Canada's track record with infrastructure is world renowned, yet as Ehren Cory, CEO of Canada's Infrastructure Bank says, nationwide the country is in a persistent infrastructure gap – especially in Northern or remote communities. Cory joins Policy Speaking host Edward Greenspon to talk about the infrastructure bank system, how to leverage investment in Canada's infrastructure and innovative projects. In a wide ranging conversation from battery storage to satellites, they explore what role CIB m...
May 20, 2021•1 hr 1 min
Manulife Financial's Chief Economist Frances Donald and former governor of the Bank of Canada David Dodge face off for a productive conversation about supporting our economy at home. From housing prices pushing a generation out of the market, to a debate on a national childcare program, these two eminent Canadian financial minds discuss the historic spending Canada has unleashed to address the pandemic and where that may land us in a few years. --- Music: Raro Bueno by Chuzausen under a creative...
May 13, 2021•1 hr 12 min
Canadians have made step-wise advancements in treating mental health in the past two decades. 15 years ago the stigma made it hard to even talk about. Today, COVID has accelerated the use of telehealth technology to make mental health support easier to access than before. Dr. David Goldbloom, senior medical advisor at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) joins us to talk next steps on mental healthcare in Canada, and the crisis the COVID-19 pandemic has both revealed and amplified. ...
May 06, 2021•1 hr 13 min
Canada is presented with a smorgasbord of solutions to reduce, reuse, or better use the carbon that's heating up the Earth. Policy Speaking is joined by Bruce Lourie , President of the Ivey Foundation and Janet Annesley , Senior Director, Energy and ESG at Invest Alberta Corporation for a wide ranging discussion on what Canada's provincial and federal governments can focus on – in terms of policy and technology – to drive Canada to becoming low carbon experts, relative to the U.S. and the rest o...
Apr 29, 2021•59 min
Canadians have seen the inadequacies of Canada's senior home system in this pandemic. What's less clear – how do we solve these? Policy Speaking is joined by Deloitte Canada's Georgina Black to talk about what good senior support looks like around the world, and where Canada can start to innovate. Should we be looking for better housing solutions, for new social care solutions, or is there a need for better medical solutions? -- Music: Raro Bueno by Chuzausen under a creative commons license We’...
Apr 22, 2021•51 min
The pandemic presents an opportunity to breathe new life into the story of rail in Canada. Former Transport Minister Lisa Raitt and Yves Desjardins Siciliano, CEO at Siemens Mobility Canada and former VIA Rail CEO join Policy Speaking to talk the ghost of divestment past, Canada's present inter-city train network, why Quebec's system seems different, and how the current commuter crisis resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic could be leveraged to innovate metro systems and major city links. --- Mus...
Apr 08, 2021•44 min
Vaccines are rolling out and many Canadians are hoping for an economic upswing in the summer and fall. Is that what we should expect? David Dodge , former Governor of the Bank of Canada, joins us to talk about the economic factors he's following and the impact of the economic stimulus so far in Canada versus the U.S. and Europe. He also puts on his healthcare hat, as a former deputy health minister, to talk about outlooks for provinces like Ontario and Quebec relative to their healthcare spendin...
Apr 01, 2021•51 min
Canada has four COVID-19 vaccines ready for distribution in half (if not 1/3) the time many predicted. Yet none are homegrown. Dr. Alan Bernstein, CEO of the global research organization CIFAR, and Dr. Vivek Goel, soon-to-be President of the University of Waterloo and a public health physician on the federal government’s COVID-19 Immunity Task Force, join Policy Speaking to talk about the logistics of delivering the large number of vaccines landing on Canadian shores, why we're importing them, a...
Mar 25, 2021•54 min
When the pandemic ends, do we return to the office of 2019? Over half of surveyed workers would like to continue working from home, even just a bit. Managers, employees, commuters, and families have lived new options and Tania Saba, professor and expert on workforce and digital transformation, explores how back-to-office may – or may not – play out. Regardless, says Murtaza Haider, Research Director of the Urban Analytics Institute, many Canadians have left urban centres bringing their work need...
Mar 18, 2021•41 min
Women are the heroes of the COVID-19 pandemic. From nurses to doctors, school teachers to orderlies, women represent 50% (or much more) of many front-line professions. Yet employment outcomes for women, particularly young women and racialized women, are the most troubling. Lynn Barr-Telford , Assistant Chief Statistician at Statistics Canada, joins Policy Speaking to share these numbers and Anjum Sultana , National Director of Public Policy & Strategic Communications at YWCA Canada, shares h...
Mar 11, 2021•45 min
Nadine Spencer , President of the Black Business and Professional Association, and Mohamed Elmi , Director of Research at the Diversity Institute discuss walking the talk when it comes to addressing systemic racism. Nadine and Mohamed share the challenges black business people have long faced, and society has only recently begun to acknowledge. From financing in the COVID-19 pandemic, to the fact that only 13 black individuals were identified from over 900 corporate boards positions in major cit...
Feb 25, 2021•44 min
U.S. President Joe Biden’s recent inauguration speech spoke of the “uncivil war” that polarizes American society across different fault lines including the urban-rural divide. But Canadians shouldn’t assume that these are merely American problems. PPF's Prime Ministers of Canada Fellow Sean Speer and Peter Loewen share their recent research, and sketch a blueprint for how we can go about building empathy and ultimately precluding the kind of polarization that we've witnessed elsewhere, with rene...
Feb 18, 2021•48 min
From clean energy, to digital tech Canada is a world leader in entrepreneurship. Yet as Monique Leroux , Chair of the Industry Strategy Council of Canada, and Karimah Es Sabar and Karen Hamberg , members of the Council point out – many of those companies start out but find no home here. Joining host Edward Greenspon , these industry leaders share what they've heard from business leaders across Canada, in reports like New North Star I & II, and share findings from the Council's December repor...
Feb 11, 2021•1 hr 9 min
Billions of dollars will flow into Indigenous nations to make major impacts on Canadian infrastructure and industry, but will those impacts benefit those Indigenous communities? Globally, 40 trillion investor dollars go through an environment, social and governance (ESG) risk assessment process. Yet Mark Podlasly, economic director at The First Nation's Major Project Coalition says no part of ESG includes Indigenous people as anything more than a checkbox, instead of invested partners. He says t...
Feb 04, 2021•44 min
In the season three opener, Policy Speaking sits down with two Commissioners from the Canadian Commission on Democratic Expression Amira Elghawaby & The Rt. Hon. Beverley McLachlin. Public opinion and these experts agree: the time to regulate social media has arrived. They discuss findings of a new report " Harms Reduction: A Six-Step Program to Protect Democratic Expression Online ", released by the Commission in parallel with findings from the Citizens’ Assembly on Democratic Expression . ...
Jan 28, 2021•54 min
If there's a silver lining to COVID, it may be the acceleration of the availability of virtual mental health services. Provinces and institutions had moved very quickly to digitize services, speeding up a transition that needed to happen anyway. Two-thirds of Canadians are reporting their mental health is good, and are feeling confident in their ability to cope with COVID. Research is showing that employers – in particular – can play a big part in buoying the mental health of workers. But for so...
Dec 11, 2020•49 min
Carbon capture is a promising new technology, and there's big projects in Canada, the U.S. and Europe showing that it could be an economical way to remove fuel from the fire of the Earth's climate crisis. Host Edward Greenspon is joined by Ilana Hosios at the Boston Consulting Group (BCG)'s Centre for Canada's Future, and Alex Dewar , Senior Director at BCG's Center for Energy Impact in Washington for an exploration of the industrial and policy implications of this emerging technology, and its p...
Dec 03, 2020•47 min
With a Canadian workforce of 50,000, Bell Canada is a major player in Canada's telecom industry and the cornerstone of so many of our work-from-home setups during the pandemic. President & CEO Mirko Bibic is at the helm of this historic company, and he joins Policy Speaking to discuss what's on the horizon with key milestones for 5G coming up in the next year. He and host Edward Greenspon also discuss Internet access for all, digital skills in small and medium-sized businesses, Canada's tele...
Nov 26, 2020•49 min
Trust in the government response to COVID-19 started high and, overall, has dwindled in Canada. While Canadians accepted the need for big travel restrictions at the start, mobile apps for contact tracing and other targeted responses have not been universally met with open arms. As Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy professor Peter Loewen explains, this lack of trust could impact the way a vaccine is rolled out in Canada. With the pandemic growing, will Canadians have faith governm...
Nov 20, 2020•49 min
Nixon conceded to John F. Kennedy. Al Gore conceded to George W. Bush. Will Trump concede to Biden? Anxieties are increasing as a transition becomes increasingly contentious and politicized. Host Edward Greenspon is joined by Maryscott “Scotty” Greenwood and PPF Fellow Sean Speer to discuss how the Democrats and Republicans did, the polarization of this U.S. election and what that means for Canada. Could a Biden presidency be a return to "normal" or is Trump a herald that there's no going back? ...
Nov 13, 2020•49 min
With final results potentially still days away, the U.S. election has turned out to be a cliffhanger and not a landslide. Frank McKenna is a former Ambassador to the U.S. and 27th Premier of New Brunswick, and he joins Policy Speaking to share his initial reactions as Trump's results in key states have blown polling out of the water. McKenna shares his insights on where polls went wrong and possible court challenges ahead. Whatever the result, the U.S. will find itself a divided country and McKe...
Nov 04, 2020•49 min
Billion dollar infrastructure investments are on hold and airport passenger volumes are down 90% at two of Canada's biggest airports. The CEOs of Toronto and Vancouver airports – Deborah Flint and Tamara Vrooman respectively – join Policy Speaking to talk about the tensions airports face in the pandemic. Facing stiff competition from airports in the US and no clear runway for recovery, our guests explore how their industry can pivot to get cleaner, greener, leaner and keener about innovation – i...
Oct 29, 2020•52 min
Senator Murray Sinclair shares wisdom on the Nova Scotia lobster fishing dispute and how current events fit into the trending societal discussion about racism and systemic racism. Sen. Sinclair demonstrates why he's an honouree of this year's Testimonial Awards as we trace his history from a young man of the Peguis First Nation (north of Winnipeg) who would go on to become a lawyer, Manitoba's first Aboriginal judge, Chief Commissioner of the Truth and Reconciliation Committee, Indigenous leader...
Oct 22, 2020•37 min
An effective and truly national vaccine roll out plan is what Dr. David Naylor, Co-chair of Canada's COVID-19 Immunity Task Force, hopes for. He joins host Edward Greenspon to chat about what it takes to break a surge of the virus – right as a second wave begins to form. From testing, to international cooperation, to reinfection, this wide-reaching conversation puts Canada's response to the pandemic in perspective with other responses around the world. -- Music: Raro Bueno by Chuzausen under a c...
Oct 15, 2020•55 min
Perhaps a middle ground can open up between unrestrained spending and unreasonable restrain for Canada's COVID-19 recovery, says Frances Donald , Global Chief Economist & Head of Macroeconomic Strategy at Manulife. She and host Edward Greenspon bring nuance to the popular discourse in economics around how a recovery could & should look for your favourite local businesses, in Canada's industries and in global markets. Plus historian J.D.M. Stewart joins us for a special chat. You don't wa...
Oct 08, 2020•45 min
New 5G technology is rolling out in some Canadian communities, promising improvements to life-saving technologies as much as to your fun weekend activities. At the same time, there's a huge digital divide between city folk and rural & Northern communities, leaving roughly 15 percent of Canadians with poor Internet or no Internet. Joe Natale, CEO at Rogers Communications, joins Policy Speaking to share his vision for the future of mobile tech, bridging the digital divide, and how industry can...
Oct 01, 2020•43 min
Hydrogen promises a green bearing to Canada's energy economy, yet consumer applications are still out of reach. Grant Strem, CEO of hydrogen-tech company Proton Technologies, and Marty Reed, Vancouver venture capital investor, join Policy Speaking for a conversation about hydrogen energy in Canada and its potential as a catalyst for innovation - to give Canada a strategic competitive edge in the global, fast-growing technology economy. -- Music: Raro Bueno by Chuzausen under a creative commons l...
Sep 24, 2020•44 min
New digital frontiers have renewed old problems: conspiracy theories, hate speech and disinformation. This conversation with Peter MacLeod, founder of public engagement firm MASS LBP, and Amira Elghawaby, journalist and human rights advocate, gives us insights on the health of our democracy and explores innovative approaches to civil dialogue in a social media age – including a Citizens' Assembly of 42 Canadians that's currently underway and the PPF-organized Canadian Commission on Democratic Ex...
Sep 17, 2020•51 min
In the first 10 days after the pandemic struck, Canadian colleges and universities moved over 2.2 million learners online. Now students are going back to school – but not like before. Edward Greenspon speaks with Denise Amyot, CEO of Colleges and Institutes Canada, and Paul Davidson, President of Universities Canada, about lifelong learning in this pandemic and beyond, equitable access to education, and the broadband Internet challenges that could make-or-break these new ways of lifelong learnin...
Sep 10, 2020•1 hr
Listen to this episode to learn the latest developments on the vaccine front. What does the recent manufacturing agreement mean for Canada and what's ahead for delivering a safe vaccine to Canadians after clinical trials? Progress on vaccines has been the result of unprecedented collaboration between scientists, industry and regulators, but how will politics play a role in the successful distribution? Will Canadians trust in the science? And how will inequalities play into distribution, particul...
Sep 03, 2020•54 min
