18 Facts About Cam Broten

Cameron Paul Broten was born on April 29,1978 and is a Canadian politician.

Cam Broten represented the constituency of Saskatoon Massey Place in the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan from 2007 to 2016 and served as the leader of the Saskatchewan New Democratic Party from 2013 to 2016.

Cam Broten went on to earn a bachelor's degree in international studies from the University of Saskatchewan and a master's degree in political science from Simon Fraser University.

Cam Broten worked as a policy analyst with the provincial government, in the Department of Culture, Youth and Recreation, and later as a health policy manager with the Saskatchewan Medical Association.

Cam Broten was an elected board member with the Saskatoon Co-op.

Cam Broten was first elected to the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan in the 2007 provincial election as a member of the Saskatchewan NDP in the riding of Saskatoon Massey Place.

Cam Broten announced his intention to run for the leadership in September 2012.

Cam Broten was one of four candidates alongside Saskatoon doctor Ryan Meili, Regina MLA Trent Wotherspoon, and Regina economist Erin Weir.

Meili led on the first ballot by more than 400 votes, but on the second ballot Cam Broten eked out a win by a margin of just 44 votes to become leader.

Cam Broten proposed caps on classrooms sizes, an increase in the number of educational assistants, and pushed for economic reforms including a new procurement policy and moving away from public-private-partnerships, which he argued ran up development costs while exporting benefits like jobs and profits to other jurisdictions.

In Opposition, Cam Broten put a particular emphasis on criticizing the governing Saskatchewan Party's application of LEAN principles on the province's health care system.

Cam Broten earned support from the majority government for his landmark private member's bill to create an asbestos registry for the province - known as Howard's Law - as well as measures to support local business.

Cam Broten convinced the government to change its long-standing policy on Canada's Senate; Broten consistently supported abolishment of Canada's upper chamber.

Cam Broten led the NDP into the 2016 provincial election against a popular Brad Wall and Saskatchewan Party government.

Cam Broten's riding of Massey Place was reconfigured prior to the election, and so he ran in the new riding of Saskatoon Westview.

Cam Broten ultimately received 240 votes, 8 votes more than the margin between Buckingham and Broten.

Cam Broten resigned as party leader following the election on April 11,2016, and former leadership rival Trent Wotherspoon was appointed interim party leader.

In 2004 Cam Broten married Ruth Megan Eliason, a music therapist with Palliative Care Services in the Saskatoon Health Region who was raised on a family farm in the Stewart Valley area near Swift Current.