Ed Broadbent

{{Short description|Canadian politician and political scientist (1936–2024)}}

{{For|persons of a similar name|Edward Broadbent (disambiguation){{!}}Edward Broadbent|John Broadbent (disambiguation)}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| honorific-prefix = The Honourable

| birthname = John Edward Broadbent

| honorific-suffix = {{Post-nominals|country=CAN|PC|CC|size=100%}}

| image = Ed Broadbent 1980 (cropped).jpg

| caption = Broadbent, {{circa|1980}}

| office = Leader of the New Democratic Party

| term_start = July 7, 1975

| term_end = December 5, 1989

| predecessor = David Lewis

| successor = Audrey McLaughlin

| parliament1 = Canadian

| riding1 = Ottawa Centre

| term_start1 = June 28, 2004

| term_end1 = January 23, 2006

| predecessor1 = Mac Harb

| successor1 = Paul Dewar

| parliament2 = Canadian

| riding2 = Oshawa
Oshawa—Whitby (1968–1979)

| term_start2 = June 25, 1968

| term_end2 = February 1, 1990

| predecessor2 = Michael Starr

| successor2 = Michael Breaugh

| birth_date = {{birth date|1936|3|21}}

| birth_place = Oshawa, Ontario, Canada

| death_date = {{death date and age|2024|1|11|1936|3|21}}

| death_place = Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

| alma_mater = Trinity College, Toronto

| profession = politician and professor

| party = New Democratic

| residence = Ottawa, Ontario

| spouse = {{ubl | {{marriage|Yvonne Yamaoka|1961|1967|end=div}} | {{marriage|Lucille Broadbent|1971|2006|end=died}} | {{marriage|Ellen Meiksins Wood|2014|2016|end=died}}}}

}}

John Edward Broadbent (March 21, 1936 – January 11, 2024) was a Canadian social-democratic politician and political scientist. He was leader of the New Democratic Party (NDP) from 1975 to 1989, and a member of Parliament from 1968 to 1990 and from 2004 to 2006. He led the NDP through four federal elections. He oversaw a period of growth for the party with its parliamentary representation rising from 17 to 43 seats as of the 1988 federal election.

Broadbent also served as a vice-president of Socialist International from 1979 to 1989 and director of the International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development from 1990 to 1996. Returning to politics in the 2004 federal election, he was elected to represent Ottawa Centre. He later chaired the Broadbent Institute, a policy think tank founded in 2011.{{cite web | title=Statement on the passing of Ed Broadbent | website=Broadbent Institute | date=January 11, 2024 | url=https://www.broadbentinstitute.ca/statement-passing-ed-broadbent | access-date=January 12, 2024 | archive-date=January 12, 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240112000541/https://www.broadbentinstitute.ca/statement-passing-ed-broadbent | url-status=live }}

Early life

John Edward Broadbent was born in Oshawa, Ontario, the son of Percy, who worked at General Motors, and Mary (Welsh) Broadbent, a homemaker.{{cite web| url = https://www.cbc.ca/archives/entry/ed-broadbent-from-oshawa-to-ottawa| title = CBC Archives}}{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o1l6AAAAMAAJ&q=Mary+Welsh+Percy+Broadbent|title = Ed Broadbent: The Pursuit of Power|isbn = 9780670822553|last1 = Steed|first1 = Judy|year = 1988| publisher=Viking }}

In 1961, he married Yvonne Yamaoka, a Japanese Canadian town planner whose family had been interned by the federal government in World War II. They divorced in 1967.

Broadbent received a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree in political science from the University of Toronto in 1966, with a thesis titled "The Good Society of John Stuart Mill,"{{cite book|last=Steed|first=Judy|title=Ed Broadbent: The Pursuit of Power|year=1988|publisher=Viking|pages=55}} under the supervision of C.B. Macpherson.{{cite news|title=Ed Broadbent took the NDP to new heights, and wished he could have gone higher|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-ed-broadbent-took-the-ndp-to-new-heights-and-wished-he-could-have-gone/|first=Jeff|last=Gray|date=January 11, 2024|access-date=January 11, 2024|newspaper=The Globe and Mail|location=Toronto|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240111224142/https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-ed-broadbent-took-the-ndp-to-new-heights-and-wished-he-could-have-gone/|archive-date=January 11, 2024|url-status=live}}

Early political career (1968–1975)

Broadbent was a university professor when he won a seat in the House of Commons of Canada in the riding of Oshawa—Whitby during the 1968 federal election.{{cite news |last=Kincaid |first=Keith |date=June 26, 1968 |title=Ontario Bubbles Over With Trudeau Enthusiasm |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/times-colonist-ontario-bubbles-over-with/138552620/ |work=Times Colonist |location=Victoria, British Columbia |page=7 |access-date=January 11, 2024 |via=newspapers.com |archive-date=January 12, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240112022801/https://www.newspapers.com/article/times-colonist-ontario-bubbles-over-with/138552620/ |url-status=live }} He defeated Progressive Conservative MP Michael Starr, a former cabinet minister (under John Diefenbaker) and acting leader of the opposition, by fifteen votes in a close three-way race.{{cite news |last=Harding |first=Katherine |date=June 15, 2004 |title=For Broadbent, campaign is like '68 all over again |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/for-broadbent-campaign-is-like-68-all-over-again/article4089513/ |work=The Globe and Mail |location=Oshawa, Ontario |access-date=January 11, 2024 |archive-date=January 12, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240112023134/https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/for-broadbent-campaign-is-like-68-all-over-again/article4089513/ |url-status=live }} He began his parliamentary service in the 28th Canadian Parliament.

After Tommy Douglas retired from the leadership of the party, Broadbent stood to succeed him but was eliminated on the second ballot of the 1971 leadership convention; David Lewis became leader.{{cite news |last=Wong |first=Jan |date=December 31, 2005 |title=Ed Broadbent, 2005 |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/ed-broadbent-2005/article4392156/ |work=The Globe and Mail |location= |access-date=January 11, 2024 |archive-date=January 12, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240112023401/https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/ed-broadbent-2005/article4392156/ |url-status=live }} In 1974, Lewis himself retired as leader, due to a disappointing electoral result for the NDP in that year's federal election and ill health. Broadbent won the 1975 leadership election to succeed Lewis, going on to lead the party through four national elections.{{cite news |last=Tunney |first=Catharine |date=January 11, 2024 |title=Ed Broadbent, former NDP leader, dead at 87 |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/ed-broadbent-dies-1.7080936 |work=CBC News |location= |access-date=January 11, 2024 |archive-date=January 11, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240111195319/https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/ed-broadbent-dies-1.7080936 |url-status=live }}

Leader of the NDP (1975–1989)

In the 1979 federal election, the NDP under Broadbent boosted their seat count from 17 to 26 seats.{{cite news |last=O'Neill |first=Juliet |date=May 23, 1979 |title=Broadbent mum on plans |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-standard-broadbent-mum-on-plans/138554101/ |work=St. Catharines Standard |agency=The Canadian Press |location=Oshawa, Ontario |page=45 |access-date=January 11, 2024 |via=newspapers.com |archive-date=January 12, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240112033819/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-standard-broadbent-mum-on-plans/138554101/ |url-status=live }} In the 1980 election nine months later, Broadbent's NDP again experienced a boost of support from 27 to 32 seats.{{cite news |author= |date=February 19, 1980 |title=Broadbent happy with showing |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/fort-mcmurray-today-broadbent-happy-with/138554482/ |work=Fort McMurray Today |agency=The Canadian Press |location=Oshawa, Ontario |page=5 |access-date=January 11, 2024 |via=newspapers.com |archive-date=January 12, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240112030811/https://www.newspapers.com/article/fort-mcmurray-today-broadbent-happy-with/138554482/ |url-status=live }} Following the election, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau approached Broadbent about the possibility of forming a coalition government even though his Liberals had just won a working majority government. Broadbent declined Trudeau's offer.{{cite news |last=Tierney |first=Ben |date=April 2, 1980 |title=Liberals, NDP discussed coalition |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-hamilton-spectator-liberals-ndp-dis/138555025/ |work=The Hamilton Spectator |agency=Southam News |location=Hamilton, Ontario |page=1 |access-date=January 11, 2024 |via=newspapers.com |archive-date=January 12, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240112030814/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-hamilton-spectator-liberals-ndp-dis/138555025/ |url-status=live }}

In the 1984 federal election, the NDP finished with 30 seats, just ten behind the Liberal Party led by John Turner.

After the election, Broadbent's personal popularity was consistently in first place among the leaders of federal parties. In 1987, he became the first NDP leader who took the party to first place in public opinion polling since it was founded. Some pundits predicted that the NDP could supplant Turner's Liberals as the primary opposition to the Brian Mulroney-led Progressive Conservatives. Like Turner, Broadbent supported Mulroney's proposed Meech Lake Accord (which proposed recognizing Quebec as a distinct society and extending provincial powers), which led to some dissent within the NDP.

In the 1988 federal election, the NDP under Broadbent won 43 seats, a record unchallenged until the 2011 federal election, when it won 103 seats. Despite the polling milestones prior to the election, the NDP was not successful in translating this into a major breakthrough, as they remained in third place (behind the second-place Liberals). Broadbent gained criticism for not making the NDP's opposition to the Canada–United States Free Trade Agreement the main issue during the campaign, as the Liberals reaped most of the benefits from opposing the agreement.{{cite encyclopedia|last=Stevenson|first=Garth|editor-last=|editor-first=|encyclopedia=The Canadian Encyclopedia|title=Ed Broadbent|url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/john-edward-broadbent|date=September 30, 2007|access-date=January 11, 2024|volume=|publisher=Historica Canada|archive-date=January 12, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240112042248/https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/john-edward-broadbent|url-status=live}}

On the international front, Broadbent served as a vice-president of Socialist International from 1979 to 1989,{{cite news|title=Oshawa breaks ground on Ed Broadbent Waterfront Park|url=https://www.insauga.com/oshawa-breaks-ground-on-ed-broadbent-waterfront-park/|first=Glenn|last=Hendry|date=May 31, 2022|access-date=January 11, 2024|website=insauga.com|archive-date=January 12, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240112050351/https://www.insauga.com/oshawa-breaks-ground-on-ed-broadbent-waterfront-park/|url-status=live}} during which time Willy Brandt, the former chancellor of West Germany, was its president.{{cite news|title=New Democratic Party leader Ed Broadbent leaves today for...|url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1981/05/23/New-Democratic-Party-leader-Ed-Broadbent-leaves-today-for/6206359438400/|date=May 23, 1981|accessdate=January 11, 2024|work=United Press International}}

Broadbent stepped down after 14 and a half years as leader of the federal NDP at the 1989 Winnipeg Convention, when he was succeeded by Audrey McLaughlin. He also resigned his Oshawa seat in the House of Commons that year. The 1990 Oshawa federal by-election was held for the NDP by Michael Breaugh.{{Cite web |last=oshawaexpress |date=2019-12-03 |title=Former MPP, MP Michael Breaugh passes away |url=http://oshawaexpress.ca/former-mpp-mp-michael-breaugh-passes-away-2/ |access-date=2024-03-01 |website=The Oshawa Express |language=en-CA}}

Post-leadership (1989–2004)

In the decade following Broadbent's retirement from politics, the federal NDP declined in popularity. The party would not come close to the popularity that it had enjoyed under Broadbent until Jack Layton took over the leadership in 2003.{{cite encyclopedia|last=Whitehorn|first=Alan|editor-last=|editor-first=|encyclopedia=The Canadian Encyclopedia|title=New Democratic Party (NDP)|url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/new-democratic-party|date=March 6, 2013|access-date=January 11, 2024|volume=|publisher=Historica Canada|archive-date=January 12, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240112052713/https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/new-democratic-party|url-status=live}}

Broadbent was director of the International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development from 1990 to 1996. In 1993, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada and was promoted to Companion in 2001.

Broadbent spent a year as Fellow at All Souls College, University of Oxford, in 1996–1997.

Member of Parliament (2004–2006)

File:Ed is back! (68511503).jpg

At Layton's invitation, Broadbent returned to politics in 2004.{{cite web|url=http://www.herald.ns.ca/stories/2003/12/19/fCanada126.raw.html|title=Broadbent returns to political stage|work=The Chronicle Herald|date=December 19, 2003|access-date=May 18, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040113090331/http://www.herald.ns.ca/stories/2003/12/19/fCanada126.raw.html|archive-date=January 13, 2004}} With the aid of a humorous and popular video clip,{{cite web|url=http://www.cbc.ca/archives/entry/broadbent-eds-back|title=Broadbent raps with 'Ed's back!' – CBC Archives}} he successfully ran for Parliament in the riding of Ottawa Centre, where he lived later in life. He defeated the Liberal candidate, Richard J. Mahoney, a close ally of Prime Minister Paul Martin.{{cite web|url=http://www.canada.com/story.html?id=bf4a113c-9555-4f6c-8e9f-a0b4d91c8596|title=Broadbent returns to House|work=The Ottawa Citizen|date=June 29, 2004|access-date=May 18, 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160324215901/http://www.canada.com/story.html?id=bf4a113c-9555-4f6c-8e9f-a0b4d91c8596|archive-date=March 24, 2016}} In the NDP shadow cabinet, Broadbent was Critic for Democracy: Parliamentary & Electoral Reform, Corporate Accountability as well as Child Poverty. On May 4, 2005, he announced that he would not seek re-election in the 39th federal election so that he could spend time with his wife, Lucille, who was suffering from cancer.{{cite news |date=May 4, 2005 |title=Broadbent to quit politics to care for ailing wife |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/broadbent-to-quit-politics-to-care-for-ailing-wife-1.520755 |access-date=January 11, 2024 |publisher=CBC News |archive-date=January 12, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240112050352/https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/broadbent-to-quit-politics-to-care-for-ailing-wife-1.520755 |url-status=live }}{{cite news|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/broadbent-wont-run-again/article1118325/|title=Broadbent won't run again|work=The Globe and Mail|date=May 4, 2005|access-date=May 18, 2015|archive-date=May 18, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150518104846/http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/broadbent-wont-run-again/article1118325/|url-status=live}} She died on November 17, 2006.{{cite web|url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/wife-of-former-ndp-leader-broadbent-dies-1.620542|title=Wife of former NDP leader Broadbent dies|work=CBC News|date=November 19, 2006|access-date=May 18, 2015|archive-date=September 24, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924192042/http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/wife-of-former-ndp-leader-broadbent-dies-1.620542|url-status=live}}

After politics

In November 2008, Broadbent and former Prime Minister Jean Chrétien came out of retirement to help to negotiate a formal coalition agreement between the Liberals and the New Democratic Party, which the Bloc Québécois would support. It was to replace the Conservative government led by Prime Minister Stephen Harper and would have been the first coalition government in Canada since World War I, when Robert Borden governed as a Unionist.[https://www.thestar.com/News/Canada/article/545828 "Harper scrambles to retain power"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121012090551/http://www.thestar.com/News/Canada/article/545828 |date=October 12, 2012 }}, Toronto Star, November 29, 2008. The idea died after Michaëlle Jean, the Governor General of Canada, prorogued Parliament in December 2008 at Harper's request.CAMPBELL CLARK, "A hot debate about head of state," The Globe and Mail, October 10, 2009.

File:Ed Broadbent and Jack Layton at Toronto Rally.jpg for the 2008 Canadian federal election.]]

Broadbent announced the creation of the Broadbent Institute on June 17, 2011, to explore social-democratic policy and ideas. It provides a vehicle for social-democratic and progressive academics, provides education, and trains activists. It is independent of the New Democratic Party.[https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/broadbent-announces-new-left-wing-institute-1.1007245 "Broadbent announces new left-wing institute"], CBC, June 17, 2011. Three months later, he endorsed Brian Topp in his unsuccessful campaign during the 2012 leadership election.[https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/brian-topp-first-to-declare-for-ndp-leadership-race-1.1047731 "Brian Topp first to declare for NDP leadership race"], CBC, September 18, 2011.

In 2017, Broadbent voiced his support for the campaign for the establishment of a United Nations Parliamentary Assembly, an organization that advocates for democratic reform in the United Nations, and the creation of a more accountable international political system.{{cite news|url=http://en.unpacampaign.org/supporters/overview/?mapcountry=allpro&mapgroup=pro|title=Overview|work=Campaign for a UN Parliamentary Assembly|access-date=October 9, 2017|language=en-US|archive-date=August 9, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200809150119/https://en.unpacampaign.org/supporters/overview/?mapcountry=allpro&mapgroup=pro|url-status=live}} Five years later, he published Seeking Social Democracy, a detailed reflection on his life and career, co-authored with academic Francis Abele, policy strategist Jonathan Sas, and journalist Luke Savage.{{cite news|title=NDP should have pushed for a shorter supply and confidence deal with the Liberals, Broadbent says|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/ed-broadbent-ndp-liberal-deal-shorter-2008-coalition-1.6989856|first=Brennan|last=MacDonald|date=October 8, 2023|access-date=January 11, 2024|publisher=CBC News|archive-date=January 12, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240112050351/https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/ed-broadbent-ndp-liberal-deal-shorter-2008-coalition-1.6989856|url-status=live}}{{cite book|title=Seeking Social Democracy: Seven Decades in the Fight for Equality|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hWXDEAAAQBAJ|publisher=ECW Press|date=October 10, 2023|last1=Broadbent|first1=Ed|last2=Sas|first2=Jonathan|last3=Savage|first3=Luke|last4=Abele|first4=Frances|isbn=9781778522154}}

File:Ed Broadbent in 2019.jpg

Until his death, he was a fellow in the School of Policy Studies at Queen's University.

Personal life

In 1971, Broadbent married a young Franco-Ontarian widow, Lucille Munroe. Munroe died of cancer on November 17, 2006, at the age of 71.{{cite news |last=Martin |first=Sandra |date=November 18, 2006 |title=Ed Broadbent's 'moral compass' loses battle with cancer |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/ed-broadbents-moral-compass-loses-battle-with-cancer/article1110253 |work=The Globe and Mail |location= |access-date=January 11, 2024 |archive-date=January 11, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240111202734/https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/ed-broadbents-moral-compass-loses-battle-with-cancer/article1110253/ |url-status=live }} Broadbent married the Marxist historian and political theorist Ellen Meiksins Wood, an old friend, in 2014. She was a political theorist and socialist historian, author of several books, and a professor at York University for three decades. She died of cancer at the couple's Ottawa home at 73 in January 2016.{{cite news|title=Ellen Meiksins Wood, author and third wife of Ed Broadbent, dead at 73|url=http://www.timescolonist.com/ellen-meiksins-wood-author-and-third-wife-of-ed-broadbent-dead-at-73-1.2151461|access-date=January 14, 2016|work=Victoria Times-Colonist|agency=Canadian Press|date=January 14, 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160114232035/http://www.timescolonist.com/ellen-meiksins-wood-author-and-third-wife-of-ed-broadbent-dead-at-73-1.2151461|archive-date=January 14, 2016}}

Broadbent died on January 11, 2024, at the age of 87.{{cite web|url=https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/former-ndp-leader-ed-broadbent-dies-1.6721821|title=Former NDP leader Ed Broadbent dead at 87|website=CTV News|date=January 11, 2024|access-date=January 11, 2024|archive-date=January 11, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240111203049/https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/former-ndp-leader-ed-broadbent-dies-1.6721821|url-status=live}} His state funeral on January 28 at Carleton Dominion-Chalmers Centre in Ottawa was the first Canadian state funeral for a party leader who was never prime minister nor leader of the official opposition.{{cite news |last1=Warren |first1=Ken |title=Politicians cross party lines to praise Ed Broadbent at state funeral |url=https://ottawacitizen.com/news/national/politicians-cross-party-lines-to-praise-ed-broadbent-at-state-funeral |access-date=31 January 2024 |work=Ottawa Citizen |date=28 January 2024}}

Books

The Liberal Rip–off: Trudeauism Versus the Politics of Equality, New Press 1970.{{cite book|title=The Liberal Rip-off: Trudeauism vs. the Politics of Equality|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UUhqNAEACAAJ|publisher=New Press|year=1970|last=Broadbent|first=Ed|isbn=}}
Democratic Equality: What Went Wrong? (as editor), University of Toronto Press 2001. {{ISBN|9780802083326}}
Seeking Social Democracy: Seven Decades in the Fight for Equality, with Frances Abele, Jonathan Sas, and Luke Savage, ECW Press 2023. {{ISBN|9781778522154}}

References

External links

[https://web.archive.org/web/20051119194504/http://www.howdtheyvote.ca/member.php?id=45 How'd They Vote?: Ed Broadbent's voting history and quotes]
{{Canadian honour|Type=orc|ID=3131|access-date=May 24, 2010}}
{{Canadian Parliament links|ID=6434}}
{{IMDb name|0110356}}
[https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/john-edward-broadbent Article at thecanadianencyclopedia.ca]
{{C-SPAN|3835}}

{{succession box

| before=Electoral District created in 1968 known as Oshawa—Whitby until 1979

| title=Member of Parliament for Oshawa

| years=1968–1990

| after=Michael Breaugh
NDP

| }}

{{succession box

| before=Mac Harb
Liberal

| title=Member of Parliament for Ottawa Centre

| years=2004–2006

| after= Paul Dewar
NDP

| }}