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Jack lives on in our hearts

Jack Layton was a well-known face in Sault Ste. Marie. He's been everywhere from St. Marys Paper , to the Farmer's Market , and even to Carianne Robinson's house.
Jack Layton was a well-known face in Sault Ste. Marie.
 
He's been everywhere from St. Marys Paper, to the Farmer's Market, and even to Carianne Robinson's house.
 
He was rather fond of Tuula's buns and hung out with Tony Martin for Rotary Fest one year.
 
Jack's passing hit Saultites of all political stripes hard this year.
 
The man almost single-handedly took the New Democratic Party of Canada to overnight success, obliterating the Bloc Quebecois in Quebec with candidates who were unknown in their ridings.
 
People voted for him.
 
Poll after poll showed that people wanted him to be the Prime Minister, even if they wouldn't vote for the NDP. 
 
He led the NDP beyond the reach of Micheal Ignatief's Liberals to form the Official Opposition in Canada's last election, claiming victories from west to east in many places orange was barely ever seen.
 
And then he was gone.
 
More than a few wonder if the void he left will ever be filled again.
 
Jack Layton was newsmaker of the year for thestar.com.
 
"The brand that Jack built didn’t come through sterile focus group testing in boardrooms," said thestar.com, "It came from years of being himself."
 
Will he be SooToday.com's story of the year?
 
Who's to say?
 
You, of course.
 
Send us your suggestions for top news story of the year, we'll add a few of our own and then we'll let you decide on SooToday.com's top story of the 2011.
 
Deadline for submissions is December 29 so don't wait. 
 
Send your favourites to [email protected] now.
 

 


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Carol Martin

About the Author: Carol Martin

Carol has over 20-years experience in journalism, was raised in Sault Ste. Marie, and has also lived and worked in Constance Lake First Nation, Sudbury, and Kingston before returning to her hometown to join the SooToday team in 2004.
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