Category: Chairman’s Desk

What begins as a whisper will rise to a shout. What starts as a tepid suggestion will graduate into an alluring exhortation.

Wait for it, because here it comes: Democrats across the United States will call for comedian and TV personality Jon Stewart to run for their party’s nomination in 2024.

Don’t believe me? It’s started already.

Last month, a tweet about his prospective candidacy amassed a million views in only one day. Even well-known disc jockey Howard Stern is joining the chorus. A couple of weeks ago, he used his platform to urge Stewart to run, claiming that he “owes it to his country.”

Appeals for the former “Daily Show” host to run for office are nothing new. They’ve arisen before. Each time, he has summarily shut them down.

So a reality check. I take Stewart at his word.

That said, I am sure calls for him to run will grow far stronger as the campaign draws closer. Crucially, these calls represent a clear, urgent message: Democratic voters want, no make that need, a fighter in 2024.

Why a fighter? Two reasons.

First, in politics, when you are most discontent, you turn to your best fighter, your rhetorical gunslinger. And conservative courts have given American progressives plenty of reason to be raging mad.

Earlier this month, a Texas judge ruled in favour of a Christian advocacy group that asked the court to reverse the FDA’s approval of mifepristone, a pill (taken in concert with other medications) that induces abortions. At the time of writing, it’s a move that sets the stage for the pill to be banned nationwide.

Moreover, last week Gov. Ron DeSantis signed legislation that would ban most abortions after six weeks in Florida. This is not Margaret Atwood’s imagined Gilead, but a real one. Justifiably, alarm bells are ringing. The outrage is rising.

These are but two examples. There are plenty of others. But the larger point is one that the Trump phenomenon illustrated all too well in 2016: When voters are angry, they go with the candidate who channels that anger best.

For American moderates and progressives, that individual, bar none, is Jon Stewart. With an impressive legacy spanning over two decades, Stewart has relentlessly laid waste to media figures and politicians on the American right, skilfully calling out their hypocrisies with passion and humour.

Secondly, Democrats will have to confront the reality that their presidential candidate, whoever it is, will likely need to face off against, believe it, Donald Trump on the debate stage.

It won’t be ideal if that candidate needs the assistance of an oxygen mask to reach the podium. It might be even more disastrous if, in response to Trump’s jabs, all he can manage is “C’mon man!”

While Trump can nickname him Sleazeball Stew, the fact remains that Stewart possesses tenacity that Trump has never before faced on the debate stage, enabling Democrats to — at last — fight fire with fire. He is for moderates, what Tucker Carlson is to MAGA supporters, if Carlson was a scrappy New Yorker ready to rage against the machine with a razor-sharp intellect and rapier-like wit.

So while it remains highly doubtful that Stewart will run in 2024, here’s the wider, more significant, picture. By packing courts across the land with right-wing lunatics, the Republican Party may well have dug its own grave heading into 2024.

That’s why many think Joe Biden has it in the bag. I see things slightly differently. While I agree Democrats are in the pole position, the painful truth, but one that nonetheless must be heard, is that a geriatric candidate could seriously jeopardize that advantage.

What Biden ought to do is the responsible thing: pass the torch to the next generation.

The answer might not be Jon Stewart. But if the calls for him to run grow any louder, it could prove to be the wise choice.

It’s a startling thought that it’s been over half a century since Neil Armstrong and his fellow explorers bridged the lunar frontier in an event that captivated the world.

This week, as NASA prepares for its Artemis II mission — the first to carry humans around the moon since 1972 — it was announced that the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) will play a significant role, with Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen selected as one of its four crew members.

For members of my generation, the moon landing was a seminal moment. One that truly ushered in a new era. But the half-century since has seen few comparable, equally cinematic, or paradigm-shifting endeavours in outer space.

So, Artemis II, which promises to finally revisit this frontier, will be keenly anticipated. What’s more, Canadians will and should be proud that one of our own has been selected for such an important mission. As the prime minister noted, Hansen will be the first non-American to observe the full sphere of the Earth.

Canada has a proud history of space exploration, exemplified by none better than Marc Garneau, the first Canadian in space, long-time MP and former cabinet minister, who announced his retirement from Parliament earlier this year.

But our parliamentarians must realize another important lesson from this Canadian success story: Canada can, and should, punch above its weight. And when we do, it is good news because exploration and technology development have positive implications for two areas where Canada is badly lagging our peers: innovation and defence.

In both domains, we are only offering limp-wristed flails.

First, on innovation. The CSA has limited resources compared to other agencies, yet it holds a commanding presence on the International Space Station (ISS) and in the astronautical community. Incomprehensibly intricate robotic arms, developed by the CSA, are deployed on the ISS to conduct repairs and other automated tasks, and several Canadian aerospace companies are on the rise building rovers and other equipment to be used in future missions.

These examples can help signal to the world that Canada has what it takes to be an innovation economy. While the recent federal budget contained lots of talk about innovation, its disparate tax incentives are unlikely to make a meaningful difference in any specific industry or help grow and protect Canadian intellectual property. Further, we lack a national strategy to bolster private sector research and development spending.

Our success in space shows that R&D is essential to innovation, yet we continue to rank among the lowest of G7 and OECD peers in this regard.

Our defence capabilities are, frankly, even more embarrassing. This week, as Finland’s flag was raised at NATO headquarters in Belgium, we gained yet another multilateral ally who is willing to proportionately outspend us in shared defence commitments and do more to protect global rules-based interests.

Despite pressure after Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine to step up to the plate, our defence spending remains well below the two per cent of GDP required by our commitment to NATO and is forecasted to only be 1.43 per cent by 2025. This is an indictment on our multilateral credentials and gives others good reason to consider us a pipsqueak.

Space is an important ingredient in improving our defence credentials. The war in Ukraine has highlighted, among other things, the growing consequence of satellites in warfare. It’s no secret that Russia and China have territorial ambitions in the Arctic and respectively have begun integrating satellite systems to increase their surveillance and navigation capabilities in the region. Unless we sharpen up and leverage our partnership with the Americans in aerospace to include greater defensive capabilities, we will be at severe risk.

Ultimately, this Canadian victory needs to propel ambition in other areas, namely innovation and defence. Canada’s presence on this historic mission shows the power of daring to dream. I hope it can motivate our politicians to unleash our capabilities for other critical policy imperatives.

This article first appeared in the Toronto Star on April 9, 2023.

READ MORE >

Donald Trump carries a deep personal appeal for many millions of Americans. An appeal that not even criminal charges can or will erase.

Thank goodness. We can all stop worrying. Finally, we can sleep soundly at night.

A Manhattan grand jury has indicted Donald Trump.

Hallelujah.

Surely, that ought to do it. Surely, his spell over the MAGA horde has been broken. Surely, the Republican faithful will now see him for who he truly is and, collectively, turn away.

Yeah. Right. If only things were that easy. Sadly, they’re not. And Thursday night’s historic announcement means only one thing: the road ahead for American democracy just got a whole lot bumpier. Buckle up.

And yet, despite all the warranted hoopla — we should not forget there’s still an ongoing race for the Republican party’s presidential nomination. So the million-dollar question becomes: what impact will this latest development have?

Well, if you think these charges will do anything to dampen Trump’s support, think again. Even before charges were formally announced, Trump was effectively fundraising off just the threat of this legal action. But now that this threat has materialized and Trump’s victim narrative is approaching its climax, his devotees will be doing much more than opening their wallets.

Indeed, I believe that only if Trump is behind bars will he lose the Republican party’s nomination race. A race in which he faces one serious challenger: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Though he’s not formally declared his candidacy, DeSantis has distinguished himself in national and state-by-state polling as the lone player who can release Trump’s stranglehold over the GOP. With two new polls showing DeSantis running competitively in the key early primary states of Iowa and New Hampshire, pundits claimed his camp had strong reasons for optimism and hope — even weeks ago.

But here’s the rub: weeks ago, I’m pretty sure they were dead wrong. Dead wrong because DeSantis’s strategy left him with only one realistic road to victory — Donald Trump’s arrest and, crucially, conviction. So it’s only after this past week’s events that they might be somewhat correct.

Still, that strategy has been and is flawed in two fundamental respects.

First problem. With DeSantis, Trump is not taking any chances. Diving into his usual bag of tricks, he’s branded DeSantis a traitorous lackey. Both Trump and DeSantis understand their support significantly overlaps, but only Trump, thus far, has been willing to bet his is stronger. And it is. Meanwhile, DeSantis has, far from criticized Trump, only defended him.

Second problem. The greater one. To date, DeSantis’s sales pitch has amounted to this: I’m Trump, but without the baggage, and therefore more electable.

You need only consult the myriad documentary evidence of DeSantis plagiarizing Trump’s every move, to appreciate the pupil is copying his master. But it’s a political rule that when voters are presented with the choice between the real McCoy and a copycat, they’ll go for the genuine article — essentially every time.

It’s not because voters can’t imagine the alternative might be preferable. Instead, experience tells us voters go with what they know as opposed to what they don’t.

And this is where DeSantis and his strategy “Trumpism without Trump” crumbles. It fails to account for a truth that so many try and wish away: that Trump carries a deep personal appeal for many millions of Americans. An appeal that not even criminal charges can or will erase.

So, don’t get confused, the GOP is still the party of Trump. What better proof than the fact the sole realistic challenger to Trump is Trump-lite, the wannabe, the counterfeit? Indeed, so long as Trump is a free man and therefore a choice in the primaries, most Republicans will back the King, not the pretender to the throne.

However, if Trump’s candidacy goes up in legal flames, as it well might, DeSantis will be perfectly positioned as his heir apparent. But, in the meantime, no matter how much he practices in the mirror, the student won’t be dethroning the master any time soon.

This article first appeared in the Toronto Star on April 2, 2023.

READ MORE >

Generative AI represent a threat different from those posed by social media, the internet and other innovations we have failed to adequately legislate

Like any good tourist, U.S. President Joe Biden was only searching for an authentic Canadian experience. And here they are, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and thrill-seeking Joe, white water rafting on the Ottawa River. A six-pack of Canadian dangles over the raft’s edge and Biden’s wearing that trademark toothy grin. Just a couple of buddies enjoying the outdoors. Even the beavers are applauding.

Is it a scene from the latest Monkman? Fantasy or a nightmare? Dream or reality? Can’t tell? Welcome to 2023, ladies and gentlemen.

If you think the image I describe cannot be generated then you haven’t been paying attention to the menace that is deepfake technology.

And here’s your news flash: while we can be amused by the fun such a picture can create, there is nothing funny in the least about its threat to people’s privacy, safety, sanity, and our very way of life.

Some moments in history demand a comprehensive public policy response to extinguish nascent, but dangerous, developments.

We are at that moment.

Make no mistake, the latest advancements in generative AI represent a threat entirely different from those posed by social media, the internet, and other innovations we have failed to adequately legislate over the last two decades.

Case in point. As rumours swirled that Donald Trump was to be arrested in New York this week, hyperrealistic images of him being aggressively detained circulated on social media. They were provocative, jarring, totally fake and precisely the kind of thing that has the potential not only to kick-start a virtual media storm but genuine civil unrest.

These developments also give numerous crimes, including doxing, extortion, and intellectual property theft a frightening upgrade — imperilling the livelihoods of not just politicians or celebrities but all of us.

The bottom line? Canadian institutions must move with urgency, and develop policies that lead, rather than wait, on this critical matter.

While we can’t put the genie back in the bottle, there are important steps that should have been taken yesterday. First, we must enhance our legal framework. Legislation should be clearly amended to criminalize malicious deepfake creation and distribution. Here we should follow Quebec’s lead. Quebec’s Civil Code already provides a remedy for invasion of privacy using a person’s name, image, likeness, or voice, and this concept should be broadly implemented.

Public-private collaboration is paramount. Partnerships between government, tech companies, and academia focused specifically on improving deepfake detection and prevention technologies, will help combat the threat. Internet companies have been using sophisticated AI to combat deepfakes on their platforms for years now. Our government needs to lean on the expertise of the tech sector which, frankly, knows this issue better than they do.

Education is also vital. Implementing digital literacy and public awareness campaigns about deepfakes and their potential consequences will empower Canadians to play an active role in combating them. News and social media sites should be encouraged to implement systems for flagging doctored images that will help users distinguish between genuine and manipulated content.

Finally, we must seek out international co-operation. Shared norms and strategies for combating deepfakes will ensure a more effective and co-ordinated response to the borderless nature of the deepfake threats. By advocating for global standards that address the deepfake challenge, we make it harder for malicious actors to exploit jurisdictional differences to evade consequences. Here Canada can play an important role and, jokes aside, I hope the topic was raised between Biden and Trudeau this week.

Deepfakes underscore the necessity for government intervention during times of great technological change.

Safeguarding our democratic institutions, protecting individual privacy, and maintaining social cohesion are fundamental responsibilities of government. Tackling the deepfake threat is critical to preserving the integrity of our political discourse and building a more secure future for all citizens, so they feel safe not only in their everyday lives but in cyberspace too.

This article first appeared in the Toronto Star on March 26, 2023.

READ MORE >

“To fully exploit the opportunities, we must be prepared to spend not millions, but billions. Not on broad subsidies, but on laser-targeted incentives.”

By these numbers alone, it’s clear that Canada cannot aim to simply duplicate such programs. But although we cannot match the U.S. dollar for dollar, we can and should focus our limited resources on specific areas where we know we can contribute an indispensable component in newly forming supply chains. Though we will never be Goliath, surely we can be David.

Therefore, third and finally, we must find and loudly trumpet where we punch above our weight.

Case in point. Last week’s announcement that Volkswagen will construct its first North American “gigafactory” in St. Thomas, Ont., for battery cell manufacturing is a major victory. This is not an anomaly but a road map.

A recent Clean Energy Canada report highlighted that Canada, with the right approach, can become an electric vehicle battery powerhouse — with $48 billion flowing into our economy annually.

Why? Because all the indispensable ingredients are right here in the True North, Strong and Free. A domestic supply of necessary critical minerals. A highly educated workforce. Political stability. Free trade agreements. Low carbon electricity in our manufacturing heartland. It’s a golden opportunity, and irrespective of Biden’s vast carrot patch south of the border, businesses like VW have taken notice.

To fully exploit these opportunities, we must be prepared to spend not millions, but billions. Not on broad subsidies, but on laser-targeted incentives. And let’s be clear: this kind of bold and committed action, the kind our reality demands, is exactly what government is for.

In the biblical tale of David and Goliath, diminutive David understood that he had one advantage, not size or strength, but his sling. If Canada intends to avoid being trampled by our competitors, we must pick up our rocks, aim high and start slinging.

This article first appeared in the Toronto Star on March 20, 2023.

READ MORE >