Layton steps aside temporarily for new cancer battle
BY TOBI COHEN, POSTMEDIA NEWS JULY 25, 2011 1:38 PM
New Democratic Party (NDP) leader Jack Layton speaks at a news conference in Toronto, July 25, 2011. Layton announced he is temporarily stepping down to battle cancer.
Photograph by: Mark Blinch, Reuters
A frail-looking and raspy-voiced NDP leader Jack Layton announced Monday that his battle with cancer isn't over.
The official Opposition leader said he was temporarily stepping aside to take care of his health after learning he had developed a new cancer in addition to the prostate cancer he's been battling for more than a year.
He recommended that Quebec MP Nycole Turmel, the former president of the Public Service Alliance of Canada, be made the party's interim leader.
"I'm going to fight cancer now so I can be back to fight for families when Parliament resumes," he said.
NDP officials had been mum about the subject of the surprise news conference, but rumours quickly began circulating that it could have something to do with Layton's health.
Unusually sedate during his most recent public appearance in Ottawa — a garden party for media at Stornoway — there was speculation that something didn't seem quite right.
On Monday, the Internet had been rife with speculation
According to one comment on Twitter, Layton's son Mike, a Toronto city councillor, appeared for a committee meeting in the morning but failed to return for the afternoon session.
Layton has been battling prostate cancer for more than a year and weeks before the writ dropped prompting an election last spring, he underwent surgery for a broken hip. He's been walking with a forearm crutch or cane ever since.
Looking pale and gaunt, there was much concern about his ability to handle the physical demands of a five-week federal election campaign.
He made it through the election in good form but Layton said Monday that he began suffering "stiffness and pain" shortly after the House of Commons rose for the summer break.
He underwent a series of tests at Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto and was told while his PSA levels were low but that he'd developed another form of cancer.
He did not specify what type.
Layton's father, Robert, a cabinet minister in Brian Mulroney's Progressive Conservative government, successfully battled prostate cancer 18 years ago. He died in 2002 of complications from Parkinson's disease.
Read more:http://www.canada.com/Layton+steps+aside+temporarily+cancer+battle/5155619/story.html#ixzz1T91Mu8Zi
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