To boost Canadian innovation, resist the lure of Silicon Valley
TORONTO—Kitchener-Waterloo made a big deal out of attracting Google to set up a large R&D branch plant in an old industrial building there. Not to be outdone, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, in the early days of his government, made a high-profile visit lauding Google’s expanding R&D branch plant. He wanted Google to play a bigger […]
Our parliamentary committees should operate better, especially now
OTTAWA—These have not been the finest days for the Parliament of Canada. A Member of Parliament urinated on camera during a non-public House session. This, after he was caught naked on camera during a House session a few weeks earlier. Recently, Mark Carney, vice chair of Brookfield Asset Management Inc., appeared before the House of […]
2017 Naylor Report recommendations just as relevant now as ever, panellists say
Four years after releasing Canada’s Fundamental Science Review, also known as the Naylor Report, its author David Naylor says Canada is still not making science and research a top priority and it should. “There is still no high-level oversight function—nothing like the National Advisory Council on Research and Innovation that we recommended,” he said in […]
Motion to establish House Science and Research Committee has cross-partisan support
Canada’s former minister of science says there should be a full-fledged House Science and Research Committee in the next Parliament and says it could have played a vital role during the global pandemic. Ms. Duncan (Etobicoke North, Ont.), who served as the federal minister of science and sport in the last Parliament and currently serves […]
Innovation for net zero: governance and policy innovation as important as technological advances
After decades of muddling along, it finally appears that Canada is putting in place the conditions to make headway on the climate file. The federal government is advancing legislation to formalize its net zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions goal and establish a Net Zero Advisory Body. It has announced its intention to ramp up the […]
Where’s the innovation in our innovation ecosystem?
Recently, the OECD delivered a major policy report to the U.K. Presidency of the G7 Summit that will take place in June. It covered a great deal of ground on how member nations can strive to enhance economic knowledge and societal resilience in the new, post-pandemic world that will emerge. And the next normal will […]
Research on pandemic lessons will get us out of COVID—and the next one
There is no doubt the COVID-19 pandemic has infiltrated every aspect of our lives. For post-secondary institutions across Canada, COVID-19 forced our teaching activities to move online, and at the onset of the pandemic, led to the suspension of research activities. Shuttered research labs and the cessation of community-based research in Canada and across the […]
Committee jurisdiction unresolved as MPs await study on privacy bill
Nearly six months after it was first introduced, the federal government’s proposed legislation to reform Canada’s decades-old privacy regime is still waiting to pass second reading and be referred to committee after unanimous consent to do so was twice denied. MPs and experts said the bill is an important piece of legislation that is being […]
Privacy and security go hand in hand—we need to treat them that way
There is a false dichotomy that is set up in security debates; it is either privacy or security. It is a zero-sum game. With Bill C-11 proposing sweeping changes to Canada’s private sector privacy laws, it is time for a mature, strategic, and informed discussion. We have to move beyond simple conceptions because the cost of failing to get […]
Experts question role of data commissioner as feds finally earmark funds
Buried in the 2021 federal budget is little more than a paragraph on creating a new regulator aimed at balancing the interests of personal privacy and companies trying to operate in a big data economy in the next few years. The budget proposed establishing a “data commissioner” with $17.6-million over five years starting in 2021-22, […]
