"And we'll change the world"

It's gone pretty much unnoticed in the UK - and in many ways it's understandable; there are maybe bigger things going on over here right now, and in any case, who's bothered about Canada? - but the recent passing of Canadian politician Jack Layton merits perhaps a little more coverage than has been evident in our media so far.

Layton had managed as party leader to take the Canadian New Democratic Party (NDP) from a minor party to a position following the May 2011 federal elections where the NDP now constitute the official Opposition in the Canadian parliament. (Imagine, if you will, a situation where Nick Clegg had managed to lead the Lib Dems to such a position. It's that impressive.) He did this fighting an election on a progressive, centre-left platform, in the face of an incumbent Conservative government which has loudly and resolutely been transmitting the same sort of "no-alternative-but-cuts-and-austerity" message the Tories are perfecting this side of the Atlantic and which, repeated enough, can make a downtrodden pessimist of even the most upbeat and positive of us. Serious stuff, then - the success of a positive, practical message with the promise of more, much more, to come.

Now, it may be that Layton's death will elevate him to a level he simply couldn't have reached, even had he managed to lead the NDP to an electoral majority. In death becoming "the best PM Canada never had", or whatever, means he never will have had to make the difficult choices every leader has to face at some time, never will have made a decision construed as a betrayal or an act of hypocrisy, never will have watched his premiership - and his reputation - slipping away in the face of a hostile media and a fickle electorate.

Even so, Layton's final letter leaves the impression that, like Bobby Kennedy or John Smith, here was a man who could - and in a just world should - have made a huge difference had he been given the chance to serve. Perhaps progressives here in the UK could learn from what Layton did in Canada; indeed, there appear to be aspects of the NDP manifesto, as well as elements of the way in which the party campaigned ahead of the election in May, which could be borrowed wholesale and fruitfully utilised over here in campaigning and in communicating a progressive message right now.

But even if not, assuming that there's absolutely nothing useful to be learned from the NDP experience and that that which has been shown to work in a Canadian context simply does not and cannot fit into the way we do things over here, the simple clarity and power of the final paragraph of Layton's letter stand out both as a shining flame of hope, and as a rallying call for those who know that together we can build a better, safer, more equitable society, despite what the government, media and other assorted nay-sayers might have one believe:

"My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we’ll change the world."

The time for love, hope and optimism is now. Jack Layton was right; we genuinely can change the world. Stay positive out there.