously build a good life for himself and his family as well.

A cursory look yesterday at obituaries in the Toronto Star and Ottawa Citizen, daily newspapers in the two cities where Layton lay in state before his funeral, showed 148 people died over the past week; 81 in and around Toronto, and 67 in and around Ottawa. Perhaps the actual number of deaths is really much higher, if many of the deceased weren’t listed in those two newspapers.

There's no question Layton cared about social issues and tried to help others, and he was paid for it as an elected Member of Parliament. But perhaps many others who died this week also did what they could in their own ways, for free, to help others and make their communities a better place. Layton was friendly and charming, but no doubt many others who died this week were as well, with stellar reputations. By all accounts, Layton was a hardworking, good and decent person. Without taking anything away from him, obituaries yesterday in the Toronto Star and Ottawa Citizen indicate many others who died this week also seemed honorable, respected and well-liked.

A quick scan of obituaries in Toronto and Ottawa, the two key cities in Layton’s life, shows people who died this week were, like Layton, considered by their families and friends to have had “true character,” and are variously called a hero, awesome, soul-mate, adored, deeply cherished, beloved and dearly beloved. One of the deceased lost a “hard-fought battle with cancer;” one’s funeral would be a “celebration of dad’s life.”

Similarly, Layton apparently wanted his funeral to be a celebration of his life, not merely a maudlin event. By various accounts, he loved and courted the limelight; liked being the centre of attention, and performed accordingly when necessary; he was a showman, and a good one at that. I read in various sources this week he wanted his funeral to be public, as well as a showcase for the NDP agenda; to help further ‘the cause.’

Layton was a skilled, intelligent, and talented politician, so we can assume he knew the importance of being perceived as friendly and likeable and even might have carefully crafted at least some of that public image—to complement what seemed to have been his own natural charm, friendliness and likeability. He also might have learned early on, or just knew instinctively how to use his innate 'people skills' to ingratiate himself to others who could help him personally and politically; which could also help advance his long-standing ‘social justice’ causes such as gay rights and homelessness, among others.

All of this strongly suggests—with apologies to Welsh poet Dylan Thomas—Layton didn’t want to go gentle into the good night. He didn’t want a low-key quiet funeral service with just family and close personal friends. He didn’t want to leave unnoticed, with no fanfare. Even in death, he courted the media as he did so often in life, in and out of the House of Commons, to get his ‘message’ out to the public. In fact, Adam Radwanski in The Globe and Mail (last updated Saturday, Aug. 27, 201), said it may have taken Layton’s “death to bring all these attributes into sharper focus (and to cause some of his more grating characteristics, including his penchant for self-promotion, to be overlooked).”

If I were a family member of someone who died over the past week, I might think the state funeral unfairly gave too much attention to Layton, compared to the minimal attention usually given to 'ordinary' Canadians when they die. After all, to keep things in some kind of perspective amid the wide-spread public grieving for this highly-popular man and politician, he wasn’t God although some might now perceive him as their god, and a legend and icon; he didn’t discover a cure for any fatal disease including the cancer that apparently killed him; and, when all is said and done, he was just a human being like all of the others who died in the past week.

Furthermore, because Layton died so soon after becoming Leader of the Official Opposition and of the presumed government-in-waiting, he didn’t even achieve anything politically in that capacity--notwithstanding the positive, inspirational effect he had on many people over the years, and his extraordinary feat of becoming Opposition Leader in the first place. Of course that achievement was remarkable in itself since his New Democratic Party (NDP) was once the last-place political party in the House of Commons. He might well have accomplished great things as Opposition Leader, and even might have become prime minister down the road. Sadly, however, the cursed cancer ravaged his personal life and political plans. Unfortunately, he just didn’t have the time to show himself and the rest of us what he might have made out of his new job as Opposition Leader when Parliament resumes in September.

Last, we would also be well-advised to remember that not all deaths this week were those of the human kind; animal deaths, specifically those of house pets, can lead their owners/masters to grieve as much in their own right, as so many have rightly mourned, and still mourn, Jack Layton. In this context, my younger brother Jamie’s cat, Scruffy, died a terrible death this week, falling from the balcony of his apartment in Toronto, to the ground below; apparently during a nasty mid-week rain-and-thunder storm. Jamie discovered him on the ground, still alive, some hours later; took him to a nearby veterinarian, but, sadly felt compelled, because of Scruffy’s internal injuries, to have him euthanized.

I asked him if he was going to walk around the city and take in any of the makeshift tributes to Layton. But he said he wasn’t up to it, feeling as badly as he did about the equally-tragic death--relatively speaking--of his cat. From everything I’ve read about Jack Layton, I think he would’ve understood.