Jack Layton steps down to take on another battle against cancer
By Nelson Daily Staff
Jack Layton delivered some bad news to Canadians Monday afternoon from Toronto.
The New Democrat leader said he is stepping down to fight another form of cancer after doctors discovered new tumours in his body.
“I’m going to fight this cancer now so I can be back to fight for families when Parliament resumes,” Layton said, revealing he’ll undergo treatment for a new kind of cancer.
The 61-year-old official leader of the opposition has been battling prostate cancer since late 2009, a disease that his late father had also fought, and he underwent hip surgery following an unexplained fracture shortly before the spring election.
But the leader of the opposition acknowledged Monday that his health had been deteriorating as the parliamentary session came to a close last month adding he suffered stiffness and pain.
Layton spent a few days at the Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto undergoing a series of tests after MPs went home for the summer. The tests showed the prostate cancer had not changed for the worse, as his PSA levels were “virtually undetectable.”
Layton did not elaborate on what kind of cancer the doctors diagnosed, but prostate cancer has been known to spread to the bones or lymph nodes.
New Democrats are moving quickly to pick an interim leader.
Layton has recommended newly elected MP Nycole Turmel (Hull-Aylmer), who is national caucus chair and former president of the Public Service Alliance of Canada.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper said in a statement. “We are all heartened by Jack’s strength and tireless determination.”
