WEDNESDAY
August 24, 2011
A division of
Vol. 26 No. 67
Co
m
N
Yo ur
year
aper
Your community. Your newspaper.
inc. H.S.T.
i t y r Yo ur
sp
$1.25
un
ew
COMOX VALLEY RECORD
m
ANNIVERSARY
SI
NCE 1986
www.comoxvalleyrecord.com
EVENT SUCCESSFUL
Organizers of the recent Grill and Chill are thankful. ■ 13
SWINGING HOT BAT
JACK LAYTON STOPPED at the K’ómoks Big House during a 2008 federal election campaign so he could support local NDP candidate Catherine Bell. PHOTO BY ERIN HALUSCHAK
NDP leader was inspiring leader, and regular guy Layton mourned by supporters
Erin Haluschak Record Staff
Remembered as the man who “never gave up on anything,” Catherine Bell recalls Jack Layton as a friend and mentor who was unlike any other leader she met. Bell, a former Vancouver Island North NDP MP and three-time candidate, said Tuesday the federal NDP leader who died at his Toronto home early Monday morning was “a dynamic person, who was personal and engaging. Jack was who he was; he didn’t put on any airs.” Bell remembers first meeting Layton — who most recently dropped by her Zocalo Café and
Gallery for a coffee during his election stop in the Valley in April — when he was running for federal leader in 2003. “I met (his wife) Olivia (Chow) at a conference, and knew about Jack. He was very engaging,” she added. She recalls Layton’s various visits to the Comox Valley, particularly spending time with the leader at Vancouver Island MusicFest. “I remember we walked around and talked to people in the crowd. He was there to listen to music, have a good time and talk. He even sat down and talked with
people in the beer garden,” she recalls. “He really loved music, he always had his iPod and played piano and guitar really well.” After winning the federal seat in 2006, Bell said Layton assigned her as the NDP critic for natural resources. “He came up to me and asked, ‘What would you like to do?’ rather than saying, ‘This is how it goes,’” she said. “He made me feel very comfortable. I would text him on his Blackberry and he responded so quickly whenever I had questions.” As his campaign manager while running for leadership of
the federal party in 2002-2003, Glen Sanford recalls a particular conversation with Layton from his home in Fanny Bay. “I knew he was a Toronto city councillor, and I was a little bit skeptical (of him) at the time. It was a 45-minute phone call, and at the end of the conversation, I was managing his leadership campaign for B.C.,” he said. Sanford said he instantly liked the leader after a failed attempt to pick up Layton at the Vancouver airport in style. “I made arrangements to pick him up in a nice car but it fell through at the last minute, and drove down in a 1982 Toyota beater that I didn’t even have a
It’s almost 890 kilometres from Nashville to Milwaukee. But it’s beginning to look a lot closer to Taylor Green. That’s because the Comox Valley minor baseball stalwart has been ripping the cowhide off the baseball with the Nashville Sounds of the AAA Pacific Coast League — at such a pace as to fuel significant speculation among sources close to the situation that a call-up to the MLB Brewers might be possible this season.
...Full story on page ■ 32
FINDER
... see LAYTON ■ 2
■ Weather
2
■ Lottery
6
■ Ferry Schedule
6
■ Arts
13
■ Classified
25
■ Sports
32
■ Editorial
36
■ Opinion
37
■ Valley Living
Insert
■ Fall Registration
Insert
1.9% Purchase Financing for 36 Months, PLUS! 2.9% for 48 Months or UP TO $1,500 OFF 3.9% for 60 months OR $1,000 2.9% Lease for 48 Months DOWN PAYMENT MATCHING
445 Crown Isle Boulevard • Call 250-338-6761 • www.courtenaytoyota.com
Dlr#7478
2011 20 11 Tacoma
OAC See See D Dealer Dealer ale l for f D Details et ils etail