Robinson happy with new NDP leader Layton

Robinson happy with new NDP leader Layton
By Dan Hilborn, Burnaby Now assistant editor
Published Jan. 29, 2003

"A breath of fresh air on the Canadian political scene," is the way Burnaby-Douglas MP Svend Robinson is describing the federal NDP's new leader after former Toronto city councillor Jack Layton won a stunning first ballot victory last weekend.
"The more Canadians and British Columbians get to know him, the more impressed they're going to be for his vision of the country," said Robinson, who stood beside Layton on the podium as he accepted his victory over a field of five candidates.
Layton, an admitted outsider from the tight-knit NDP federal caucus, had only two of the 14 MPs endorse his campaign - Robinson and his B.C. colleague Libby Davies - but he garnered fully 54 per cent of the votes cast in the first Internet vote cast by the NDP.
While a majority of the NDP caucus and most of the convention's labour delegates supported MP Bill Blaikie for the leadership, Layton had the overwhelming support of grassroots, including Burnaby mayor Derek Corrigan and former NDP leader Ed Broadbent.
Layton, who is also a past president of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, is married to another Toronto city councillor, Hong Kong-born Olivia Chow.
While Robinson admits that the new party leader is seen as having style over substance, he said Layton will prove himself to have "an outstanding track record" on issues such as housing, child care and the environment.
"I'm very hopeful for the future," said Robinson, who ran for the NDP leadership in 1995 and conceded victory to Alexa McDonough before a potentially acrimonious split could develop.
"I think we're poised to make a major breakthrough," he said. "With the collapse of the Canadian Alliance and the right-wing turn of the Liberal party under Paul Martin, there's a huge opening for a progressive and exciting voice on the national scene.
"I think people can expect to see a much more visible and dynamic party that speaks in a much clearer language to their concerns," he said, adding the short-term priorities are voting on the Romanow report on health care, voting on Kyoto and speaking against a war in Iraq.
Robinson said Layton will not likely seek a seat in Parliament until the prime minister calls byelections.
"One of the things I'm concerned about is that this party is too obsessed with question period and parliamentary committees and not getting out to listen to Canadians," he said.