Jack Layton's speech at the New Democrat caucus strategy session

Good afternoon everybody. And thank you Link for that warm Saskatchewan welcome.

It means so much coming from the next Premier of Saskatchewan.

It’s great to be here to share ideas with the Saskatchewan NDP.

And to come together to plan out our approach to getting results in Parliament.

Your New Democrat MPs from across Canada are here today to do just that.

But I’ll tell you – there’s actually another reason we chose to come together in Saskatchewan.

We’re here because the hard-working people of Saskatchewan – like others across Canada - are looking for change.

Change from Stephen Harper’s divisive politics in Ottawa.

Et ici en Saskatchewan, comme partout ailleurs au pays, les gens savent que :

Le seul moyen pour défaire les conservateurs, c’est de voter pour le NPD.

And here in Saskatchewan – like all across Western Canada – folks know:

The only way to defeat Conservatives – is by voting New Democrats.

The people of Saskatchewan are right to be looking for change. They’re worried.

They’re worried about losing control of their valuable resources – like Potash.

So important to the Saskatchewan economy.

The people of Rocanville… Esterhazy… Lanigan… they rely on Saskatchewan’s Potash.

They’re looking for a little leadership from Ottawa - some assurance that the potash industry won’t be sold out from under them.

Instead, all they get is silence.

At the same time, Saskatchewan farmers are facing the worst flooding in decades.

And instead of providing help, Stephen Harper is threatening to hold back previously promised stimulus funding.

Conservatives say - It’s not our fault if these communities can’t get the paperwork done on time.

But you know, it’s hard to get the paperwork in when you’re 3 feet deep in water and watching your livelihood wash away.

It’s just not common sense.

And so New Democrats are going to fight for Saskatchewan.

We will fight to ensure that Stephen Harper keeps his stimulus commitment to flooded out farmers.

C’est pourquoi le NPD va se battre pour la Saskatchewan.

Nous allons nous battre pour s’assurer que Stephen Harper maintienne ses mesures de stimulation économique pour aider nos fermiers inondés.

And we will fight to ensure that we don’t allow our Potash industry to be sold off unless it provides a real benefit to the people of Saskatchewan.

Saskatchewan deserves better from their federal government.

And let me tell you, people are demanding better.

One woman at the BBQ Moose Jaw yesterday came up to me to express her deep sense of disappointment in Stephen Harper.

She said: Jack - Stephen Harper promised to be different. But he’s turning out to be just the same as all the rest of ‘em.

And there’s something to this. .

Remember when Stephen Harper promised to bring accountability to Ottawa?

Instead, his friends and insiders are getting all the breaks.

36 unelected Senators appointed. Including his fundraisers, his campaign staff, his failed candidates – rejected by the voters.

All drawing a Senator’s salary on the public dime. Something he said he’d go to Ottawa to clean up.

That’s not the accountability he promised.

And remember when Stephen Harper promised to make your life more affordable?

After four years of Stephen Harper – the average household debt is at an all-time high.

Hard-working families are worried about being able to pay the bills.

About how they’ll afford their parents’ long-term care.

Or their children’s education.

But Stephen Harper isn’t helping out the middle class family. He’s giving breaks to Bay Street bankers.

5 billion dollars worth this year alone.

The very people who need the help the least.

It’s not right.

Remember when Stephen Harper promised to manage your money responsibly?

One billion dollars in 72 hours for his G8 meeting in Toronto.

16 billion dollars on a sole-sourced contract for American fighter planes – never even debated in Parliament.

9 billion dollars for prisons for unreported criminals.

The sky’s the limit for Harper’s vote-buying vanity projects.

And all the while, flood-ravaged Saskatchewan has to beg Ottawa to keep their stimulus commitment.

My friends, it wasn’t meant to be this way.

Stephen Harper has broken his promise to Western Canadians.

A promise to move beyond the pork-barrel patronage and the political games of the past.

After 4 and a half years – Stephen Harper’s Ottawa Conservatives are beginning to look no different from the Liberals they replaced.

Après 4 ans et demi, Stephen Harper et les conservateurs d’Ottawa ressemblent de plus en plus aux libéraux qu’ils ont remplacés.

It’s not complicated. Saskatchewan voters just want their representatives to work together.

To use a little good old Prairie common sense.

To just get things done.

That’s why, now, people are looking for a different kind of leadership – a leadership you can trust.

And a leadership that puts aside the political games and gets results.

That’s what New Democrats are doing – each and every day. In fact, this is a cornerstone of New Democrat leadership.

Practical solutions that bring people together.

It’s been that way since Tommy’s time.

It was a cornerstone of prairie NDP leadership for 50 years.

And it’s still that way today.

Take the gun registry debate.

Having broken his promise to do things differently, Stephen Harper has reverted to divisive political games.

Pitting region against region.

Canadian against Canadian.

Urban against Rural. In a winner take all battle.

In the process, Stephen Harper has painted a deeply offensive stereotype of rural Canadians as if their priorities start and stop with guns.

As if their farms, their pensions and their health care, are not all important too.

And Michael Ignatieff is playing the same dangerous game of driving wedges between Canadians.

Michael Ignatieff’s tent apparently has no room for rural farmers and Aboriginal Canadians

I know Mr. Ignatieff has been away for awhile – but he needs to know…

…these US style, divisive games are not how we do things here.

Je sais que Michael Ignatieff a été absent pendant un long moment, mais il doit savoir que…

…ces jeux politiques à l’américaine, où on divise pour régner, ce n’est pas comme ça qu’on agit ici.

The Canadian way – the way Tommy taught us – is to listen to each other.

To listen and to seek common ground.

To build bridges between Canadians. Not to drive wedges.

What is lost in both Mr. Harper’s and Mr. Ignatieff’s approach is that common ground does exist.

There are practical solutions to the challenges we face.

All Canadians – rural and urban agree that safe communities are important. That we must protect our brave police officers.

They also agree that regular, law-abiding citizens, farmers and hunters should not be made to feel like criminals.

And that local customs and aboriginal treaty rights deserve our respect.

And so your New Democrats have put forward a practical, achievable solution.

One that respects rural Canada and keeps our communities safe.

This is what Canadian leadership is all about.

Leadership that builds bridges instead of driving wedges like the Americans do.

It’s this principle that will guide your New Democrats as we enter this next session of Parliament.

And I’m here today to put Stephen Harper on notice.

I’ve criss-crossed this country more than once. And I know that Canadians are looking for a different kind of leadership.

Leadership that’s building bridges, not driving divisions.

Les Canadiens veulent du leadership différent, du leadership qui crée des liens, pas qui divise les gens.

C’est une différence importante entre moi et Stephen Harper.

Et une raison importante pourquoi je demanderai aux Canadiens de voter pour moi, plutôt que pour Stephen Harper, aux prochaines élections.

This is a key difference between myself and Stephen Harper.

And a key reason why I’ll ask Canadians to vote for me instead of for him in the next election.

The coming election will be a battle for the hearts of rural Canadians whose urgent priorities go far beyond Stephen Harper’s games on guns.

It will be a battle for the minds of Western Canadians still looking for practical results out of Ottawa.

For Aboriginal Canadians simply seeking the respect they deserve.

For urban families wanting safer streets and a little help raising their kids.

To Canadians everywhere looking for a different kind of leadership - my message to you is this:

New Democrats won’t take you for granted like the Stephen Harper has. Nor will we write you off like Michael Ignatieff has done.

Un vote pour le NPD sera un vote pour le leadership en lequel vous pouvez avoir confiance pour obtenir des résultats concrets pour vous.

Du leadership qui cherchera toujours des solutions pratiques et un terrain d’entente.

Et du leadership qui se battra tous les jours pour défendre les préoccupations des familles de la classe moyenne.

A vote for the New Democrats will be a vote for the leadership you can trust to get things done for you.

Leadership that will always seek out practical solutions and common ground.

And leadership that will fight for all of the priorities of middle-class families every single day.

Thank you.