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A FAIRWELL 10 JACK LAYTON

NDP Leader Jack Layton Loses his Courageous Batfle with Cancer

HANNA PETERSEN NEWS EDITOR

FOREST MCCORMACK

UNBC student Forest McCormack had the chance to post with Jack Layton when the NDP leader visited the school during his spring elec- tion campaign.

Canadian’s are shocked and saddened by the passing of NDP leader and longtime political icon Jack Layton. Putting party lines and allegiances aside, Jack Layton’s moustache and smiling face were a long time familiarity on the Canadian political scene. Jack Layton’s passing has indicated how greatly he was respected by Canadians.

Under Layton’s leadership from 2003-2011 the party had grown from 13 Members of Parlia- ment to 103 members. NDP has become an alternative to the historic Liberal-Conservative dynamic

of Canadian politics. This passed election marked an unprecedented high for the New Democratic Party with the second most amount of seats in the House of Commons. The NDP became the official opposition with Jack Layton as their leader. Jack Layton had led the party as close as it has ever been to forming the government of Canada.

Layton’s legacy in summarized on the NDP’s official webpage “Layton’s torch will now be carried by every person who believes in a better tomorrow, every person who believes in dignity for our seniors and better opportunity for our youth.”

Layton’s death had tragically come only less than a month after he announced to the country that he had been diagnosed with another form of cancer and was taking time off for treatments. Layton had previously been diagnosed with prostate cancer but had continued working despite the ongoing battle.

Layton’s Chief of Staff Anne McGrath said, “It is a huge loss. It is a huge loss for me person- ally, but it’s a huge loss for our party and our country.”

Prime Minister Harper has said Layton will be remembered for the force of his personality and his dedication to public life. “I know one thing,” Harper said in a statement, “Jack gave his fight against cancer everything he had. Indeed, Jack never backed down from any fight.”

A state funeral was held for Jack Layton on Saturday August 27. Jack Layton’s family, friends and politicians from all parties joined thousands of members of the public to remember and celebrate his life. The funeral began with a procession through the streets of Toronto. Thousands of citizens - some wearing NDP orange - came out to pay their respects and witness Layton’s flag-draped coffin pass by.

“We are overwhelmed by the incredible support you have shown us. We are proud to have shared our father with you,” said Jack Layton’s son Mike Layton during his eulogy along with his sister Sarah Layton.

Layton is truly remembered for being a man of the people. He constantly fought for families, workers, and minority groups and issues like affordable housing, education, and health care. Not only did he have a rare passion for issues and people that are often forgotten in the grand political scheme, he had passion and respect for small communities like ours.

Jack Layton was the only federal party leader to visit Prince George during the last election. In fact, Layton had visited Prince George twice in the last year. A year in which he was campaigning to an entire country while battling for his life, he still managed to visit our conservative stronghold of only a little more than 80,000 people. During those visits he had dropped in to the Thirsty Moose and visited with students on campus.

Before he left us, Jack Layton wrote a memorable letter to Canadians in which he passed on his passion, courage, and optimism. He concluded the letter with the inspiring statement:

“My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than de- spair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we’ll change the world.”

CAMOSUN STUDENTS FUELLING UP ON COOKING OIL

College Will Use Excess Cafeteria Oil fo Run Biodiesal Reactor

RENEE ANDOR NEXUS

VICTORIA (CUP) — Camosun College will soon be using biodiesel from cafeteria cooking oil waste, thanks to some students in the environmental technology program.

Ryan Olivier, Daniel Hayhurst, Paige Dawson and Michel France co-ordinated with Camosun’s physical resources and chemistry program to build a biodiesel reactor and come up with the correct chemical formula to make the alternative fuel.

Olivier says it will be up and running by June, and that it could even be sooner because the reactor is already fully functional; they’re just waiting for the formula to be final- ized.

Brian Calvert, associate director for physical resources, can’t wait to start using the green fuel in the grounds equipment at the college.

“We’re very excited about it,’ Calvert said. “We’re really waiting to try to mix a batch and start implementing it into some of our grounds vehicles for testing.”

The college currently buys biodiesel to use in the grounds vehicles, and the cafe- terias have the waste cooking oil picked up and recycled, so Calvert considers it a win-win. The college will save money on fuel, and will use the cooking oil waste from the cafeterias for free.

Besides feeling good about helping Camosun become more sustainable, Olivier says the experience helped him improve his group co-ordination skills. And he hopes future students will learn new skills by using the reactor for training.

“I would just be happy if it gave other students a chance to get some hands-on ex- perience,” Olivier said.

Calvert agrees, saying he wants the automotive and mechanical engineering pro- grams to use the reactor for training. He also says the trailer the reactor is sitting on is li- censed, so he hopes to take it to community events to show the public how it works.

“It’s good for the environment,” Calvert said. “And it’s a great opportunity to edu- cate people about alternative methods of saving energy.”

Once the reactor is up and running, Calvert says students will probably smell it.

“T don’t know if it’Il drive up the sale of French fries when the guys drive around with the lawn mower,” Calvert said. “[But] that’s kind of the odour it’Il give off in the exhaust.”

Camosun student Ryan Olivier and the biodiesel machines.