She was a law clerk to Madam Justice Claire L'Heureux-Dubé at the Supreme Court of Canada from 1993 to 1994, and later had a practice in civil and commercial litigation.
[3] Broten ran for the Ontario legislature in the provincial election of 1999 but was defeated by Progressive Conservative Morley Kells in Etobicoke-Lakeshore by 5,156 votes.
While there, she authored a report detailing a Five Point Action Plan to create more opportunities and reduce barriers for internationally trained doctors in Ontario.
[6] On February 11, 2013, following a long battle with teachers' unions,[7] Premier Kathleen Wynne appointed her as Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs.
[10] After she resigned from the Ontario Cabinet and legislature, Broten and her family eventually settled in Hammonds Plains, Nova Scotia.
[11] She had initially stated that she was moving to Halifax, for her husband Paul obtained a job at Emera as special counsel for senior projects.
[12] Not long after Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil's Liberal Party swept to electoral victory, she was hired as a government consultant to lead a comprehensive review of the taxation in the province.
Broten's report was generally panned, and Nova Scotia Finance Minister Diana Whalen subsequently scheduled several public consultations across the province in the winter of 2015.