OTTAWA BUREAU
OTTAWA–When Jack Layton was picked five years ago this month to lead the New Democratic Party, he was billed as the great hope, the man who was going to put the hapless left-of-centre party back on the map again.
For some, the jury is still out on whether the former high-profile Toronto councillor has lived up to his reputation, particularly with the Green party nipping at the NDP's heels in Greater Toronto.
On Monday, Layton, 57, will mark his five years as party leader with a speech to caucus. And while he's expected to tout the gains made so far under his leadership, some are quietly wondering whether he's able to do more.
But in an interview, Layton says he's chuffed about the party's chances next time around and he's not shy about taking a good deal of the credit for giving the party a voice again.
He boasts how the party has prospered under his leadership, going from 19 seats to 30 in the last election, and last year earning a breakthrough in Quebec, with a win by Thomas Mulcair in a by-election in Outremont.
"We've actually had a very good year. ... Nobody would have predicted that we would have not only elected an MP not only in Quebec but in a riding (Outremont) that nobody would have given us a shot at and that we would win it with 49 per cent of the vote," he said.
"You don't get taken seriously as a national party if you haven't got the capacity to get elected in Quebec. We broke through there and I think we will add seats" in Quebec.
Over the last week, he's launched volleys at his Liberal and Conservative rivals. The two parties have failed repeatedly to deliver on key promises over the last 20 years – from jobs to education to the environment and health care, the NDP leader said, adding that the Tories and Liberals have made the lives of working families and the middle class less affordable while ensuring that big corporations and their CEOs got big tax cuts.
Layton said they have fuelled a growing gap between the rich and "the rest of us" – Canadians who work harder and harder while falling further and further behind.
Layton and his colleagues are hoping to capitalize on the lukewarm support for both the Conservatives and Liberals to pick up more seats in an election expected as early as this spring.
The party is going to have to win many more seats across the country if it is going to be a contender. That means hard work and staking out positions on the economy, the environment and social programs.
Going into the recent NDP caucus meeting in Montebello, Que., MP Tony Martin (Sault Ste. Marie) said the party was keen on developing a populist program.
"I have been at this (politics) for 18 years and have gone to probably 25 retreats, and each time you go in looking for that magic bullet that is going to do it for you," Martin said.
"It will be more of the same, working together to try to find a way to get what we think is a very valuable program out to the people so they might see as something they can support," he said.
CAW president Buzz Hargrove, who was suspended from the NDP for openly backing Liberal candidates in the 2006 federal election, said the federal New Democrats are no longer seen as a left-of-centre alternative, but simply another middle-of-the-road party trying to share the ground with the Liberals and the Conservatives.
"They are lacking a clearly defined direction," Hargrove said.
With files from The Canadian Press
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