In January, the Broadcasting and Telecommunications Legislative Review Panel released its report ‘Canada’s Communications Future: Time to Act’. The recommendations are sprawling; some are wise and timely, others are invasive and unnecessary, advocating a highly regulated internet and an interventionist communications regulator in service of, among other things, the future of Canadian content and culture on the internet, in the broadcast sphere, and beyond.
But what the panel and its defenders take for granted cannot simply be asserted. We must ask: Does Canadian content need saving?
On episode 12 of Open to Debate, David Moscrop talks about the BTLR review, Canadian content and culture, the future of the CBC, and more with Daniel Bernhard, Executive Director of the advocacy organization Friends of Canadian Broadcasting.
As Canada watches protests, blockades, and other actions from Wet’suwet’en land defenders and their allies, we are reminded that protest and civil disobedience are essential to a free and democratic society.
What purpose does direct action serve? For whom? Why not try other means to achieve your ends? In other words: Why protest?
On this episode of Open to Debate, David Moscrop talks about protest, civil disobedience, revolt, and revolution with Elamin Abdelmahmoud, curation editor at Buzzfeed News and co-host of the CBC podcast Party Lines.
Canada’s national defence regime has long been bound up with the United States and our allies. For years, along with our partner states, we have been under various threats from the Cold War to terrorism and beyond. Most recently, challenges from Russia and China have become particularly significant while questions surround the future of American hegemony and the NATO alliance. That leaves us to ask:
Can Canada defend itself against foreign threats?
On episode 11 of Open to Debate, David Moscrop talks about the present and future of Canadian national defence with Richard Fadden, a retired civil servant who held a number of distinguished positions in the federal government, including Deputy Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, Deputy Minister of National Defence, Director of the Canadian Intelligence Security Service, and National Security Advisor to the Prime Minister of Canada.
To help map out the path ahead, Canada 2020 welcomed back to our studio Senators Raymonde Saint-Germain and Yuen Pau Woo, facilitators of the ISG, to continue the discussion on progress towards Senate independence, what it means for our parliamentary democracy, and how it will function differently with Canada’s new minority government.
The Royal Family is once again front and centre in the news, this time thanks to two of its most prominent members, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, stepping back from their official duties. Whenever the royals take centre stage, the country is plunged headlong into a familiar debate:
Does Canada need the monarchy?
On episode 10 of Open to Debate, David Moscrop talks with Dale Smith, a freelance journalist in the Parliamentary Press Gallery, author of The Unbroken Machine, and contributor of the upcoming book Royal Progress: Canada’s Monarchy in an Age of Disruption, about the monarchy and its role in Canada’s past, present, and future.