Seeking Social Democracy Live: Ed Broadbent, Frances Abele, Jonathan Sas and Luke Savage
Ed Broadbent and his co-authors spoke at the Toronto Reference Library to launch their new book on Canadian social democracy.
Ed Broadbent and his co-authors spoke at the Toronto Reference Library to launch their new book on Canadian social democracy.
To be humane, societies must be democratic — and, to be democratic, every person must be afforded the economic and social rights necessary for their individual flourishing.
“Coming back to the commitment by the state, instead, I say, we need an expansion of the role of the state through decommodification. This will lead to the real freedom of more citizens, in a way that simple political and civil rights cannot.”
Ed wanted to supplant the Liberals as the dominant party of the centre left, and very much saw himself, not as a “Liberal in a hurry,” as the old adage goes, but rather as an intellectually grounded democratic socialist.
By decommodifying health services, pensions, the right to unions, and other social services, they showed that with political will in these aspects of life the power of the market could be and should be broken if real democracy is to be achieved.
It’s not right for us to think that we Canadians are immune to a radical right wing fanning intolerance and hate. We cannot be complacent. We need to change the game.
“If a blind faith in unfettered markets continues to prevail, I believe the social foundation for our democracies will continue to be shaken.”
Canadians are lucky to have Ed as a public figure, but one Canadian at least was lucky to have had him, for a few years back in the mid-60s, as his professor.
Global experience has also shown that a proportional system has other important benefits: it can help elect more women and other underrepresented groups; it can drive an increase in voter turnout; and there’s even evidence that it can foster more egalitarian societies.