Published

Canada's Fractured Energy Infrastructure and the Case for a National Electricity Framework

Tags: energy, electricity-grid, interprovincial, energy-sovereignty, renewable-energy, alberta, climate, crown-corporation, transmission Format: Discussion Article

During the 2021 Texas winter storm, 246 people died because an electricity grid designed for mild weather encountered a cold snap it was not built to handle. The Texas grid is isolated — deliberately, to avoid federal regulation — and when it failed, there was nowhere to import power from.

The Case For and Against Removing Canada's Interprovincial Trade Barriers

Tags: interprovincial-trade, economic-policy, constitution, section-121, beer, agriculture, labour-mobility, canadian-economic-union Format: Discussion Article

It is legal to import wine from France. It is, depending on how you read the law and how much you're carrying, potentially illegal to bring a case of New Brunswick craft beer across the border into Quebec.

Why Indigenous Police Services Keep Starting Over

Tags: indigenous, policing, essential-services, first-nations, funding, public-safety, self-determination, jordan-principle Format: Discussion Article

Every five years, Indigenous police services in Canada go through a ritual that no municipal police force in the country experiences. They negotiate for their existence.

The Distance Fallacy in Canadian Data Sovereignty

Tags: privacy, data-sovereignty, offshore-processing, bpo, philippines, telecommunications, pipeda, distance-fallacy, personal-data Format: Discussion Article

There is a specific kind of anxiety that attaches to the idea of Canadian data sitting on American servers. It has a geography, a political context, a named adversary. The closeness makes it feel real. The policy apparatus — hearings, amendments, sovereignty declarations — reflects it.

Rebadged Foreign Services, Health Data, and the Infrastructure You Can't See

Tags: telecommunications, health-data, privacy, data-sovereignty, voip, ringcentral, health-information-act, phipa, rebadge, regulated-sectors Format: Discussion Article

The Case For and Against a Crown Digital Backbone

Tags: telecommunications, rural, infrastructure, broadband, crown-corporation, digital-equity, carrier-competition Format: Discussion Article

Drive four hours in any direction from Calgary and the internet stops being something you take for granted. It becomes something you negotiate with — a slow, expensive, single-option service from a carrier that knows you have nowhere else to go. If it fails, you wait. If the price increases, you pay. There is no alternative.

Topic Introduction:

Welcome to this engaging and timely debate on Legal, Housing, and Emergency Services for Child Welfare and Foster Care in Canada. This crucial topic is of utmost importance as it directly affects the lives of some of our most vulnerable citizens – children within our foster care system.

Three key perspectives will be addressed:

1) The need to improve legal protections for these children, ensuring their rights are upheld and they receive fair representation.

Topic Introduction: Legal Support for Child Welfare and Foster Care Advocacy

In this debate, we will delve into the critical issue of providing legal support for child welfare and foster care advocates in Canada. The topic is of paramount importance as it directly impacts the lives of vulnerable children and families across the nation.

On Iran, Ukraine, WMD Doctrine, and the Business of Perpetual War

Something quietly extraordinary happened this week. The Trump administration — which has spent months publicly humiliating Ukrainian President Zelenskyy, cutting aid, demanding mineral rights concessions, and calling him an obstacle to peace — turned to Ukraine and asked for help. Not the other way around.

Topic Introduction: Community Legal Aid for Ensuring Equitable Law Enforcement

This debate focuses on the significant issue of community legal aid in Canada, and its role in promoting fair law enforcement for all citizens. With growing concerns about access to justice, particularly among marginalized communities, there is a pressing need to examine the effectiveness and implications of community legal aid programs in ensuring equitable law enforcement.

Key tensions within this discussion include: