Jack Layton

A friend of the Canadian farmer has been lost with the passing of federal N.D.P. leader Jack Layton. That from National Farmers Union President Terry Boehm (baym).

Layton died in his Toronto home Monday morning surrounded by his family. He had been battling cancer, and recently announced he would be stepping down as leader of the party while he continued that fight.

Boehm notes very early on after Mr. Layton took over as party leader he paid a visit to the NFU's national office in Saskatoon to discuss agricultural policy. He says Layton expressed a sincere desire to understand the issues affecting rural Canadians. At that time, similar to today, farmers were facing very low commodity prices and large debt loads. Despite coming from an urban background Boehm tells us the N.D.P. leader was deeply interested in understanding what the issues were, and engaging in whatever way he could as a political leader to bring about change to improve the situation of Canadian farmers.

Since taking over as leader of the N.D.P. there has been a long list of issues facing the agricultural sector from the aftermath of B.S.E. to low cattle prices to the Conservatives push to dismantle the CWB's single desk. Through it all Boehm says Layton was always ready to understand, and then engage in what he felt was the best way to support Canadian farmers.

Jack Layton was a major driving force within the N.D.P. party, and we wanted to know with his death whether Boehm felt the party's agricultural policy direction will change moving forward. Boehm believes the N.D.P., in many respects, will continue to support the things they have under Layton's watch including the CWB and supply management. Boehm says Mr. Layton brought a lot of profile and passion to whatever issue he spoke to and that will  be greatly missed, but he believes there are still people within the party who have a sincere intent regarding agriculture and will continue to fight for Canadian farmers.