Year In Review - The Top 15 Newsmakers of 2005 - #10

Into the top 10 now with NDP leader and de facto Canadian finance minister, Jack Layton.

Layton, leading the smallest caucus in the House by far, nevertheless was able to exercise more influence by wringing concessions out the Liberal government this year than any other federal NDP leader in the last 30 years. It was Layton who demanded that the corporate tax cuts be cancelled in the spring budget and it was also Layton who laid down the terms for continued support this fall. When the Liberals failed to pony up the goods, Layton opened the door to pulling the plug.

Arguably, the NDP are quite removed from the mainstream of Canadian politics, with their focus on Ralph Nader-ish policy proposals (witness the confusion on supporting regime change in Afghanistan yesterday for one simple example), however, they carry a disproportionate level of influence in today's political environment. This is due in no small part to the leadership of Jack Layton who undoubtedly deserves to be among the top 10 newsmakers of the year.