Editor’s note: Debate on electoral reform loomed large at Progress Summit 2016. Broadbent Institute founder Ed Broadbent told delegates at Canada’s largest annual progressive policy conference that the fight for proportional representation is a fight that progressives can - and must - win.

And Postmedia News columnist Andrew Coyne and Alex Himelfarb, former clerk of the Privy Council, representing the Yes side in the Great Debate: Be it Resolved that Canada Needs Proportional Representation, argued persuasively about how the current winner-take-all system is broken and PR is the only solution to remedy the problems of first-post-the-post.

Below, Broadbent Institute Leadership Fellow Jennifer Hollett shares her perspective.

Below is an excerpt of speech delivered by Ed Broadbent at Progress Summit 2016.

OTTAWA — The Broadbent Institute is hosting the country’s flagship conference for progressives. The mix of training and policy sessions from top international organizers and thought leaders at Progress Summit 2016 will showcase the pulse and strength of Canada’s progressive movement and offer solutions to shape the future.

L. Ian MacDonald / iPolitics

Ed Broadbent on the left, as Preston Manning has on the right, has not only re-invented himself as a thought leader, he too has created a think tank that is a valuable source of ideas and public discourse.

Tim Harper / Toronto Star

The good news for the body politic in this country is that it is now flying on two wings.

The Broadbent Institute is about ideas and action, so when we set out to organize our second annual Progress Summit months ago, we decided to begin a new tradition: the creation of annual awards recognizing the work of a great campaigner and an important thinker who have made significant contributions to building a better Canada. 

Joanna Smith / Toronto Star

OTTAWA—New Democrats and their like-minded friends must be more than anti-Conservative if they want to lead Canada in a new direction, says former party leader Ed Broadbent.

Susan Delacourt / Toronto Star

Is it possible for Canadians to hate politics but still believe in government?

Ryan Maloney / Huffington Post

The elder statesman of the federal New Democrats says he cannot believe that the party of Pierre Trudeau will back Bill C-51, the Tory government’s controversial anti-terror legislation.

Mark Kennedy / Ottawa Citizen

The federal Conservative government is jeopardizing the civil rights of Canadians through its anti-terrorism legislation and has sat idly by as a wealth gap makes this a “vastly unequal country,” says former NDP leader Ed Broadbent.