Since becoming leader of the federal NDP last year, Jack Layton has done a skillful job of steering the party to the centre. Not surprisingly, that’s where his new campaign book is aimed. The theme is positive thinking: Layton calls for a “proactive economic agenda” to counter the laissez-faire drift of the past two decades, and for the left to move temperamentally “from opposition to proposition.”

Still, Layton claims Speaking Out “isn’t about the NDP platform,” which isn’t entirely untrue. After all, Layton’s no empty vessel; he brings years of experience in Toronto municipal politics and a solid mind for policy. Layton’s career – and that of his wife, fellow city councillor and NDP candidate Olivia Chow – make for unusually colourful anecdotes. Those unfamililar with his career will get a good (if predictably hagiographic) sense of the man and his commitments, from public health to renewable energy.

Layton, a political science Ph.D, is articulate in arguing his agenda. The many details include prescription drug insurance, a focus on renewable energy, and a multilateral foreign policy. Also visible is the agenda Layton pursued as chair of the Federation of Canadian Municipalites: more taxation power to cities, a green transportation policy, and solutions for homelessness. He balances all this, however, with a slightly forced-sounding pledge to fiscal responsibility.

Speaking Out is brightly written, and those readers who don’t skip to the ample index will find enough to hold their attention. While touting his record, Layton also offers a compelling family history in politics and activism: his great-grandfather founded the Montreal Association for the Blind, and four generations of Laytons have continued to serve there.

Layton clearly hopes for the chance to work in broader strokes. He repeatedly mentions the NDP’s role after the 1972 election, when David Lewis’s influence over Trudeau’s minority Liberals helped lead to a historic investment in public housing. Accordingly, Speaking Out offers few political surprises, but its relative lack of hot air should help convince left Liberals of Layton’s seriousness.