Ottawa — Former NDP leader Ed Broadbent will give his party a major boost Thursday by announcing he's returning to federal politics to contest an Ottawa riding in the next election against a close ally of Prime Minister Paul Martin, sources said Wednesday.
Mr. Broadbent's decision to run in Ottawa Centre, more than a decade after leaving politics, is expected to be made official at a press conference this morning with party leader Jack Layton, who has spent months trying to woo him back into the federal arena.
Meanwhile, Mr. Layton's hopes to win his own seat in Parliament appear set to soar, as Liberal MP Dennis Mills -- who has won four consecutive elections in the Toronto riding now known as Toronto-Danforth -- suggested Wednesday that he is leaning toward retiring from politics.
"There are situations that exist, personal and otherwise, that cause me to think that maybe it is time to move on," he said in an interview.
New Democratic Party officials were being tight-lipped about the Ottawa news conference announced Wednesday. But party sources say Mr. Broadbent will announce he is seeking the nomination to run in the downtown riding of Ottawa Centre, where he lives with his wife, Lucille. "It's a go for sure," a source said.
There has been speculation for weeks that the 67-year-old was plotting a political comeback 14 years after retiring.
Mr. Broadbent raised eyebrows last January when he backed Mr. Layton as the NDP's new leader over long-time MPs Bill Blaikie and Lorne Nystrom.
The two men have become close political allies, with Mr. Broadbent advising Mr. Layton.
Mr. Layton, a former Toronto city councillor and novice on the federal scene, has been charged with reviving the NDP, which has 14 seats in the House of Commons.
Mr. Broadbent did not return phone calls Wednesday. But he was coy when reached at his home earlier this week about rumours swirling that he was ready to run again.
"Let me guess what you're calling about. A question on metaphysics?
"I'll be saying something some time this week for sure, but not right now," he said.
Mr. Broadbent headed the NDP from 1975 to 1989 and led the party to an electoral best of 43 seats in 1988.
New Democrats in the Commons are excited about the prospect of their former leader's return. "It would be great for the party," Nova Scotia MP Peter Stoffer said.
Mr. Broadbent will be facing off against Richard Mahoney, a former executive assistant to Mr. Martin and one of the Prime Minister's top strategists.
The Ottawa lawyer has been part of Mr. Martin's inner circle for more than a decade.
Although he won the Liberal nomination handily, party officials acknowledge that they are nervous about facing a high-profile candidate such as Mr. Broadbent.
Mr. Broadbent has remained active in social and human-rights issues since his retirement.
"We are working on the assumption that [Mr. Broadbent] is the candidate. It is all geared toward that," a Liberal official said. "It's going to be a race."
The Ottawa riding, which mixes lower- and middle-class voters and has a large gay community, now has no sitting MP. Mac Harb, who first won the riding in 1988, was appointed to the Senate by former prime minister Jean Chrétien in September. That means a by-election must be called no later than March 7. However, Mr. Martin is expected to call a general election in early April, making any by-election moot.
The battle between Mr. Mahoney and Mr. Broadbent is likely to be one of the most closely watched in the country, pitting a Martin acolyte against one of the most respected figures in the NDP.
The fight between Mr. Layton and Mr. Mills has also been perceived as a grand battle.
Mr. Layton represented the same area of Toronto for years as a municipal politician, and Mr. Mills is well respected in the riding for his constituency work and his organization of high-profile events, including the SARS concert last summer that featured the Rolling Stones.
(Mr. Mills won easily when they faced off against each other in the 1997 federal election.) Mr. Mills said his likely decision not to run for a fifth term has nothing to do with Mr. Layton's challenge.
"It's a natural thing for a person of my style -- an entrepreneurial, left-of-centre Liberal -- to say that maybe we've done our part. . . . I am physically and mentally exhausted."
Mr. Mills said he spoke to Mr. Martin last summer and suggested then that he might not seek another term. He said Mr. Martin encouraged him to consider running again.
Mr. Mills was not included among the 65 Liberal MPs who were made cabinet ministers, ministers of state or parliamentary secretaries when the Martin government took office last Friday.
But he said that this has no bearing on his thinking about his political future.
