Layton, Jack (1950-2011), led Canada’s federal New Democratic Party (NDP) from 2003 to 2011. The NDP is a social-democratic political party linked with the Canadian labor movement. Social democrats call for an economy with both privately and publicly owned industries. Layton led Canada’s social democrats to gains in four consecutive general elections. His energy and popular appeal helped the NDP achieve unprecedented electoral success in 2011. Layton’s career of social activism focused on such issues as environmental protection; health care; homelessness; lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) rights; and violence against women.
John Gilbert Layton was born in Montreal, Canada, on July 18, 1950. He completed a Ph.D. degree in political science at York University in Toronto, Canada, in 1983. Layton became active in Toronto politics and served as a Toronto city councilor from 1982 to 1991, and from 1994 to 2003. In 1988, he married fellow Canadian politician Olivia Chow. Layton placed second in Toronto’s 1991 mayoral race. In 1993 and 1997, he ran as an NDP candidate for Canada’s House of Commons but did not win the election. In 2001 and 2002, Layton served as president of the Canadian Federation of Municipalities, an organization that works to advance the interests of Canadian cities, towns, and municipal associations.
Layton won the leadership of the federal NDP in 2003. As party leader, he sought to challenge the centrist Liberal Party, which was historically successful at forming federal governments. He also aimed to win House seats in Quebec, where the NDP had not had much electoral success. In 2004, the NDP recorded its best election results in more than a decade. Layton was elected a member of Parliament for a Toronto riding (district). Following the election, the NDP influenced the Liberal government to expand social programs.
The Conservative Party won an election in 2006 and formed a federal government. The NDP continued to increase its parliamentary representation in elections in 2006 and 2008. In contrast to the Conservatives and Liberals, the NDP opposed Canada’s later involvement in the Afghanistan War (2001-2021).
In the general election of May 2011, the NDP won 31 percent of the vote and 103 of 308 seats in Parliament. It placed second and became the official opposition party for the first time. In Quebec, where the NDP previously had held 1 of the province’s 75 seats in the federal Parliament, it won 59. In July, Layton announced he was taking a temporary leave of absence. He died on Aug. 22, 2011, from cancer. He became the first official opposition leader ever to receive a state funeral.
