Broadbent Institute is a Canadian progressive and

social democratic Social democracy is a Social philosophy, social, Economic ideology, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achi ...

think tank A think tank, or public policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governme ...

founded by

Ed Broadbent John Edward Broadbent (March 21, 1936 – January 11, 2024) was a Canadian social democracy, social-democratic politician and political scientist. He was leader of the New Democratic Party (NDP) from 1975 to 1989, and a Member of Parliament (Ca ...

History

Broadbent Institute is a Canadian progressive and

. It was founded by

, the leader of the federal

New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; , ) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * * The Editors of ''Encyclopædia Britann ...

(NDP) from 1975 to 1989. The mission of the Broadbent Institute is to "champion change through the promotion of democracy, equality, and sustainability and the training of a new generation of leaders." The Institute believes that “the progressive principles and collective efforts that have made us who we are as a country can inform new ways of thinking and new approaches to government that equip us to address the challenges facing Canadians.” The founding executive director of the institute was Kathleen Monk. Rick Smith became executive director in 2013.

Structure

The Broadbent Institute's board of directors was chaired by Ed Broadbent and comprises prominent progressive leaders, thinkers and campaigners from across the country. The Broadbent Institute has over 60 fellows who inform the Institute's research and policy agenda. According to the institute, the fellows “are a diverse, multidisciplinary group of distinguished scholars, policy experts, and leaders from the Canadian business community and civil society.”

''PressProgress''

In 2013, the Broadbent Institute launched ''PressProgress'', a left-wing news website. ''

Canadaland Canadaland is a Canadian podcast and also the name of a company founded by Jesse Brown in 2013. The original podcast covered Canadian media and media criticism. At one time the company produced other weekly or monthly podcasts covering a range ...

'' included ''PressProgress'' along with ''The Nectarine'', ''North99'', '' Ontario Proud'', ''The Post Millennial'', 'and ''SpencerFernando.com'' in its 2019 series—"Guide to new popular, populist political media"—in which they profiled "six relatively new startups that continue to grow more influential by the day in shaping political discourse in Canada." The series described the startups as "new operations" "looking to sway voters in the lead-up" to the

2019 Canadian federal election The 2019 Canadian federal election was held on October 21, 2019. Members of the House of Commons were elected to the 43rd Canadian Parliament. In keeping with the maximum four-year term under a 2007 amendment to the ''Canada Elections Act'', ...

. ''Canadaland'' said that ''PressProgress'' regularly reports critical stories about Conservative politicians, business, and media organizations associated with right-wing politics. In a 2017 ''Canadaland'' podcast with ''PressProgress'' editor Luke LeBrun and writer and producer Luke Savage, journalist Jesse Brown questioned the claim "that there were no formal links between the federal NDP and the roadbentthink tank", by pointing out that stories by ''PressProgress'' often "run parallel with NDP talking points and never criticize the NDP for non-progressive choices like supporting a west-to-east pipeline". They responded that they used "traditional tools of journalism, like access to information requests,

fact-checking Fact-checking is the process of verifying the factual accuracy of questioned reporting and statements. Fact-checking can be conducted before or after the text or content is published or otherwise disseminated. Internal fact-checking is such che ...

and seeking comment from politicians". In 2024, the

Canadian Journalists for Free Expression Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE) is a Canadian non-governmental organization supported by Canadian journalists and advocates of freedom of expression. The purpose of the organization is to defend the rights of journalists and con ...

awarded LeBrun its Arnold Amber Award for Investigative Journalism.

Annual summit

Each year the Broadbent Institute hosts its annual Progress Summit, convening progressive policy-makers, elected officials, movement-builders, thought leaders and activists from across the country. The location of the Progress Summit alternates between Ottawa and other regions in Canada. These summits have received sponsorships from major Canadian corporations such as Loblaw, Rogers, CN, Air Canada, WestJet, and Telus.

Research and advocacy

In support of the Broadbent Institute's mission to champion progressive change, the Institute publishes original research and promotes new ideas, policies, and tools through its blog, special projects and issue-based campaigns. The Institute's work focuses on the

green economy A green economy is an economy that aims at reducing environmental risks and ecological scarcities, and that aims for sustainable development without environmental degradation, degrading the environment. It is closely related with ecological econ ...

income inequality In economics, income distribution covers how a country's total GDP is distributed amongst its population. Economic theory and economic policy have long seen income and its distribution as a central concern. Unequal distribution of income causes ...

, and democratic renewal.

Training and leadership

As part of the Broadbent Institute's mission to train and support a new generation of leaders, the institute hosts various webinars and workshops aimed at building progressive power in communities across Canada. In partnership with the

Atkinson Foundation The Atkinson Charitable Foundation is a major Canadian charity established in 1942 by Joseph E. Atkinson (1865–1948). It is a non-governmental, and non-profit organization. History Joseph E. Atkinson (1865–1948) was the founding chair of the ...

, the institute has generated the Power Lab, an arms-length and non-partisan learning initiative centred on the people building community power, on the ground.

Alejandra Bravo María Alejandra Bravo de la Parra (born 29 April 1961) is a Mexican biochemist who was laureated with the 2010 L'Oréal-UNESCO Award for Women in Science – Latin America for her work on a bacterial toxin that acts as a powerful insecticide. B ...

, the Broadbent Institute's former director of leadership and training, is a director and co-facilitator at the Power Lab.

References

External links

* {{Official website 2011 establishments in Ontario Internet properties established in 2011 Non-profit organizations based in Ottawa Political and economic think tanks based in Canada Progressivism in Canada Social democratic organizations Socialist think tanks Think tanks established in 2011