Elly Alboim, former CBC parliamentary bureau chief and political consultant, dead at 78

Elly Alboim, a former CBC parliamentary bureau chief, longtime political consultant and professor at Carleton University in Ottawa, has died at 78, his family tells CBC News.

Alboim joined the CBC in 1970 and worked at the broadcaster for more than two decades. In 1977, he became parliamentary bureau chief and national political editor for the network — a job he held until 1993.

“He made it his mission to make contacts in the public service,” said Rob Russo, also a former parliamentary bureau chief for CBC News. “He took public policy really seriously and became as adept at public policy as the people who actually formulated public policy.”

“Most Canadians never saw him. Most Canadians never heard of him. But he was uniquely responsible for shaping some of the biggest stories the CBC ever covered,” Russo added.

Keith Boag, former CBC chief political correspondent, said Alboim led the parliamentary bureau during a profound period in Canadian history which saw the patriation of the Constitution and showdowns with Quebec.

“Elly played no small part in making sure the CBC understood how important this moment was…. He understood the weight of the moment in real time as it was happening,” Boag said.

While at CBC, Alboim began teaching political reporting at Carleton, where he mentored generations of aspiring journalists who shape Canadian news today, his friends and colleagues told CBC News.

“He impacted every journalist who passed his way, both in the Ottawa bureau he so cherished, and at Carleton with the impact he had on generations of journalists who learned the skills he taught,” said Peter Mansbridge, former anchor of The National.

“But he was more than a journalist, teacher and leader. He was a mentor that so many depended on to guide them. I was one of those and still live a life benefitted from the lessons he taught me,” Mansbridge added.

Russo said that Alboim’s legacy is “generations of journalists who went on to do great work and are still doing great work” — and he never stopped imparting his decades of knowledge.

“I think this was a man who never sought honour as a man who should have been showered with honours. I’m really going to miss him,” Russo said.

‘A very wise counsellor’

After his time at CBC, Alboim joined consulting firm Earnscliffe Strategies and led its strategic communications practice.

According to his biography on Earnscliffe’s website, Alboim provided “public opinion research advice for nine federal and two Ontario budgets and was a senior adviser to Paul Martin during his tenures as finance minister and prime minister.”

Alboim also ran debate preparations for Liberal leader Stéphane Dion and premiers Dalton McGuinty and Kathleen Wynne.

Marci Surkes, chief strategy officer for Compass Rose, told CBC News she met Alboim more than a decade ago through Ralph Goodale, who served as a minister in several different portfolios, including finance and public safety.

“He cared very deeply for this country and its democratic processes, and he was very proud at having been in the news business for as long as he was in it — and equally proud to have been a confidant and adviser to some of this country’s leading political figures,” Surkes said.

“Everything that Elly did was about upholding truth…. As long as it was fact, it was what needed to be conveyed. That was the core of everything he did and everything that he’s taught,” Surkes added.

Goodale said Alboim was “a very wise counsellor to me during my time in government” and he was privileged to have the benefit of his knowledge.

“The realms of journalism and public policy, and the honourable practice of politics, are certainly a lot dimmer today without Elly Alboim,” Goodale said. “It was an extraordinary experience to know him and work with him.”

According to his Carleton biography, Alboim was a founding member of the board of the Canadian Journalism Foundation, a member of the CJF’s executive committee and a member of the Journalistic Oversight Committee at the Canadian Medical Association Journal.