Jack Layton

John Gilbert "Jack" Layton PC MSC (July 18, 1950 – August 22, 2011) was a Canadian politician who led the federal New Democratic Party from 2003 to 2011 and was a member of the House of Commons from 2004 to 2011, representing the Toronto riding of Toronto—Danforth. Under his leadership, the NDP's seats in the House of Commons grew from 14 in 2003 to 103 after the 2011 federal election, the most in the party's history. With this result the NDP became the Official Opposition for the first time, and Layton also became Leader of the Official Opposition. Before entering federal politics, Layton was a Toronto city councillor, and during that time he also served at times as deputy mayor and acting mayor.

Layton's second wife was Olivia Chow, a local politician of Hong Kong origin. Through her he learned some basic Cantonese, which he often used to promote himself and the NDP in the Chinese community. Layton died of cancer on August 22, 2011, at the age of 61.