John Edward Broadbent PC CC (March 21, 1936 – January 11, 2024) was a Canadian social-democratic politician and political scientist.

[2][3] In 1961, he married Yvonne Yamaoka, a Japanese Canadian town planner whose family had been interned by the federal government in World War II.

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,"[4] under the supervision of C.B.

[6] 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.

[8] 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.

Some pundits predicted that the NDP could supplant Turner's Liberals as the primary opposition to the Brian Mulroney-led Progressive Conservatives.

[5] 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).

[15] 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.

[18] With the aid of a humorous and popular video clip,[19] he successfully ran for Parliament in the riding of Ottawa Centre, where he lived later in life.

[20] In the NDP shadow cabinet, Broadbent was Critic for Democracy: Parliamentary & Electoral Reform, Corporate Accountability as well as Child Poverty.

[23][24] 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.

[25] The idea died after Michaëlle Jean, the Governor General of Canada, prorogued Parliament in December 2008 at Harper's request.

[29] 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.