The Broadbent Institute

When former New Democractic Party Leader Ed Broadbent died on january 11th, 2024, at 87, Canada lost both its greatest elder statesman to have never served as prime minister, and the man who had long served as the social democratic policy conscience of the country. Our contributors rose to the occasion with these excellent tributes:

For current United Nations ambassador, former Ontario NDP premier and former interim federal Liberal Leader Bob Rae, it might be said of his relationship with Ed Broadbent that it was both complicated and simple. “Our personal relationship was, of course, strained by my decision to run for the leadership of the federal Liberals in 2006,” writes Rae, “but it did not break.” Here’s Bob Rae with Remembering Ed Broadbent.

Ed Broadbent had many friends in and out of politics, but fewer than a handful could tell Robin Sears’ favourite Ed story. “Years ago, near the end of a political mission to Havana about the raging civil wars in Central America, Ed Broadbent was miffed,” writes Sears. “Here was Ed, an avid cigar smoker, having just spent three hours in a bilateral with Fidel Castro, and still not a Cohiba or a Monte Cristo in sight.” Here’s former NDP National Director and Policy contributor Robin Sears with Working Class Hero, International Statesman: Ed Broadbent, 1936-2024. And, from 2022, Robin’s tribute piece, Ed Broadbent, Improbable Giant of Social Democracy.

For NDP MP Charlie Angus, it was a chance meeting with Broadbent when Angus was an-18-year-old punk rocker washing dishes at a downtown Toronto restaurant that inspired him to later run for office. “Broadbent made me believe that politics could be an honourable calling when it focused on being principled and practical,” writes Charlie. Here’s Charlie Angus with Ed Broadbent’s Legacy: A Different Definition of Winning.

Finally, among the most moving moments during the state funeral and celebration of life for Ed Broadbent on January 28th at Ottawa’s carleton Dominion-Chalmers Church was the eulogy delivered by Policy contributor Brian Topp. Here are the text and video of that speech, ‘Wonderful Company Among Friends’: A Farewell to Ed Broadbent.

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