New Democrats receive top honours at Maclean’s 2016 Parliamentarians of the Year Awards

Tom Mulcair and Nathan Cullen recognized, while former leader Ed Broadbent given lifetime achievement award

The team of NDP MPs we elected last year has been working hard – and delivering results for Canadians.

They got Parliament to recognize equal pay for women as a human right and unanimously endorse our plan to end discrimination against First Nations children. They pressured Ottawa to extend EI benefits to Canadians in hard-hit regions. And they secured a fair process on electoral reform that gives every Canadian a voice at the table.

Now MPs from all parties have recognized our New Democrat team’s effective work for Canadians at Maclean’s Parliamentarians of the Year Awards:

Tom Mulcair: Parliamentarian of the Year

“On Nov. 15, Maclean’s celebrated the best of Ottawa with the ninth edition of our Parliamentarians of the Year awards, which were handed out based on the results of a secret-ballot survey of their peers in the House of Commons. NDP Leader Tom Mulcair won the top honour for 2016 … a question period specialist, whose grilling of former prime minister Stephen Harper on the Mike Duffy affair in 2013 will long make every highlight reel of QP sparring.”

Nathan Cullen: Best Orator

“Maclean’s recognizes Nathan Cullen, a veteran MP who’s prolific in the House, as Parliament’s best orator of 2016 … one of question period’s more nuanced participants, mindful of broader issues and not obsessed with minutiae. He also watches his tone carefully, and insists that can make all the difference in how his colleagues on the other side of the aisle interpret his words.”

Ed Broadbent: Lifetime Achievement

“Broadbent was born and raised in Oshawa, the auto industry town just east of Toronto. By 1968, though, he was a young, left-leaning political science professor at the city’s York University. Heading home to stand for office, he brought students with him to campaign on his behalf, alongside the auto workers he had grown up with … For his long service in the House, and his energetic contribution beyond the chamber, Maclean’s honoured him with a lifetime achievement this week at the annual Maclean’s Parliamentarians of the Year awards.”