Brief Remarks

The non-profit sector is massive. According to Statistics Canada, in 2022 the non-profit sector accounted for over 8 percent of GDP – contributing more than $216 billion to the economy. Non-profits operate in many spaces, but are essential parts of the healthcare, housing, and education systems. Non-profits exist to serve communities and fill essential functions not covered, or only partially covered, by the state or private market; they’re also sometimes in competition with other sectors, or at least in tension with them, and with one another.It’s complicated stuff. And when you add changing technologies, trends, economic conditions, and domestic and geopolitical considerations, making a non-profit work is even trickier. So how do non-profit organizations work – or not? On this episode of Open to Debate, David Moscrop talks with Brooke Struck, strategy facilitator and the founder and CEO of the firm Converge.

Is Canada ready to get serious about tackling monopolies and oligopolies?You’ve heard it before, the old joke that Canada is three telecom companies in a trench coat. Or airlines. Or grocery stores. You’ve probably heard it here before. That’s because Canada has a monopoly and oligopoly problem – and it has for a long time.The United States has long faced its own challenges with market concentration — and for or once, Canada might not be too far behind.To understand the state and future of competition in this country, we ask: Is Canada ready to get serious about tackling monopolies and oligopolies?On this episode of Open to Debate, David Moscrop talks with Denise Hearn, writer, applied researcher, and c0-author of the upcoming book The Big Fix, which is out this October.

On May 29 and 30 in Ottawa, Canada 2020 hosted our annual Economic Reconciliation Summit: The Indigenous-led Economy 2024. This gathering brought  together Indigenous leaders from across sectors and territories for a vital day of conversation and engagement to explore the balance between growth and sustainability, and ensure that reconciliation is at the heart of future prosperity for all.  In the next  of our series of highlight conversations from this gathering, Chief Crystal Smith speaks with Braeden Caley (President & CEO, Canada 2020) about Haisla Nation’s long term project of own source revenue generation and careful but robust economic development practices.This conversation has been lightly edited for length and clarity ahead of publication.

On May 29 and 30 in Ottawa, Canada 2020 hosted our annual Economic Reconciliation Summit: The Indigenous-led Economy. This gathering brought  together Indigenous leaders from across sectors and territories for a vital day of conversation and engagement to explore the balance between growth and sustainability, and ensure that reconciliation is at the heart of future prosperity for all.  In the next  of our series of highlight conversations from this gathering, we hear from Chief Sharleen Gale (Chief of Fort Nelson First Nation and Chair of the First Nations Major Projects Coalition) and Katherine Kootstachin (VP, Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation, Sussex Strategy Group) on the federal Indigenous Loan Guarantee Program, implementing major projects, leveraging capital, and more.This conversation has been lightly edited for length and clarity ahead of publication.

On May 29 and 30 in Ottawa, Canada 2020 hosted our annual Economic Reconciliation Summit: The Indigenous-led Economy. This gathering brought  together Indigenous leaders from across sectors and territories for a vital day of conversation and engagement to explore the balance between growth and sustainability, and ensure that reconciliation is at the heart of future prosperity for all.  In the next  of our series of highlighted conversations from this summit, we hear Chief Dylan Whiteduck (Kitigan Zibi First Nation), Hillary Thatcher (Managing Director, Indigenous and Northern Investments, Canada Infrastructure Bank), Mihskakwan James Harper (Business Development Manager, NRStor Inc.),  and Steve Berna (COO, First Nations Finance Authority) in conversation with Fred Di Blasio (Co-Founder, Managing Partner and CEO of Longhouse Capital Partners) about catalyzing investment, access to capital, and essential infrastructure projects from coast to coast to coast.This conversation has been lightly edited for length a

On May 29 and 30 in Ottawa, Canada 2020 hosted our annual Economic Reconciliation Summit: The Indigenous-led Economy. This gathering brought  together Indigenous leaders from across sectors and territories for a vital day of conversation and engagement to explore the balance between growth and sustainability, and ensure that reconciliation is at the heart of future prosperity for all.  In the next  of our series of highlight conversations from this gathering, Cassidy Caron (President of the Métis National Council) and Heidi Todacheene (Senior Advisor to the Secretary at the Office of the Secretary, US Department of the Interior) speak with Braeden Caley (President & CEO, Canada 2020) about relationship-building, co-development, investing in Indigenous communities, and comprehensive and thoughtful policy-making toward reconciliation. This conversation has been lightly edited for length and clarity ahead of publication.

Canada has passed a law preventing federally-regulated businesses from using scab workers. Bill C-58 passed in June and marked a significant milestone in the progress of worker’s rights. That it passed is notable; that it passed unanimously in an era of increasingly toxic polarization is quite remarkable, and speaks to the moment that labour is having in this country.To understand the government’s thinking on the law and the broader context in which it passed, we talk to the man in charge of the legislation and ask: What does an anti-scab worker bill tell us about the state of labour in Canada?On this episode of Open to Debate, David Moscrop talks with Seamus O’Regan, Canada’s Minister of Labour and Seniors.

On May 29 and 30 in Ottawa, Canada 2020 hosted our annual Economic Reconciliation Summit: The Indigenous-led Economy. This gathering brought  together Indigenous leaders from across sectors and territories for a vital day of conversation and engagement to explore the balance between growth and sustainability, and ensure that reconciliation is at the heart of future prosperity for all.  In the fourth of our series of highlighted conversations from this summit, we hear Tiara Folkes (Manager, Indigenous Relations Public Policy, TC Energy) in conversation with  Mary Mg (Minister of Export Promotion, International Trade and Economic Development) on the what Indigenous entrepreneurs and exporters offer Canada and the world.This conversation has been lightly edited for length and clarity ahead of publication.

On May 29 and 30 in Ottawa, Canada 2020 hosted our annualEconomic Reconciliation Summit: The Indigenous-led Economy. This gathering brought  together Indigenous leaders from across sectors and territories for a vital day of conversation and engagement to explore the balance between growth and sustainability, and ensure that reconciliation is at the heart of future prosperity for all.  In the third of our series of highlighted conversations from this summit, we hear Griffin Marsh (Program Director, Martin Family Initiative) talk to Heidi Todacheene (Senior Advisor to the Secretary at the Office of the Secretary, US Department of the Interior) about how the U.S. Department of the Interior under President Biden is investing in Indigenous land and communities, and what we can learn about progress being achieved by our closest neighbours.This conversation has been lightly edited for length and clarity ahead of publication.

On May 29 and 30 in Ottawa, Canada 2020 hosted our annual Economic Reconciliation Summit: The Indigenous-led Economy. This gathering brought  together Indigenous leaders from across sectors and territories for a vital day of conversation and engagement to explore the balance between growth and sustainability, and ensure that reconciliation is at the heart of future prosperity for all.  In the second of our series of highlighted conversations from this summit, we hear Tiara Folkes (Manager, Indigenous Relations Public Policy, TC Energy) in conversation with Dan Vandal (Minister of Northern Affairs, Minister responsible for Prairies Economic Development Canada, and Minister responsible for the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency) on key new milestones like the Nunavut devolution agreement, and what we can learn about regional leadership and investment from the Prairies and the North.This conversation has been lightly edited for length and clarity ahead of publication.

On May 29 and 30 in Ottawa, Canada 2020 hosted our annual Economic Reconciliation Summit: The Indigenous-led Economy. This gathering brought together Indigenous leaders from across sectors and territories for a vital day of conversation and engagement to explore the balance between growth and sustainability, and ensure that reconciliation is at the heart of future prosperity for all. In the first of our series of highlighted conversations from this summit, Canada 2020 President and CEO Braeden Caley speaks with National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak, and Minister of Indigenous Services Patty Hajdu about closing the gaps in infrastructure, investment, and quality of life between Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities across this country.This conversation has been lightly edited for length and clarity ahead of publication.

Universities are medieval, risk averse institutions. Some like to think of them as bastions of radicalism, but they’re actually quite conservative by nature – and in desperate need of modernization, a process of technological development that would serve students, faculty, and administrators alike. If there was ever any doubt about the need for post secondary institutions to up their tech game, the pandemic swept it away. So, are universities ready to modernize? On this episode of Open to Debate, David Moscrop talks with Scott Murray, senior manager, transformation architecture, at EY. 

This week, we have good news and bad news. The bad news, you know already. Climate change is catching up to us. We’re feeling its effects and they stand to get worse. We’re not doing enough, and what we are doing, we’re not doing as quickly as we ought to. Moreover, the hidden costs of climate change are also adding up.The good news? We are making progress in the fight against climate change and we still have time to address the worst of what’s coming – to mitigate, adapt, and secure a better future for billions upon billions of people. But first, we need to understand the full scope and depth of the primary and secondary effects of climate change. To that end, this week we ask: What are the hidden costs of climate change?On this episode of Open to Debate, David Moscrop talks with R. Jisung Park, an environmental and labor economist at the University of Pennsylvania and the author of Slow Burn: The Hidden Costs of a Warming World.

Artificial intelligence means different things to different people. As an amorphous set of technologies deployed in countless applications, AI is tricky to understand, regulate, and integrate into our social and economic lives. This is especially true when conversations about it, even among experts, may be premised on misunderstandings – or multiple understandings – of the thing itself.And yet, AI, broadly understood, is already shaping how we do business, how and whether we employ people, how we communicate, and plenty more. In short, it’s kind of a big deal and we need to sort out how we want it to fit into our society and our lives.So, what is AI and is Canada ready for it?On this episode of Open to Debate, David Moscrop talks with Murad Hemmadi, a journalist with the Logic and the co-author of Superintelligence: Is Canada Ready for AI? 

In 2024, Canada finds itself at a crossroads of several immense transformations sweeping the world, whether through the rewiring of the global economy and geopolitics, of our energy systems, or with rapid advances in A.I., even of intelligence itself.  In this time of great transitions, Canadians are facing new worries together about their homes, their wages, their kids, and our shared future. How do we rise to these challenges and opportunities? Mark Carney (United Nations Special Envoy for Climate Change and Finance, former Governor of the Bank of Canada and of the Bank of England, and chair of Canada 2020’s Advisory Board) talks about our country’s economic outlook, and what governments, innovators, and economic leaders can do to build growth for all. Eme Onuoha joins him in conversation.This conversation took place on April 8, 2024 in Ottawa. It has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

A few weeks back, we spoke with Tiffany Balducci about the Alberta NDP leadership race. This week, we’re keeping on theme, but instead of looking ahead, we’re looking back. You may have forgotten Jason Kenney. After his dismal leadership review, the Harper-era Cabinet minister resigned as premier of Alberta and left politics. But Kenney’s legacy continues to shape the country. A new book assesses his career, its effects, and the state of the right in Canada. So, what is Kenneyism and why should we care?On this episode of Open to Debate, David Moscrop talks with Jeremy Appel, an Alberta-based journalist and author of Kenneyism: Jason Kenney’s Pursuit of Power.

There’s no sharper way to assess the state of life in the early 21st century than through a lens of “enshitification,” a term this week's guest coined. It’s described as the slow and steady worsening of each and every bit of our daily existence, and as Cory Doctorow has argued, particularly as it pertains to the work of technology companies that have captured our attention, our dollars, or both.But some people have it worse than others. For instance, the incarcerated, on whom – as this week’s guest explores in his new novel – companies test and roll out strategies and technologies and a surveillance apparatus that is later used to exploit populations at large.So, just how is life becoming “enshitified?” and how can we make things better?On this 100th(!) episode of Open to Debate, David Moscrop talks with Cory Doctorow, best-selling science fiction author, activist, and journalist. His latest book, The Bezzle, is out now.

The Alberta New Democratic Party leadership race is underway. In June, the party membership will select a new leader to replace Rachel Notley and square off against United Conservative Party premier Danielle Smith. Let’s meet the candidates and get a sense of what they’re about as we ask: Who wants to lead the Alberta NDP?On this episode of Open to Debate, David Moscrop talks with Tiffany Balducci, a union organizer, negotiator, and job evaluation specialist with the Canadian Union of Public Employees in Alberta.

Nearly half the people on earth live in countries that will hold national elections in 2024. It's the world's biggest election year ever, with approximately 2 billion people heading to the polls.No election will have its impacts echo more widely than that of the United States of America. Its effects will be palpable worldwide, and felt especially strongly here in Canada — with Donald Trump in the running for the third straight U.S. presidential election cycle. Hear from Sarada Peri (former Special Assistant to the President, Senior Speechwriter for President Barack Obama, and Senior Fellow with the Dais at TMU) on the state of the Biden presidential campaign, the health of global democracy, the challenges of the new media ecosystem, and the future of our shared economic and security partnerships.This conversation took place on March 7, 2024 at the Canada 2020 Studio, and was hosted in partnership with The Dais at Toronto Metropolitan University. It has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

Canada’s small businesses employ a staggering 11 million people from coast-to-coast-to-coast, and represent an incredible 98% of Canadian-owned enterprises. Moving to a digital-first economy presents unprecedented opportunities for small businesses across Canada to innovate, expand, and spur new job creation and prosperity. Hear from the Honourable Rechie Valdez (Canada’s Minister of Small Business), Debbie Gamble (Chief Innovation Labs Officer at Interac), and Viet Vu (Author and Manager of Economic Research at the Dias) on how can we catalyze digital adoption, level up digital government, ensure the resilience and growth of small businesses, and ensure that no one is left behind.This conversation took place on February 28, 2024 at the Canada 2020 Studio, and was hosted in partnership with Interac. It has been lightly edited for length and clarity.