Jack Layton is a ghoul

NDP leader Jack Layton is up to his old tricks, using peoples’ personal tragedies to advance his political fortunes. This time Jumpin’ Jack called a press conference at the corner of Broadview Ave. and Gerard St. E. to advocate a crackdown on gun crime in Toronto.

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The spot at which Layton chose to lay out his five-point “plan” was mere steps away from where a 47-year old Toronto man, Hou Chang Mao died as the result of a stray bullet. You can always count on Layton and his wife, MP Olivia Chow, to make the most of any opportunity that comes their way, even if it involves cashing in on a family’s loss of a husband and father, just to get some face time with a phalanx of cameras and microphones. It isn’t like gun crime in Toronto isn’t illegal or anything already and last time I checked, the Toronto Police Department took a dim view of anyone wielding a gun, much less a handgun, anywhere in public. But, hey, something that trivial wouldn’t stop a guy like Jack Layton from sucking up whatever oxygen there might be in this mishap. The death of somebody’s husband or father can go a long way toward recovering some of that precious lost ground the Greens took away from the NDP over the past two years. As an added bonus, the only thing controversial about Layton’s so-called “plan” is the fact that Layton is trying to float that plan (and draw some attention to himself in the process) in the midst of a family tragedy. Who can argue against the sentiment that “it has to stop”, when referring to gun crime? Who can take issue for locking up criminals who are convicted of packing illegal heat? Who would say we shouldn’t have an additional 2,500 cops on the streets to deal with a problem that has clearly gotten out of hand? And okay, if it makes the politicians of the City of Toronto feel better, let them outlaw guns within the city limits, like they did back in Dodge City under Wyatt Earp. It isn’t like the guns that are killing innocent bystanders are legal now anyway. Most of the ideas contained in Layton’s “plan” are common sense ideas that 99% of Torontonians would agree with. The difference is that the vast majority of that 99% of Torontonians wouldn’t be so insensitive as to hit the scene of a family’s loss with a news conference. I think there might be an element of timidity and self-consciousness with anyone other than Jack Layton and the bounds of good taste and respect for the family would prevent most individuals from wanting to cash in on the pain of the Mao family. But Jack Layton, who in many ways is Canada’s answer to the Rev. Al Sharpton, doesn’t appear to have qualms about trifles such as respect and good taste; certainly not when there is face time with a gaggle of cameras at stake. Layton and his insufferable Chow are reminiscent of the vampire Nosferatu. Regretfully, the Laytons, unlike Nosferatu, can suck blood in broad daylight and at night and not even the specter of a crucifix will keep them at bay. Probably the only thing that could stop Jack the NDP ghoul is a wooden stake through the heart. And regretfully, that, like shooting people with guns, would be illegal.