As the dust settles on the NDP leadership race, this may be an instructive "teachable moment" to examine some dimensions of the campaign and what messages it sends to the NDP. In the months leading up to the 2012 leadership convention, a number of measures were proposed to track how the campaigns of the respective candidates were being received. With seven (initially nine) leadership candidates crisscrossing the country, a series of six national debates to expose Canadians to the ideas and policies of the candidates, and a preferential voting system that allowed members to rank the candidates, getting a read on their standing in the race was far from clear or easy.

Ottawa is such a strange town. As of late it has really become a world unto itself, a sort of bubble where the elected few make plans that dictate the reality for so many, yet so few seem connected to it.

Dear fellow New Democrats,

A value I instilled in Jack from an early age was to build his life on core principles, and his friendships on a shared commitment to justice. These are the family values Jack used to build a party, a caucus, and a winning team. Our party, our Official Opposition, is in some ways the house that Jack built, with our help, based on those shared values.

Always with an eye to social justice and improving Canada, Jack continually expanded that house, building each addition on the foundation of the last. From a caucus of 13, to 29 to 37 to 102, each victory was built on the last -- convincing more Canadians of our principles through an ever-clearer message.