Jack Layton (Jeff Vinnick/Getty Images News)
TORONTO (AP) - Jack Layton, the leader of Canada's opposition party, has died after a second cancer battle. He was 61.
The New Democrat party issued a statement Monday morning, just weeks after a gaunt Layton held a news conference to announce he was fighting a second bout of cancer.
The party said Layton died peacefully at 4:45 a.m. ET (0945 GMT) today at his Toronto home, surrounded by family and loved ones.
Layton was at the height of his political career after the union-backed party took Canadians by surprise during the May federal election by winning official opposition status for the first time in its 50-year history. The party gained 103 seats, up from a previous 37, most of which were won in Quebec.
Layton announced in February that he had been battling prostate cancer. He said in July that his battle with prostate cancer was going well but recent tests showed he had a new form of cancer. He not did elaborate on what type of ca ncer was discovered.
Copyright © 2011 The Associated Press
