For all their sad attempts to mock him or weaken his influence, you just know that he would have reached out to them nonetheless, with grace, with compassion, with altruism, and even with love. That’s what he taught us.
God knows, it’s a difficult example to follow sometimes, but that’s what generosity of spirit is. It’s offered without any expectation of a quid pro quo. And it’s extended to those who don’t deserve it precisely because they don’t deserve it. That’s what makes it what it is.
They can sneer, sling insults and indulge in all the childish stunts they like. In the end nobody will remember them. What we will remember is what Jack Layton stood for: inclusion, civility, kindness, hope – a civil discourse and politics that speaks to the better angels of our nature.
Nothing can change that. We can honour him by aspiring to that, every day and in everything we do.
Thanks Jack. I’ll say it again: we are better for the time you spent among us.
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Beautifully said, Sol.