“Today, we remember Jack Layton – a leader and a friend who had a gift for kindling hope in the hearts of Canadians. We miss him today more than ever.

Jack’s warmth and ability to connect with people went hand-in-hand with a relentless, cheerful challenge of the status quo. He just refused to accept inequality, unfairness, division.

When our opponents claimed our movement was done for, it was Jack’s courageous optimism that paved the path to an historic victory for our movement and for a more compassionate Canada.

He may be most famous for his insistence that “love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear”. But for New Democrats, just as essential was his rejection of cynicism with the words: “don’t let them tell you it can’t be done.”

15 years on, that line feels like it was written for this moment.

At a time when the billionaire class revels in unlimited power and profit, when corporate lobbyists paste their wish lists into legislation, and we face unprecedented attacks from a presidential chaos agent, it’s tempting to feel that social justice is out of reach.

But New Democrats know today, like Jack did then, that change is possible. There are solutions on the table that serve the many, not the money. We have tremendous work to do, and all the talent, know-how and resources to do it.

We are fueled by the undying hope that Jack breathed into our movement – and the knowledge that collective struggle is the way we win a better world.

We miss you Jack, but we have not forgotten a single word of your message to the future.”