As a university student, I skipped class to see Jean Chrétien make a campaign stop in Saskatoon. I got relatively close, close enough that when I hopped up on a rail to get a better view, a Mountie did a double take of my sudden movement.
Chrétien made his talking points and was hustled off.
Several years later, I had a chance to see Stockwell Day speak in North Battleford. The local MP was a strong backer of the ill-fated Day at the time. I think I even got a chance to interview him for a minute or two, but obviously the experience wasn't that memorable.
So while I saw Chrétien, and spoke to Day, I met Jack Layton.
The event was the 2005 annual convention of the Canadian Community Newspapers Association in Banff. I was there because I was nominated for "best agricultural story" for a piece I had done on the impact of the BSE crisis on farmers, for which I would take second place.
It was before one of the convention workshops that I ran into Layton in the mezzanine area. He had been scheduled to speak, and thus was killing a few minutes before going in.
As luck would have it, in a building filled with reporters, I was able to have a couple of minutes with the NDP leader to myself.
Again, I can't remember what the discussion was about. I'm sure it was about some now-forgettable issue of the day, perhaps defence. Maybe it was gun control.
But what I was left with was impressions.
This was a man who was not a featherweight, figuratively or literally. He struck me as tall, with some bulk to him. Perhaps why the national media, who knew him much better, was so astonished at his diminished appearance at a news conference a month ago, when he announced he was temporarily stepping aside.
He had a presence as well. The room was fuller with him than without him, if that makes any sense.
Our brief discussion didn't go very far. He soon had to go in to deliver his speech. I wanted to make my discussion points, and felt smug in my so doing. He countered them, realizing quickly he wasn't going to make me one of the converted. Plus he wanted a quick bite from the snack table.
What was quite clear that day was this man's charisma. It oozed from his pores as a palpable thing, almost like sweat on one's brow. It was easy to see why those who followed him could become so enamoured. I've met many politicians over the years, but few, with the possible exception of Brad Wall, have had that level of charisma.
The speech went over well. It was about leadership, I believe, and newspapers' roles in it. A few moments later, and he was gone.
Having died just a few months after an astonishing electoral success, Layton leaves the nation feeling in a way unfulfilled. I'm sure there will be some comparisons to the loss of John F. Kennedy, dead before his completed destiny was fulfilled. Certainly we have seen such an elevation in the media in its coverage of Layton's passing. "If only ..." will forever be part of the Layton legacy.
Personally, I think his biggest accomplishment was not so much bringing 103 NDP members of Parliament to Ottawa as it was the sheer and utter destruction of the Bloc Quebecois in the most recent election. If the whuppin' he laid on the Bloc can survive his passing, the nation will be the much stronger for it.
I'm sure Layton would have preferred a national daycare or pharmacare program as a legacy, but this will nonetheless be long remembered.
Brian Zinchuk is editor of Pipeline News. He can be reached at [email protected]
