Futureproofing Canada

The Canadian federation was built on a compromise between two linguistic communities, anglophones and francophones. This compromise still exists today and is now part of our national fabric and identity, in addition to being enshrined in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Read the full text here: https://on-irpp.org/37oFnb6 By: Stéphanie Chouinard and Luc Turgeon *** La fédération canadienne a été érigée sur un compromis fondateur entre deux communautés linguistiques, francophone et anglophone. Ce compromis existe toujours et fait désormais partie du tissu identitaire national, en plus d’être enchâssé dans la Charte canadienne des droits et libertés. Lisez le texte complet ici : https://on-irpp.org/2Hm9fde Par: Stéphanie Chouinard and Luc Turgeon

Artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming more and more common in our everyday lives. The technology is being used in a wide range of areas, such as advertising, health care, banking and manufacturing, to name a few. It is a massive advance in the tech sector that can benefit almost all levels of society. But with the benefits, there are also risks. Because of the speed at which the technology is advancing, it can be an unpredictable, or even a malicious tool that policy-makers are ill equipped to deal with, especially because of the speed at which the technology is advancing. This became apparent with the development of an AI system called GPT-3. GPT-3 was designed to be simple AI tasked with learning how to auto-complete a sentence, but it taught itself a suite of seemingly unrelated tasks, including how to write articles that are indistinguishable from writing done by a human. Its evolution raised alarm bells within the AI developing community, who had concerns about its impact on public safety. My guest today is dedicated to filling the knowledge gap between AI developers and policy- makers. Jérémie Harris is a former physicist and Silicon Valley tech start-up founder who left the tech industry to collaborate with AI policy leaders around the world, including the former heads of AI policy at the U.S. Department of Defense, the World Economic Forum, and top AI labs like OpenAI and Anthropic. He has developed a plan that will enable the federal government to monitor and create policy around AI so that Canada can stay ahead of the curve. Jérémie joins the podcast to discuss the current public safety risks posed by AI, and what the government can do to mitigate them.

Canada-China relations in trade, climate change and human rights must follow a courageous and creative new path in the wake of the two Michaels saga. Read the full article here: https://options-po.li/3jVmMcf By: Lynette Ong

Alberta has spoken! On October 18, as Albertans voted in municipal elections, there were two additional questions on the ballot. One was fairly inconsequential and asked people if they preferred doing away with daylight savings. It was narrowly rejected, with just 50.2 per cent of the vote. The second was more weighty and could end up changing the Canadian Constitution. Albertans were asked if section 36(2) of the Constitution Act, concerning equalization payments, should be removed from the Constitution. To that question, they said “YES,” with 62 per cent of the vote. But what on earth is equalization!? And what happens now? Will Alberta be able to convince other provinces to get on board? And will the federal government entertain the idea of a constitutional change? To answer these questions, we speak with two professors in Alberta. First up is Trevor Tombe, professor of economics at the University of Calgary and research fellow at the School of Public Policy. His research focuses on international trade, macroeconomics and fiscal federalism. He will explain what equalization is, and talk about the flaws in the program. Then we speak with political science professor Lisa Young, also at the University of Calgary. She researches Canadian political parties, women's participation in politics, interest groups and social movements, and the regulation of electoral finance. She will discuss what this vote might mean for Alberta and for the rest of the country.

The Canadian Centre for Cyber Security should follow the blueprint that U.K. and U.S. institutions use to protect critical national infrastructure. Read the full article here: https://options-po.li/3G2tfLS By: David Masson

Over the course of the pandemic, largely due to the increase in cases due to workplace transmission, there were calls to improve the current regime of sickness and caregiving leaves across Canada. Over a year later, almost all of those calls have been ignored. Federal, provincial and territorial governments had to enact emergency measures to address these serious gaps in the system. Those programs will soon run out, and Canada will return to a mismatched system where the province you live in determines whether you have adequate access to paid sickness and caregiving leaves. It is crucial that we re-evaluate this regime and create one that is beneficial for all workers, because when workers decide that they cannot take time off due to illness, the resulting costs are borne by both individuals and society. In their new IRPP paper Eric Tucker and Leah Vosko examine international norms in comparable economies for sickness and caregiving leaves and what principles need to be included in a Canadian regime. They join the podcast to discuss the shortfalls in Canada’s current system and what the ideal system would look like for workers.

Canada exploited Chinese workers from its start. The anti-Asian racist violence during the pandemic has exposed how little has changed. Read the full article here: https://options-po.li/2YntK1P By: Chandrima Chakraborty

At the onset of the pandemic, in March 2020, there was an (unconfirmed) collective idea that in a few weeks or months we would be able to go back to our lives as usual, and the pandemic would be a thing of the past. Now we recognize that it wasn’t that simple, that the regular functions of the country must continue, and that we would, at least for now, have to learn to live with the virus. In September 2020, New Brunswick held Canada’s first election during the pandemic, and electoral management bodies had to grapple with the challenge of how to prepare for an election. Canada has now seen six provincial and territorial elections and a federal election. So what have we learned? And how can we use these lessons to better prepare ourselves for voting in times of emergencies? Today’s guests are Allison Harell and Laura Stephenson, co-directors of C-DEM. This organization administers the Canadian Election Study, which collects and analyses public opinion data on electoral attitudes in Canada. They will be speaking about their research and the lessons we have learned from voting during a pandemic.

A young dentist’s ideals led him to Afghanistan as an infantry officer. After two tours, he began to question what was ultimately achievable. *** Mû par ses idéaux, un jeune dentiste s’est engagé comme soldat d’infanterie. Deux séjours en Afghanistan l’ont amené à douter de la mission. Read the full article here: https://options-po.li/3mDZ9Hh Lisez l'article complet ici : https://options-po.li/3zfGO6a By: Luong Phuc Nguyen

There is no doubt that social media has changed politics. It has connected politicians and constituents, making it easier for them to speak more freely with one another than ever before. But these sites have also changed the way people communicate with politicians. If you look at the replies to any tweet, by any politician, you will see a series of replies that express disagreement, or support. But there is also a steady stream of hatred directed toward politicians, from a minority of people who engage in behaviour that experts have described as “toxic.” It’s easy to brush off these tweets as nothing more than posts on a Website, but they can actually have a harmful effect on our democracy. Not only do they make politicians’ work – already difficult – even harder, they dampen people’s willingness to engage in political conversations online and dissuade people from entering the political arena. My guest today is hoping to stop online toxicity, for the betterment of Canadian democracy. Sabreena Dellen is the executive director of the Samara Centre for Democracy, a charity dedicated to strengthening democracy in Canada. The Samara Centre recently partnered with Areto Labs on a project that tracks the tweets received by incumbents who are running for re-election, to find out how toxic these tweets are and who is receiving them. Today we will discuss the project, as well as SAMbot, which they use to track this data, and how they hope to foster a positive culture change in digital democracy. If you would like to find out more about SAMbot, check it out here - https://sambot.ca/