The 2020 Network

The internet was once imagined as a free and open communications utopia. Like all utopias, however, it was not to be. But the spirit of an unbound and accessible internet lives on, as does the question “Can we fix the internet?” On episode 7 of Open to Debate, David Moscrop talks with Laura Tribe, executive director of Open Media, about digital rights and telecom policy in Canada.

Meet the new government, same as the old government. Kind of. On election night, Canada returned a hung parliament with Justin Trudeau and the Liberal Party set to maintain power--but now in a minority position. The prime minister remains the prime minister, but he will be forced to cooperate with opposition parties to legislate. On episode 6 of Open to Debate, David Moscrop talks with Aaron Wudri...

To mark the first anniversary of cannabis legalization, Canada 2020 hosted a number of cannabis industry moguls at the Canadian Grown Conference in Toronto. During the two day event, Canada 2020's Alex Paterson and Jay Rosenthal of The Business of Cannabis, sat down with several people from the industry - from policymakers and researchers to cannabis business owners. In this episode, you'll hear a...

On this election campaign special, we discuss one of Canada’s closest races ever -and what you should expect in the days, weeks, and months to come. For episode 5 of Open to Debate, David Moscrop talks with Shannon Proudfoot, a journalist with Maclean’s, about the performances of each party so far, minority and majority parliaments, voter turnout, and some ridings to watch.

On October 21st, Canadians will go to the ballot box and return a government in Canada’s forty-third general election. The race is very close--the incumbent Liberals and the Conservatives are within a few points of one another in most polls. In episode 4 of Open to Debate, David Moscrop talks with Kevin Milligan, a professor of economics at the University of British Columbia, about some of the pol...

Last month Canada 2020 held a free public event to discuss the challenges facing Canadians in the 2019 federal election. In this episode, you’ll hear a panel discussion from that event covering the issue of foreign interference. Panelists answer questions about what foreign interference looks like, the threat it poses to Canada, and how it's best prevented. Panelists include Richard Fadden, former...

For years, researchers, activists, and both current and former prisoners have asked “Do we need prisons?” The state of correctional services in Canada and around the world--and the disparity between the theory of corrections and its practice--make this a timely and important question that reflects concerns about justice, equity, dignity, and decency. In episode 3 of Open to Debate, David Moscrop s...

How can we work together to stop the spread of misinformation? This month Canada 2020 held a free public event to discuss the spread and impact of misinformation, and the challenges facing Canadians throughout the federal election campaign. In this episode you’ll hear a panel discussion with Kate Gibbs, the Executive Director of Evidence for Democracy, Elizabeth Dubois, Assistant Professor of Comm...

Climate change is the most significant threat to humankind in recorded history. Despite increasingly alarming warnings that our way of life is unsustainable—and driving us towards potential ruin—we resist the reforms necessary to save ourselves, opting instead for half-measures that seem to be too little, too late. Can we manage the climate crisis?

Democracy has survived ideological challengers, economic disruption, and even war. But can it survive the internet? In this episode, we discuss digital threats, to democratic health--from at home and abroad.

Host Sarah Turnbull is joined by /Thread panelists Shannon Proudfoot of Maclean's and David Reevely of The Canadian Press. The trio discuss: the findings of a new UN report on land use, the fallout from the two mass shootings in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio over the long weekend, and why Ottawa places third on Maclean's list of best communities to live in 2019. This is the final recording of th...

Host Sarah Turnbull is joined by /Thread panelists Shannon Proudfoot of Maclean's and David Reevely of The Canadian Press. The trio discuss: the House foreign affairs committee's decision to squash a proposed investigation into alleged pressure by the Prime Minister's Office to filter comments by former ambassadors over the Canada-China dispute, how the delay of USMCA ratification impacts Canada,...

Host Sarah Turnbull is joined by /Thread panelists Shannon Proudfoot of Maclean's and David Reevely of The Canadian Press. The trio discuss: Gerald Butts, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's former principal secretary, joins the Liberal campaign team reigniting the SNC-Lavalin controversy, Boris Johnson gets sworn in as the UK's new leader promising follow-through on Brexit, and former special counsel...

Host Sarah Turnbull is joined by /Thread panelists Shannon Proudfoot of Maclean's and David Reevely of The Canadian Press. The trio discuss: moving ahead with the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement at the EU summit, the reaction to President Trump's racist tweets targeted at four Democratic congresswomen, and why everyone can't stop talking about the app that makes users look 30 years olde...

Host Sarah Turnbull is joined by /Thread panelists Shannon Proudfoot of Maclean's and David Reevely of The Canadian Press. The trio discuss: China's ban on Canadian meat imports after customs agents discovered fraudulent veterinarian certificates and traces of restricted feed additive in pork shipments, why Vice-Admirable Mark Norman has announced his retirement from the Canadian military, and the...

Host Sarah Turnbull is joined by /Thread panelists Shannon Proudfoot of Maclean's and David Reevely of The Canadian Press. The trio discuss: Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer's plan for the environment, the Liberal motion to declare a climate emergency and the subsequent approval of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's visit to Washington.

Host Sarah Turnbull is joined by /Thread panelists Shannon Proudfoot of Maclean's and David Reevely of The Canadian Press. The trio discuss: the federal government's announcement to ban single-use plastics by 2021, the details of the report by the Advisory Council on the Implementation of National Pharmacare, led by Dr. Eric Hoskins, and the Toronto Raptors' historic NBA finals win.    

This year's Women Deliver conference was held in Vancouver, B.C. and hosted thousands of attendees from across the globe. It is the largest gathering on gender equality with a focus on the health, rights, and wellbeing of girls and women. The 2020 Network team was on the ground to speak with activists, politicians, and community groups about the benefits of investing in women, how to advocate on b...

Host Sarah Turnbull is back in Ottawa with /Thread panelists Shannon Proudfoot of Maclean's, and David Reevely of The Canadian Press. The trio discuss takeaways from the International Grand Committee on Big Data, Privacy, and Democracy, former Liberal cabinet ministers Jody Wilson-Raybould and Jane Philpott’s decision to go Independent, and Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer’s immigration plan.

Thousands gathered at the Collision tech conference in Toronto last week, the first time the global forum has taken place in Canada. The 2020 Network was there to capture the thoughts of entrepreneurs and tech gurus who spoke about where the industry is headed, how the tech sector is working to become more diverse, and how Canada, and specifically Toronto, is attracting innovators. You'll hear fro...

Host Sarah Turnbull is joined by Toronto panelists Marieke Walsh of iPolitics and Murad Hemmadi of The Logic. The trio discuss: The Liberal government's release of Canada's new Digital Charter as a part of the feds larger digital strategy, why a ratified NAFTA 2.0 is looking more likely with the arrival of U.S. Vice-President Mike Pence next week in Ottawa, and the details of the Liberal's media b...

Hon. Ginette Petitpas Taylor, Minister of Health, joins Alex Paterson in the Canada 2020 studio to discuss the future of Canada's pharmacare plan just months before the release of the Pharmacare Advisory Council's final report. The report will include specific recommendations on the program's design and delivery. Listen to hear Minister Petitpas Taylor take questions from a live studio audience ab...

Host Sarah Turnbull is joined by /Thread panelists Shannon Proudfoot of Maclean's, and David Reevely of The Canadian Press. The three catch up after a week away to discuss the latest in the Mark Norman affair, how politicians at the federal and provincial level are pitching their climate plans, and the fallout from Alabama's strict abortion ban.  

On the latest Quality Content, Alex Paterson sits down with the founder of The Martin Family Initiative, former prime minister of Canada, Paul Martin, and the organization's Early Years Program Director, Chloe Ferguson to chat about MFI's central program pillars, the importance of community involvement and leadership, and how lessons at the grassroots level can be applied to government decision-ma...

Hon. Bernadette Jordan, Minister of Rural Economic Development, joins Alex Paterson in the Canada 2020 studio to discuss the challenges and opportunities of improved connectivity infrastructure across the country. Listen to hear Minister Jordan take questions from the live studio audience about what is being done in rural parts of Canada to improve connectivity, and why it's so important for the e...