Elly Alboim, the former legendary CBC parliamentary bureau chief, journalism professor, adviser to prime minister Paul Martin, and principal at Earnscliffe Strategies in Ottawa, was a force of presence in his professional life on the Hill and at home with his family, with everyone from colleagues to former students and family describing him as a man with a sharp intellect and zero tolerance for nonsense.

“Elly Alboim was like the Hollywood casting version of the crusty news editor with a heart of gold,” reads the writeup on Carleton University’s School of Journalism website which has created a scholarship in Alboim’s name. “And across close to five decades as a journalist with the CBC and a journalism professor at Carleton University, he was a no-nonsense mentor to generations of young journalists.”

Alboim worked at CBC from 1970 to 1993, becoming the parliamentary bureau chief for CBC in 1977. He also worked as CBC’s national political editor, and produced live news specials in a senior role. For 16 years, he led CBC’s parliamentary bureau and covered some of the biggest political events in Canadian politics, including the 1980 Quebec referendum, prime minister Pierre Trudeau’s National Energy Program, the North American Free Trade Agreement, and the Meech Lake and Charlottetown accords. He taught at Carleton’s journalism school from 1980 until his death earlier this month. 

As CBC’s parliamentary bureau chief, Alboim created what former student and colleague Allan Thompson, a former Hill reporter for The Toronto Star, referred to as the “golden age” of television news and public policy in this country.

“He understood what a good story was and what the role of journalists was in a democracy, and he was very adamant about accuracy and fairness and journalism ethics,” said Thompson, who is now director of the journalism school at Carleton University.

Thompson said Alboim was a teacher, mentor, and a loyal colleague.

“The school has only been around for 80 years, and so Elly had been part of Carleton’s journalism program for half of its existence, which means more than half of the people who went through that journalism program would have had contact with Elly,” Thompson said.

Alboim died of heart failure on Feb. 8, 2026. He was 78 years old. He leaves behind his wife, Kathy, three children, seven grandchildren, and a sister. His parents, Sam and Helen, were Polish immigrants who built a life in Montreal, where Alboim grew up. His mother was a Holocaust refugee. Alboim received a bachelor’s honours in sociology at McGill University, where he wrote for The McGill Daily, and a master’s in journalism at Columbia University in New York City.

He has been described as “crusty” and “gruff” in memorials, but people close to him say he was direct with his arguments, often given at the tail end of meetings after much opinion and perspective had been tossed around, and his judgments were so accurate and succinct that others might be taken aback at such blunt, but reliable summarizations.

“There was no grey area for my dad,” son Jaime Alboim said. “If you wanted his opinion, he’d give you his opinion. If you approached him with something, then you better approach him with something that’s worthy of his time.” 

Jaime Alboim remembered his father always answering the phone, no matter how busy he was at work.

He would first ask if the caller was okay, and if their family was okay, according to the younger Alboim. 

“Once he got through the list to say, ‘Is everybody okay?’ he would say, ‘Okay, well, I’m just with the prime minister. Let me call you back in five,’” Alboim said, referring to when Elly Alboim worked for prime minister Paul Martin.

Craig Robinson, CEO of Earnscliffe Strategies where Alboim was most recently a principal, also remembers a lighter side to Alboim.

“The Earnscliffe holiday party used to have a tradition of almost being a talent show, and the highlight was when Elly would get up and sing his union songs and get everyone clapping along,” Robinson said.

“For those who were new to the team, just the shock and awe at seeing what appeared to be so out of character became so expected once you worked with him.”

Alboim helped create golden age of TV news in Canada

Peter Mansbridge, former anchor of CBC’s The National and host of the Good Talk podcast, worked with Alboim for years and the two were good friends.

“He was a mentor to me, and we were friends. Our families summer together. We all learned from him, and he was never shy about challenging assumptions, whether they were being made by a cabinet minister or by a reporter,” Mansbridge said.

Rosemary Barton, CBC News’ current chief political correspondent, credits Alboim for helping her find her place as a junior reporter in a bureau staffed with senior journalists.

“I didn’t know how to go about making my mark. I reached out to him, and he helped me figure out how to carve out a bit of space for myself in the bureau because, of course, he ran the bureau for so long,” Barton said.

Barton remembered lunches with Alboim, where she absorbed his insights on current affairs and political strategy.

“He was deeply committed to public policy. He had lots to say about strategizing and the politics of something, but he also cared a lot about the content. That was a good lesson for me: it’s not just the cut and thrust, it’s also what these people are doing and how they’re making decisions,” she said.

‘Elly was extremely well-known and well-respected in Ottawa’: David Herle

After covering Kim Campbell’s successful bid to replace Brian Mulroney as leader of the Progressive Conservatives, Alboim transitioned from journalism to public policy communications at what was then known as Earnscliffe Strategy Group in 1993. 

Alboim later worked for then-finance minister Paul Martin on developing a communications strategy for federal budget policy. Former colleague Scott Reid, who also worked for the Liberals at the time, credits Alboim for helping to innovate budget communications strategy.

“Elly was instrumental in what was an exceptionally innovative approach to communicating budgetary policy,” said Reid, who became Martin’s director of communications when he was prime minister. “He would use PowerPoint to provide visual cues for media and the public as to the challenges we faced and then coupled that with a long-form communication of what our priorities were going to be … all of that, Elly was central to.” 

“That created an innovative public communication arc that lasted from the fiscal update through to the budget,” Reid explained.

Alboim would go on to serve as a senior adviser when Martin became prime minister.

Alboim also provided media consulting advice to numerous political campaigns at the federal and provincial level.

“Elly was extremely well-known and well-respected in Ottawa circles,” said David Herle, a former Liberal staffer who worked alongside Alboim when the two worked for Martin and later at Earnscliffe Strategies. “Elly was involved in all the biggest files in the government. He was involved in the deficit issue, and he was involved at Industry.”

Herle emphasized that Alboim “made everyone better.”

“You’ve never come across a mind like his … he could absolutely deconstruct any policy proposal and find all of its vulnerabilities, then lay them out to you,” Herle said. “I never wanted to do another serious thing in my life without his advice. When I was called upon to chair the national campaigns for Paul Martin, I wanted Elly by my side.”

Alboim’s ‘legacy will continue’ says his son

Alboim was passionate about politics and journalism. He read several newspapers every day, right up to the end of his life.

“His belief was that journalism wasn’t easy,” Mansbridge explained. “You had to work hard at it. You had to spend hours on stories. You had to understand stories from every possible angle. You had to talk to people who were involved from every different angle. You had to read a lot. Elly was reading a paper the night he died. He never stopped.”

Fellow Carleton professor Chris Waddell, who also worked with Alboim in CBC’s parliamentary bureau and was later CBC’s parliamentary bureau chief, said Alboim went beyond his duties to support the journalism school.

“[He] was a key player for quite a while in the committee that would review all master’s students’ applications every year,” Waddell said. “I can’t think of anyone who’s had as much impact on the combination of political journalism, educating future journalists and shaping public policy in Canada in the last three or four decades.”

“You know, that’s a very unique combination of skills,” he said.

Jaime Alboim said his father’s work to mentor and support other journalists continued right up until his father’s death. 

“He had an influence on literally thousands of journalists, and that legacy will continue,” he said. “He almost worked 24/7 just providing counsel to hundreds of people. And that literally was up until moments before he passed. I don’t know how he managed to do it.”

On March 22, in the Atrium of Richcraft Hall at Carleton University’s School of Journalism, hundreds of people are expected to come out for the celebration of Alboim’s life. It will be held from 9 a.m-11 a.m.

jcampbell@hilltimes.com

The Hill Times