Controversial $7-billion fund hasn’t sped up budget implementation: PBO
The Liberal government’s $7-billion fund meant to speed up 2018 budget-implementation measures hasn’t worked, says Parliamentary Budget Officer Yves Giroux. In fact, it’s slower than the year before. Outlined in a Feb. 7 report on the second set of spending estimates for the current fiscal year, known as Supplementary Estimates ‘B,’ which were tabled by […]
In the global race for AI, how do we ensure we’re creating a better world?
There is a new gold rush. In the same way that early prospectors raced to stake their claims to extract wealth from the ground, companies are rushing to patent aspects of artificial intelligence (AI) so that they can extract wealth from algorithms and data. This time, however, it is not just about money—though that is […]
Telecommunications services are increasingly expensive for families
According to Statistics Canada’s Survey of Household Spending, Canadian households spent an average of $2,246 on communication devices and services in 2016. Canadian consumers are right to be concerned about the evolution of broadcasting and telecommunications in recent years. They must spend more on internet services that have become both expensive and not easily accessible. Not only […]
Superclusters move toward first projects as Bains says innovation program ‘kicking into high gear’
Canada’s five “superclusters” will spend 2019 getting their not-for-profit entities set up and rolling out their first projects meant to boost sector-wide productivity and collaboration under the Liberal government’s cornerstone innovation program. The federal government reached funding agreements with the five winners of its Innovation Superclusters Initiative last November and December, hashing out what portion […]
Tug of war between innovation and privacy at heart of digital data talks
Following the completion of a series of national consultations on the future of Canada’s digital economy, some stakeholders say they’re concerned that the drive for innovation is being given priority over privacy concerns, but leaders of the consultations say both positions had their voices heard. Last December, federal Privacy Commissioner Daniel Therrien wrote to Innovation, […]
Colombian envoy praises Canada’s ‘clarity of message’ on Venezuelan crisis
Following the Lima Group’s Ottawa meeting on the crisis in Venezuela earlier this month, Colombia’s new ambassador to Canada says more work is needed to bring in other nations “to join the call for free elections in Venezuela” to help bring peace. The “momentum the international community has achieved in recognizing the [Juan] Guaido government […]
China is not our friend
Max Weber, the great German sociologist and philosopher, theorized that political culture and not written documents took precedence in determining a society’s nature of governance. He recognized most Western democracies were a reflection of their open societies and economies and their foundations on the rule of law. He was less charitable to societies where traditional […]
What happens to people in the age of AI?
Artificial intelligence (AI) and related emerging technologies will drastically change our society over the next couple of decades. Not only will automated systems soon take over jobs such as truck driving and manufacturing, they will eventually disrupt employment everywhere else, too. The current headlong rush to automate will create some employment in selected sectors, such […]
New book for early-career civil servants meant to demystify how government works
Not sure what the bureaucracy’s hierarchy is? Never heard of a policy cycle? Not sure what you need to emphasize in your public-sector job application? Memorial University political science professor Alex Marland has a book for you. Teaming up with University of Alberta political science professor Jared Wesley, the two are trying to make sense […]
Here are the building blocks of a good digital strategy
Canada’s future competitiveness and growth prospects are inextricably linked to our ability to seize the opportunities created by the rapidly evolving digital economy. Evolving digital technologies create an opportunity for new products, technologies, services, business processes, societal tools, and organizations to generate new wealth, but they also challenge the existing system of production and our […]
