It’s rare to see people react with such sadness to an event that was as predicted as Jack Layton’s tragic passing. We all heard his voice and saw the cake makeup on his face in his last press conference and yet his optimistic attitude that so captured our national attention in the recent federal election made us all believe that if ANYONE could beat cancer again it would be Jack.

You may not agree with his politics or even his approach but there was something about his attitude that was truly contagious. It woke us up in the final stages of another  dull conservative VS liberal election and made us think that this guy could be Prime Minister. 

Why? The NDP platform hadn’t changed. Their tactics hadn’t evolved. His party wasn’t much more electable. It was Jack – his sheer will to lead, his optimism for unprecedented results for his party, and his hope for a better Canada that inspired a cynical country.

And that is why his optimism matters – he translated his personal optimism into hope for a nation.

His final missive sums it up best:

“My friends, love is better than anger. Let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic.  And we’ll change the world” – Jack Layton, August 20, 2011.

 Words for us all to embrace and live by.

With all due respect to the beaver and maple syrup, the invention of the telephone and the bra, what we should be most proud of as Canadians is our culture itself. 

In the past few weeks I have had some amazing and difficult conversations on TV and in our podcast. 

On the Michael Coren show we talked about several cases in which the right to speak freely was under scrutiny (Dutch politician regarding Islam and Toronto sportscaster regarding same sex marriage). In both cases I vociferously defended each the right to say what they believe even if I don’t support their positions. 

On the show, For The Record, Larry Di Ianni and I went another round about his comments regarding some citizens in the core. We both had blogged and tweeted about it. We came to verbal blows after the show as we are both passionate about our community. I even asked Dr. Marie Bountrogianni to weigh in on the debate during her Chat from the Lair podcast and her answer was remarkable 

In all of these cases I had the freedom to say what I believed in a culture that espouses public debate. 

We are not afraid of new ideas in Canada. We are not afraid to challenge authority. And as I did a training program yesterday at the St. Joseph’s Immigrant Women’s Centre I was reminded once again of how we don’t just embrace diversity of opinion in Canada we embrace diversity of people. And I am fiercely proud of that. 

As I tweeted recently to a new Twitter pal in Australia “you would love Canadian culture - we are laid back and progressive” 

She agreed. Happy Canada Day! 

Let’s talk about how Hamilton talks. We are 9th largest city in Canada and pretty interesting when you consider our past, issues, location, and culture. We are known throughout Canada and have a distinct brand whether you like it or not.

So how do we have the conversations to process, analyze and advance such a dynamic city?

I’m not talking about news - the distribution of information - I’m talking about how we parse the information - our critical process through local media. 

Bill Kelly and Scott Thompson do call in shows on CHML each morning.

Every Tuesday on Cable 14 Loren and I and a guest debate the hot local topics and other panels discuss specific issues.

CHCH has Square Off daily and debates local and provincial issues.

The Spec and the weeklies (like Mountain News) have columnists, the editorials, letters to the editors, and op eds and blogs.

Then there are the magazines and other smaller publications.

Do you think that is enough? Do you think we ever get below the surface with our traditional media?

I don’t. And that is not anyone’s fault or oversight, it is just a reality.

That is why our team has created a weekly podcast - Chats from the Lair with Laura Babcock to sit down with interesting people and discuss in-depth issues that matter.

Our guests won’t always be local but they will be interesting and the conversations will relevant to today.

You will get a chance to hear something different, intense, and no-holds-barred, and perhaps most importantly, it is something you can participate in.

We often will tweet asking for your questions and comments during a recording and have provided lots of tools for your feedback on www.laircast.com.

We aren’t making money on this venture. We are doing this because it is fun and we see a need to add frequent, deep, interesting conversations to Hamilton’s media mix. (Have to give props to the raging debate online and our active blogsphere.)

Each Tuesday at noon we will post a new chat. So listen and tell us what you think. Be critical and be honest.

More critical thinking and conversation is what will help move Hamilton forward. Join the chat on www.laircast.com or drop us a tweet @Laurababcock and @POWERGROUP