Parliament and Layton's passing

Jack Layton is the first Leader of the Opposition in the House of Commons to die in office since Sir Wilfrid Laurier in 1919.

 

In the coming days Parliament will work out how it will pay tribute to his accomplishments, as well as acknowledge and fill the vacancy his death creates in the House of Commons.

 

First, the tributes: late Monday morning, the flag on the Peace Tower on Parliament Hill was lowered to half-mast. It will remain there until Layton's state funeral on Saturday. The timing and details of such a service have not been finalized.

 

Impromptu memorials -- from flowers to notes, and even a can of "Orange Crush" soda -- have already been left on Parliament Hill, at Layton's Toronto home and his Toronto constituency office. And politicians past and present started offering their memories and condolences as soon as the news broke.

 

When Parliament returns on September 19, official tributes to Layton's life and achievements can be made on the floor of the House of Commons, and read permanently into the public record.

 

Then there's the matter of dealing with the vacancy itself.

 

When the House returns Sept. 19, the Speaker will need to inform the House that "a communication has been received giving notice of a vacancy in representation and that a warrant has been addressed to the Chief Electoral Officer for the issue of a writ for the election."

 

Under Canadian election law, a byelection must be formally announced no earlier than 11 days and no later than 180 days after a vacancy officially takes effect with such a warrant.

 

The prime minister can use his discretion as to how quickly such a byelection is called, subject to these time constraints. Voters could be asked to elect a new Member to represent the riding of Toronto-Danforth roughly sometime within the next six months.

 

Nycole Turmel has already been confirmed as the interim leader of the NDP, and as the party with the second-highest number of seats in the House, the NDP's leader, interim or permanent, serves as the Leader of the Opposition in the House.

 

Layton's letter to Canadians suggested a leadership race could be held starting this fall. The NDP has yet to confirm any timelines leading up to the required vote of its full membership to choose a new leader. A leadership convention seems likely for early 2012.

 

 

It's relatively rare for political leaders to die in office in Canada. Beyond Layton and Laurier, two prime ministers have also died in office: Sir John A. MacDonald in 1891, and Sir John Thompson in 1894.

 

The Library of Parliament maintains a list of MPs who died before completing their terms. 

 

Four MPs have died in the vicinity of the Parliament buildings, including one in the 1916 fire on Parliament Hill. A fifth, Liberal Shaughnessy Cohen, collapsed on the floor of the House of Commons in 1998 and died later in hospital.

 

There have been 10 instances since Confederation when a Member was elected to the House of Commons but died before taking (or re-taking) the seat, including the former prime minister John Diefenbaker in 1979.