Welcome to the March edition of the Broadbent Bulletin.
From March 4 – 6, we brought together thought leaders, movement builders, elected officials, and frontline activists in Ottawa to participate in the 2026 Progress Summit: Defending Democracy Across Borders. With over 650 attendees, 75+ speakers, and more than 25 original programming sessions, the Summit met the moment, with Canadian and international progressive allies exchanging ideas and building networks.
We’re bringing you a highlight reel of the 2026 Progress Summit, from the main stage to breakout sessions and beyond.
Defending Democracy Across Borders
From the Progress Summit main stage, keynote speakers like David Adler of the Progressive International and exiled Ecuadorian presidential candidate Andrés Arauz shared dispatches from the frontlines of defending democracy. Arauz explained how expanding the political imagination translated to early electoral success:
We dreamt big […] to imagine a collective future that responds to our values, our traditions, our history, but also our ambitions and how we want to build a harmonious society.
Andrés Arauz
Earlier in the program, Executive Director Jen Hassum brought together Canadian labour leaders for a roundtable on the state of Canadian labour amid Trump’s trade war, featuring Magali Picard (FTQ), Bea Bruske (Canadian Labour Congress), and Barry Sawyer (UFCW Canada). Guiding attendees through two days of programming, MCs Bilan Arte (CLC) and Jared Walker (Canadians for Tax Fairness) reflected on the urgency of human rights, solidarity, and collective action to defend democracy across borders.
Organizing for Progressive Cities
From Toronto and Ottawa to New York and beyond, municipal organizers demonstrated progressive campaign success in some of North America’s biggest cities. In an open workshop led by Progress Toronto, Horizon Ottawa, and the Democratic Socialists of America in the United States, organizers exchanged strategies and ideas on building winning progressive movements in cities and suburbs.
The final Progress Summit keynote, Grace Mausser (Co-chair of Democratic Socialists of America-New York City Chapter) reflected on the organizing behind Zohran Mamdani’s historic mayoral campaign, and sat down for a fireside chat with Karla Webber-Gallagher, Chief of Staff to the Mayor of Toronto, demonstrating the strategies and tactics that worked between New York and Toronto campaigns for progressive mayors.
2026 Ellen Meiksins Wood Lecture
We invite you to join us on Wednesday, April 22 for the 2026 Ellen Meiksins Wood Lecture, delivered by Bhaskar Sunkara, at Toronto Metropolitan University, sponsored this year by the Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung — New York Office.
As the founding editor of Jacobin, president of The Nation, and publisher of Catalyst: A Journal of Theory and Strategy, Sunkara has helped lay the intellectual foundations for this generation’s socialist movements. Ellen Meiksins Wood believed deeply in the importance of encouraging a new generation’s rethinking of socialism, keyed to the class and social movements of the time.
New Research & Publications
At the 2026 Progress Summit, the Broadbent Institute published new research projects, including presentations from the Summit main stage. Jordan Leichnitz discussed findings from her co-authored research with Broadbent Institute Policy Director Clement Nocos, Defending Jobs in a Trade War: Canadian Perspectives on Work, Security, and Economic Trust that demonstrates the misalignment of the federal government’s economic priorities with the needs of working-class Canadians.
In early March, we also published new research from UOttawa GSPIA student Hanna Taylor Milne. In Solidarity Across Borders: Canadian Union Membership and Attitudes Towards Immigration, co-authored with the Broadbent Institute’s Clement Nocos, she explains why unionized workers are more likely than non-union members to view immigration positively, with data analysis to back this from Nocos, shining a light on Canadian labour’s solidarity with migrant workers.
In the weeks ahead, we’ll be sharing recordings of individual panels, keynotes, and workshops from the 2026 Progress Summit. You can now view and share the panel on Nation-building: How to Maximize Canada’s Investments in Major Projects, and find more 2026 Progress Summit recorded programming by subscribing to the Broadbent Institute’s YouTube channel and to the Perspectives Journal podcast on all major platforms.
PressProgress Spotlight
From tracking inflation in Canadian grocery stores to fact-checking right-wing pundits and explaining the dangers of “company unions,” PressProgress continues to shine a light on underreported stories from across the country.
Here’s the latest PressProgress reporting from February:
- The Canadian-American Health Influencer Who Hung Out with Jeffrey Epstein
- Why Mark Carney Is Being Accused of ‘Gaslighting’ Canadian Sikhs
- Global News’ Ben Mulroney Shared a Video of Airstrikes. The Footage is Actually from a Video Game.
- Group Sending Canadian Right-Wing Media Personalities on Free Trips to Israel Quietly Funded by the Israeli Government
- Podcast – Why was our reporter kicked out of an Alberta separatist event?
- Who is Barry Neufeld, the Former School Trustee Who’s Become a Cause Célèbre for the Canadian Right?
- The Union That Doesn’t Like Confrontation
- Some Grocery Items Have Increased Dramatically In Price Since Last Year. ‘This is Unprecedented Inflation,’ Experts Say.
- Jason Kenney is Sounding Off at the Right-Wing Website Juno News for Platforming a White Nationalist
- Public Servant Surprised by Voicemail from Doug Ford Suggesting They ‘Get Another Job’
That’s all for this March edition Broadbent Bulletin. Thank you for following our work to advance a just and equitable world, and stay tuned for other updates and announcements from the Broadbent Institute. Consider supporting the Broadbent Institute, sharing this Bulletin with your friends and family, and subscribing if you haven’t done so already.