Good afternoon. Thank you all for coming.

As some of you may know, I hurt my back last week.
Everyone who leads an active lifestyle knows what it's like to pull a muscle at the gym - it can be pretty painful.

My back is better now, but today I want to let you know about an unrelated health matter.

This year, more than 25,000 Canadian men will be diagnosed with treatable prostate cancer and I have recently learned that I’m one of them.

It’s the same kind of prostate cancer that my father was diagnosed with 17 years ago.
He, like the overwhelming majority of Canadian men with prostate cancer, fought it and won.
His treatments were successful, and I intend to tackle this with the same determination that he did.
Like my dad, I am a fighter. And I will beat this.

My treatment plan is now underway and everything is on track.
In the coming weeks, the schedule of my treatment regime means I may have a bit more time to catch the Olympics.
The hard work and drive of our Canadian athletes will be an inspiration.

I want to assure my constituents and the Canadian public that this will in not impede my ability to serve as either the Member of Parliament for Toronto Danforth or as leader of the New Democratic Party of Canada.

I have an amazing team, great friends and a loving, supportive family.

And my wife Olivia knows a thing or two about taking on cancer, having been diagnosed with thyroid cancer just a few years ago.

She won her battle and so will I.

Recently, the Party marked the 7th anniversary of my becoming leader. Without question we have accomplished much. But we also recognize there is a lot more to do to build a more caring and greener Canada.

And I can’t wait to roll up my sleeves Monday morning and get back at it.

Thank you.

Jack Layton

Montreal, Monday, December 7, 2009 – Is the Harper government launching a punitive operation on organisms that criticize its direction? It’s the question raised by the NDP Quebec section following information indicating that CIDA has decided to not renew its grant to Alternatives, an international solidarity organism based in Montreal. This cut follows another one, imposed on a religious group for social justice, Kairos, whose grant given by CIDA have disappeared.

“Kairos denounced the environmental policies of the Harper government, Alternatives is a strong voice against the war in Afghanistan, both are punished because they dared criticize the Conservatives. The message sent is clear: be good, otherwise, your financing will be cut. It is a way to muzzle civil society, it is unacceptable in a democracy”, said an outraged Françoise Boivin, President of the NDP Quebec section. The NDP is worried by this practice that links financing to ideologies. On the contrary, grants should be given according to merit, based on the value of the projects and the mission of the organisms. “Harper wants to muzzle the discordant voices, and silence or intimidate social organisms. This is not our conception of freedom of expression and the richness of democracy. We are witnessing a troubling trend that must be stopped immediately”, concluded Françoise Boivin.

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For information, contact: Alexandre Boulerice, Vice President, Communications, Quebec Section of the NDP.

Today is the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women. In deep sadness, we commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Montreal Massacre at the École polytechnique on December 6, 1989, where 14 women were shot and killed because they were women.

Twenty years ago, Marc Lépine entered the École polytechnique and shot 28 people, killing 14 women: Annie St-Arneault, Geneviève Bergeron, Hélène Colgan, Nathalie Croteau, Barbara Daigneault, Anne-Marie Edward, Maud Haviernick, Maryse Laganière, Maryse Leclair, Anne-Marie Lemay, Sonia Pelletier, Michèle Richard, Annie Turcotte and Barbara Klucznik-Widajewicz. He finished by shooting himself.

Violence against women remains a serious issue in Canada – one that all Canadians have a responsibility to prevent. It is a national disgrace that half of all Canadian women continue to be victims of physical and sexual violence.

Thousands of women in Canada and around the world experience violence daily, many at the hands of partners and relatives. Women already marginalized by society to begin with, such as Aboriginal women, women in the LGBTTQQ community, immigrant, refugee and disabled women, are further marginalized by the violence and abuse they experience. Young women and girls are most at risk of physical and sexual violence. A coordinated national effort is needed to end this terrible injustice.

Violence against women is one of the greatest violations of human rights in the world, but one that is rarely recognized. Helping create the White Ribbon campaign to stop violence against women brought me face-to-face with the fear and abuse so many women experience. As a father, a grandfather and a husband, and on behalf of all New Democrats, I urge every Canadian to open their hearts on this 20th anniversary of the violence at the École polytechnique and do their part to stop further violence against women.

Today, on the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, New Democrats call on the government of Canada to show leadership and help improve the lives of the estimated 4.4 million Canadians living with disabilities.

Too often, people with disabilities are expected to participate less and accept the barriers that exclude them from aspects of Canadian life. But in our country, it is simply unacceptable that we continue to allow some citizens to go without access to the support they need.

It is time to build a Canada where all people living with disabilities have full access to all that Canada has to offer, where the necessary support of benefit is available, and where we work together to remove barriers and ensure the full inclusion of all Canadians in our communities.

On behalf of New Democrats, I call on all parties in Parliament to commit to building a Canada where all citizens can enjoy equality, self-determination and accessibility.

Montreal, Monday, November 30, 2009 – The Quebec-NDP finds deplorable the Supreme Court’s decision to exonerate Wal-Mart of all responsibilities relating to the closure of its store in Jonquière. “The judges could have decided to interpret the law in a broader and more liberal way, but the majority preferred a narrow and conservative vision. This picky legalism prevented those workers, victims of an abusive employer, to obtain justice”, said Françoise Boivin, President of the Quebec section of the NDP. “We much prefer the point of view of Justice Rosalie Abella who wrote the decision on behalf of the three dissenting judges”.

The multinational closed its Jonquière store in 2005 when an arbitrator was poised to impose a first Collective Agreement. This branch’s workers were the first of this huge empire to get unionized in North America. In the opinion of the New Democrats, it is clear that Wal-Mart preferred to sacrifice one store rather than accept the existence of a union. “It is a brutal anti-union method and the Supreme Court should defend the workers who were only exercising a right recognized by our laws and our charters”, insists Françoise Boivin, who is also a lawyer specialized in labour law. For the Quebec President, Wal-Mart’s action was a message sent to all of its employees: unionize and you will lose your job. “It is intimidation, pure and simple. Thankfully, other employees had the courage to unionize, such as the workers at the Saint-Hyacinthe store who are unionized today. Alas, the men and women who have lost their job in Jonquière should have received compensation because they were wrongfully dismissed”, she added.

According to the NDP, businesses that decide to close while their company is in the process of organizing or poised to reach a first Collective Agreement, should have to prove the financial necessity of the closure and to open up their books to an independent audit. Then, the LRB could demand significant compensation for the dismissed workers in order to dissuade companies of using this method to get rid of an emerging union.

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For information, contact: Alexandre Boulerice, Vice President, Communications, Quebec Section of the NDP.

Canada's New Democrats condemn the unacceptable escalation of violence in the Middle East causing death and injury to so many civilians in the Gaza Strip and Israel.

It is a tragedy that hundreds of civilians have again become the victims of violence in this conflict. The continuing airstrikes by Israel on civilians in the Gaza strip and the ongoing rocket attacks on Israeli civilians are serving to compound the existing civilian disaster and further harm chances for a negotiated peace.

We call on the Government of Canada to immediately call for an end to the aerial bombing of Gaza, the blockade of aid to civilians and the indiscriminate rocket attacks on Israel. Indeed, the government must urge both sides to agree to end the current hostilities immediately, reinstate the ceasefire and return to the peace process.

The Government of Canada should also work to ensure that medical and food aid is provided to the civilians of Gaza through U.N. agencies.

New Democrats believe that Canada must pursue a balanced approach to the Middle East crisis, in keeping with Canadians' deep desire for peace in the Middle East and are ready to work with the new administration in the U.S. towards a lasting peace in the region. This goal cannot be achieved while citizens in such large numbers are being killed and endangered.