Canada Ottawa – Federal NDP Leader Jack Layton has died.

The party issued a statement this morning, just weeks after a gaunt Layton held a news conference to announce he was fighting a second bout of cancer.

The party says Layton died peacefully at 4:45 a.m. ET today at his Toronto home, surrounded by family and loved ones.

Funeral details have not yet been announced.

Picture Left ( Layton blows a kiss to someone in the crowd as he delivers his keynote speech to the party’s 50th anniversary convention in Vancouver, B.C., on Sunday June 19, 2011. )

I am saddened by the loss of this wonderful man, a man who had the pulse of the people and wanted to make the kind of changes Canadians really wanted. Rest in Peace, Jack.