This Saturday, Brad Lavigne will launch his personal and revelatory book Building the Orange Wave: The Inside Story Behind the Historic Rise of Jack Layton and the NDP.
His cross-Canada tour comes to Courtenay's Zocalo Café at 2:30 p.m.
Building the Orange Wave is a true insider’s account of Jack Layton and the NDP’s rise to success.
Lavigne was not just the campaign manager of the New Democratic Party's 2011 breakthrough election campaign that took Jack Layton from last place to Official Opposition — he was a key architect throughout the decade leading to Layton’s ultimate success.
This is the definitive account of Layton’s ascent to leader of the Official Opposition and the realignment in Canadian politics. Lavigne was the only one with Layton every step of the way — from helping get him elected party leader in 2002 to serving as an honourary pall bearer at his state funeral in 2011.
With Jack Layton’s widow Olivia Chow providing an introduction, Lavigne had unparalleled access to other key players, including Layton’s son Mike Layton, Leader of the Opposition Tom Mulcair, former NDP Leader Ed Broadbent, former campaign manager Brian Topp, Paul Martin’s former chief of staff Tim Murphy, and Stephen Harper’s former director of communications Kory Teneycke.
With colour and depth that only an insider can provide, Lavigne reveals details about how Layton’s team managed some of their biggest crises: Layton’s political missteps, embarrassing candidates, the cancer diagnoses, and the massage parlour bombshell on the eve of the 2011 vote.
Jack Layton’s legacy, both political and personal, continues to resonate with Canadians of different political stripes. Beyond Canadian political observers and students of political science, this book will speak to a wide audience who want to know what goes on behind closed doors.
Peter Mansbridge of CBC news call The Orange Wave “fascinating reading.” Meet the author and find out for yourself this Saturday at 2:30 p.m. at the Zocalo.
— Zocalo Café