Image of the Day: Layton shows off his riding

Jack Layton and Rick Mercer take a moment to pose for a picture while filming a 2005 segment of the Rick Mercer Report.

Layton was participating in what was then a new feature on the Mercer Report called My Riding, where members of Parliament showed the host what was so great about their riding. Mercer's riding is Toronto-Danforth and Layton his MP.

The Mercer Report premiered in 2004 - originally as Rick Mercer's Monday Report - and sees the host combine news parody and sketch comedy with visits to interesting places across the country and interviews with prominent Canadians.

In the My Riding segment, Layton showed Mercer around the area in Toronto's east-end - including a visit to a yoga studio, participating in a parade and dealing with the recycling of another famous constituent, Steven Page, the former lead singer of the Barenaked Ladies.

The segment ended with Layton taking Mercer for a ride on his tandem bike near the Toronto waterfront.

Layton made several appearances on the Mercer Report while he served as leader of the NDP. One visit included Mercer visiting Layton and his wife, Trinity-Spadina MP Olivia Chow's environmentally-friendly retro-fitted home.

Watch the clip:


Layton, a Montreal native, came to Toronto as a young man in the 1970s to earn his master's degree in political science at York University, later taking a teaching position at Ryerson Polytechnic Institute,now Ryerson University.

He was first elected to office as a Toronto city alderman in November 1982, and won a seat in the first election for the newly minted Metropolitan Toronto Council in 1985. After an unsuccessful run for mayor in 1991 and losing a federal election campaign in 1993 in the north Toronto riding of Rosedale, he was re-elected to Toronto's city council in 1994, and again in 1997.

After winning the leadership of the federal NDP in 2003, he became MP for Toronto-Danforth in 2004, a position he held until his death on Monday, Aug. 22.

The 61-year-old made a significant political breakthrough in May's federal election, that led the federal NDP to its historic electoral result of 103 seats - many from Quebec - and becoming the Official Opposition.

Layton announced on July 25 that he was facing a new battle with cancer and stepped aside from his role as leader.

Complete coverage of Layton's state funeral can be seen across CBC platforms later today - Saturday, Aug. 27.

Posted on Aug 27, 2011 6:00:00 AM