TORONTO — Toronto Coun. Mike Layton called on Green Party Leader Elizabeth May to stop invoking his father’s name for partisan gain Monday.
“I’d appreciate if you would stop using my dad’s name to win political points,” the son of former NDP leader Jack Layton wrote to May on Twitter.
“I’m happy his legacy lives on, but it’s not fair to assume his view given he’s not here. I know he stood firmly on his progressive values, and uniting the country behind his vision.”
Earlier Monday, May defended a controversial candidate by bringing up the late NDP icon.
Pierre Nantel, the Green party’s candidate for Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, says that he supports Quebec sovereignty. May insists that he does not.
“I obviously want Pierre Nantel to be re-elected,” May said at a press conference in Kitchener, Ont.
“He was recruited to federal politics by Jack Layton. Jack Layton trusted him.”
- Elizabeth May
“I find it appalling the way he’s being attacked. He was recruited to federal politics by Jack Layton. Jack Layton trusted him. I gather Mr. [NDP Leader Jagmeet] Singh doesn’t. But I’d also ask the New Democrats who they knew better?”
Nantel defected to the Greens this summer after being elected twice as an NDP MP.
“I have no concern at all, having worked in Parliament with Pierre Nantel for eight years, that he’s some kind of firebrand who wants to hurt this country.”
She made the same argument on Twitter Saturday.
A spokeswoman for Coun. Layton confirmed that his tweet was in response to May’s comments Monday but said the councillor was not available to comment further.
Representatives for the Green party did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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