Canada should create a green impact fund for technology
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made a splash at COP26, boasting about how Canada will reduce its emissions, including capping emissions from the oil and gas sector. This effort, however, may be wasted if we fail to bring along the rest of the world. We urgently need a new mechanism to support the diffusion of the […]
Public sector must better support industry’s commercialization of intellectual property
Canada must incentivize and support domestic industry to commercialize new knowledge. We need a new approach to exploit both public- and privately-funded intellectual property, as Canadian businesses are failing to exploit their IP and reap the economic benefits from their outputs. Intellectual property rights include trademarks, patents, industrial designs, and copyrights. Intellectual property products, […]
Canada’s writers emerge from pandemic poorer and with fewer rights
Unless you’re the billionaire owner of an online retail site, chances are you suffered during the last two years. Even those who were lucky enough to have and keep a full-time job during the pandemic could not escape the dramatic toll on mental health that came with the isolation, increased stress, and incessant worry. Now […]
Deep fakes and big data: the next level of cyber warfare
Most people are unaware of the personal security risks confronting them when they make use of 21st century technology. Threats are embedded in the facial recognition technology that opens your iPhone, Chatbots on your online shopping sites, and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) deployed in military operations. These technologies form a juggernaut of sophisticated devices storing […]
Cybersecurity is security and we’re only as secure as our weakest links
Cybersecurity has never been more vital to a nation’s security—its people, government, educational institutions, and businesses of all sizes. It is one of the most serious economic and national security challenges we face. Yet we are often reactive instead of proactive when it comes to cyberattacks, only acting after the fact. We’re then left to […]
Bill C-11 was the gift that needed returning
Sometimes a long-awaited gift that arrives wrapped in sparkly paper disappoints when it is opened. That is the case with Bill C-11, introduced in November 2020, which included the Consumer Privacy Protection Act (CPPA). Pitched as an implementation of the privacy promises made in the Digital Charter, and as an answer to a decade’s worth […]
Data-protection bill needs to be on parliamentary agenda this session, says privacy-law expert
During the 2019 federal election campaign, the governing Liberals committed to implementing Canada’s newly launched Digital Charter and its 10 principles that include assuring Canadians of “the integrity, authenticity, and security” of the digital services that they use, and that Canadians would have control over the data they share; and both know who is using […]
Time for a renovation of Canada’s privacy laws
The federal government must introduce a mix of legislation and policies to better protect Canadians and their personal information. On the legislative front, this must start with reforming Canada’s commercial privacy legislation. The Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) was passed into law in 2001. It established the federal privacy commissioner as an […]
Canadians are taking steps to protect their personal information—the government needs to do the same
With skyrocketing reports of phone scams, phishing attacks, and identity fraud, it’s clear: the personal data of Canadians is increasingly coveted by scammers and other nefarious actors. Fortunately, a vast majority of Canadians are aware of the significance of their personal information, with 74 per cent taking steps last year to better protect their personal […]
No more reports: Canada needs a strategy to put health-care innovations into action
With Canada’s federal election settled and Justin Trudeau’s Liberals returned to power, the health-care community now waits to see how promises made on the campaign trail translate into concrete policies to improve a health system battered by an ongoing pandemic. As much of the country struggles to gain an upper hand on a fourth wave […]
