State funeral for Layton in Toronto on Saturday By Lesley Ciarula Taylor  Staff Reporter

As official Ottawa made plans Tuesday for a state funeral for Opposition Leader Jack Layton, his son found time to thank ordinary Canadians. “You amaze me Canada,” Mike Layton wrote on Twitter. “All the kind words, love and condolences are giving us strength through this very difficult time.” The New Democratic Party that Jack Layton led has opened an online book of condolences on its website, which more than 800 people had recommended in the 24 hours since his death. Layton died at 4:45 a.m. Monday at his home in Toronto from an as-yet unspecified cancer. In announcing the state funeral for Layton, the Office of the Prime Minister said, “Canadians will have an opportunity to salute Jack Layton’s contribution to public life.” The service was expected to be held Saturday at Toronto’s Roy Thomson Hall after a lying-in- state in Ottawa.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper had offered the official service to Layton’s wife, MP Olivia Chow, and she accepted. By tradition, state funerals are reserved for current and former governors general, current and former prime ministers and current members of cabinet. State funerals in Canada are planned by the Department of Canadian Heritage working with the family. People are invited according to a Heritage Department Table of Precedence that includes foreign and Canadian dignitaries, also in consultation with the family.  The first state funeral in Canada was held for the Honourable Thomas D’Arcy McGee, a sitting MP and former cabinet minister, who was assassinated in April 1868. The state funerals of former governor general Ray Hnatyshyn in 2002 and former prime minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau in 2000 in each lasted six days. The last state funeral in Canada was in 2009 for former governor general Romeo LeBlanc.

Flags in Ottawa, at City Hall in Toronto, at federal buildings in Toronto and other spots around the country have been lowered to half-staff and would remain there until after the funeral, officials said. The family has asked that people wishing to contribute send donations to the Broadbent Institute thinktank instead of sending flowers.

Courtesy: http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/1043470--state-funeral-for-layton-in-toronto-on-saturday