U of T’s The Varsity has just posted a broad-ranging interview with Smilin’ Jack Layton, in which he says the NDP won’t support a Conservative Throne Speech unless it includes new directions on the Afghan mission, the environment and what he calls the “prosperity gap.”
“We want to see a fundamental change of direction on the war, we want to see a fundamental change of direction on the environment, and we want to see some real action on the growing prosperity gap, the issues that your average working family is grappling with,” Layton said.
Say what you will about the federal NDP leader’s style (I find him a bit smug, personally), he is extremely knowledgeable on a wealth of issues and consistently holds the government to account in areas of interest to Canadians.
In the end, I don’t much care how personable I find politicians; if they have policies that back up the things they say and logic behind their words, I’ll give them the time of day.