VANCOUVER – Former NDP leader Ed Broadbent has created the Broadbent Institute, an independent think-tank that will generate ideas for the party as it assumes its position as “government in waiting.”
Broadbent said during the NDP’s national convention in Vancouver that the think-tank will solicit ideas from social democrats and train political activists.
However, it will be at arms-length from the NDP.
Broadbent said the Conservatives have used the Calgary-based Manning Institute for Democracy to help form policy, while governments in the United States have worked with think-tanks for 50 years.
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He said idealism has been the NDP’s greatest strength and its greatest weakness, and the new think-tank will unite that practicality and idealism.
Broadbent said with Jack Layton possibly being the next prime minister, the NDP needs to make sure it reaches out to Canadians with policies that will improve their lives, particularly in the areas of education, health care and the environment.
The rapid growth of inequality among Canadians makes it even more crucial, he added.
The Broadbent Institute, which will begin operations this fall, will receive start-up funding from the NDP, but as a non-governmental organization, it will look at many sources beyond the party.
Broadbent wasn’t clear who would be working for the think-tank, but added “organizational muscle must be present.”
