Olivia Chow reflects on life without Jack

Olivia Chow reflects on life without Jack


Forced to grieve the loss of her life mate in the public eye, Olivia Chow has done it with immense grace and strength.

But when the time comes Wednesday to inter her beloved Jack Layton’s ashes during a private ceremony at a downtown Toronto cemetery where the former NDP leader once gave tours, she knows it won’t be easy.

“People tell me because it’s so final, it’s very difficult,” she says with her usual nonchalance. “But whatever, we will take it a step at a time.”

Speaking with Postmedia News before Canadians coast to coast mark the one year anniversary Wednesday of the popular leader’s failed fight with cancer, Chow admits this summer has been a struggle.

More specifically, the approach to his July 18 birthday was “very very difficult,” says Chow who used the opportunity to escape to the Northwest Territories on an organized whitewater canoe trip well out of range of BlackBerry service.

It’s an activity she and Layton once enjoyed and she knew staying in town the day her husband was supposed to turn 62 was a bad idea.

“It was very difficult for the first few days up to his birthday . . . but I turned a corner,” she says, adding a day later, she found some eagle feathers not unlike the one that fell from the sky during a 2006 kayak trip only to be dubbed a leadership feather by a Haida elder.

She gave that leadership feather to former interim leader Nycole Turmel during the party’s strategy session last fall in Quebec City.

“The day after I felt much better and I really enjoyed the river trip a lot more,” Chow says.

While it’s been a tough year both personally and professionally, she says in many ways it’s also been a good one.

The party’s found a “good leader” in Tom Mulcair, membership is up and the NDP’s crop of young and new MPs are “speaking up, representing their constituents well and presenting a different vision of how the country could be,” she says, adding that’s “quite comforting.”

She’s “grateful” to Quebecers for “putting their trust” in the party, a move that ultimately launched the NDP into official Opposition status for the first time following the last election, and is “comforted” by the public’s embrace of her husband’s dying message to be loving, hopeful and optimistic.

Chow says one woman in her 80s captured the message in needlepoint — a labour of love that took six hours a day over five months to complete. Meanwhile on YouTube, she discovered some 20 original scores written to his last words. It’s also reflected in the letters, poems, artwork, mosaics and paintings she continues to receive from strangers.

“It’s not just about me. It’s not just about Jack. It’s about people responding to his call out to make a difference,” she says. “I just want to extend my gratitude to everyone that has expressed themselves.”

As for her political resolve, Chow insists that hasn’t changed. Having soared to 102 seats from 36, caucus dynamics have changed. And while she certainly feels Layton’s absence on the political stage — they served together for years both as Toronto city councillors and MPs — she remains as dedicated as ever to the promotion of a national transit strategy given her role as transportation critic.

Reflecting back a year to when an ever more feeble Layton returned home to live out his remaining days with loved ones who helped him respond to letters, plan his funeral and pen that now famous letter to Canadians all the while holding out hope that his health might improve, Chow branched off on yet another political tangent.

“We had good palliative care. A lot of people don’t receive good palliative care. If we happened to live in Scarborough, there wouldn’t be a palliative care doctor on hand so he probably wouldn’t have been able to be at home,” she says, adding she’s spent a lot of time this year speaking publicly about her experience with stakeholders in the health sector.

In fact, it’s why she remains convinced she made the right decision to not reveal the type of cancer that ultimately claimed her husband’s life.

“People who have that cancer will be devastated to think that wow, it could be that deadly that fast, that quick but there are people who have that kind of cancer where those cancer cells don’t behave that way,” she says.

“I’m even more convinced after speaking to a lot of people this year including cancer network survivors (and) counselling folks.”

As for the future, Chow has much to look forward to.

Just as Layton’s tragic death was followed up months later with the joyous birth of his second granddaughter, the family is bracing for yet another happy milestone just days after the anniversary of his death.

“Mike’s getting married. Yeah, the 25th. Three days after (the anniversary) so it’ll be a roller-coaster,” Chow exclaims of her stepson and Toronto city councillor Mike Layton’s pending nuptials.

“I just bought a dress for the wedding. Woo hoo! (It’s the) circle of life.”

Memorials to Jack Layton are taking place across the country on Aug. 22, the anniversary of his death, and in the days surrounding it. Here’s a look at what’s happening:

Aug. 22:

• At 6 p.m. friends and relatives, including widow Olivia Chow, will gather at Nathan Phillips Square for a celebration of life. Special guests include Jason Collett, Ron Sexsmith, Eric Peterson, Richard Underhill, Raffi, Lorraine Segato, Wendy Crewson and Chalkmaster Dave.

• A private ceremony for family and close friends will take place in the morning at Toronto’s Necropolis cemetery in Cabbagetown where Layton’s ashes will be buried and his bronze-bust adorned gravestone unveiled.

• Calgary will host a tribute dubbed “Carrying Jack’s Legacy Forward” that will take place at Melrose Cafe and Bar — “the spot where people spontaneously gathered to mourn Jack last year,” according to the Facebook invite.

• Ottawa will host a “Picnic in Hintonburg Park in Memory of Jack Layton” at 6 p.m. at the park on Fairmont Ave. There will also be a “Vigil for Jack” on Parliament Hill at the Eternal Flame at 11 a.m.

• Regina will celebrate with a “Toast to Jack Layton” at 5:30 p.m. at the Bushwakker Brew Pub hosted by Regina-area New Democrats.

• Oshawa will host “Dear Jack: An Oshawa celebration of Jack Layton’s message of love, hope and optimism at 6 p.m. at outside Oshawa City Hall. The event will include a candlelight vigil followed by drinks at the Thirsty Monk starting at 7 p.m.

• Montreal will host a memorial to Layton at what’s been dubbed one of his favourite Montreal bars, Les Bobards, at 6 p.m.

• Quebec City will commemorate the late leader at 6 p.m. at La Ninkasi du Faubourg.

• Sherbrooke will commemorate the Layton legacy at 6 p.m. at Siboire.

• Saskatoon will also host a “Toast to Jack Layton” at 5:30 p.m. at the Amigos Cantina.

• Sudbury will “Raise a Glass to Jack” at 7 p.m. at the Laughing Buddha. Special pint classes will be on hand for the event.

• St. John’s will celebrate Layton’s message at 6 p.m. at Harbourside Park. The community event will include music by Valerie Long and members of the Holy Heart Alumni Choir.

• Winnipeg will celebrate Layton’s life at 7 p.m. at Lo Pub. MP Pat Martin and MLA Rob Altemeyer will be on hand to deliver speeches.

• Vancouver will host an informal gathering to remember Layton and “recommit” to his message to be “loving, hopeful and optimistic” at 6 p.m. at the Vancouver Convention Centre.