Broadbent Talks Social Rights at UVic Lecture

The President's Distinguished Lecture series presents Ed Broadbent-- former leader of the federal New Democratic Party, human rights activist and political science scholar--in a free public lecture, "Citizenship and Social Rights: What's Going On?" at UVic's David Lam Auditorium (MacLaurin A144) on Thursday, March 5 at 7:30 p.m.

Broadbent says Canada and other North Atlantic countries are at a cross-roads in terms of social rights. "Access to health care, pension systems that let people retire with dignity and unemployment insurance are worth defending. They should be constants in terms of what it means to be a citizen--not just a safety net."

Pointing to recent opinion surveys, Broadbent says most Canadians want to retain existing social programs but are skeptical about associated bureaucracies or unhealthy dependencies on the system. "It's up to political leaders to correct those problems, and to make sure they're seen to be corrected."

Broadbent is calling for more public debate about what he calls the "social balance," particularly in light of the 1998 federal budget and the question of program spending versus tax cuts.

Broadbent left political office in 1989 after 21 years as Member of Parliament for Oshawa, including 14 years as NDP leader. From 1990 to 1996, he was the first president of the International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development. He received his doctorate in political science from the University of Toronto and is currently a visiting professor at the Institute for the Humanities at Simon Fraser University.

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