In recent years the intersection between law, technology, and policy has exploded as digital policy has become a mainstream concern in Canada and around the world. This podcast explores digital policies in conversations with people studying the legal and policy challenges, set the rules, or are experts in the field. It provides a Canadian perspective, but since the internet is global, examining international developments and Canada’s role in shaping global digital policy is be an important p ...
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Michael Geist Podcasts
Ideas abound! CJSR's Think podcast presents original thought from some of today's most prominent intellectuals about topics that get left out of the daily conversation.
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Episode 251: Jennifer Pybus on the Debate Over Canadian Digital Sovereignty
37:58
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37:58Digital sovereignty is hot the digital policy phrase of the moment driving discussion on Canadian digital policy involving AI, digital infrastructure, privacy, and cultural policy among others. Yet despite its widespread use, its meaning remains opaque as it often used to frame – or reframe – longstanding policy positions. The government has begun …
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Episode 250: Wikimedia’s Jan Gerlach on the Risks and Challenges with Digital Policy Reform
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31:25I’m not quite sure how this happened, but somehow this is the 250th episode of the Law Bytes podcast. To mark this milestone, I’m joined by Jan Gerlach, Wikimedia’s Director of Public Policy, who leads its EU advocacy work, including efforts on UK Online Safety Act. This is particularly relevant in a Canadian context since this work has touched on …
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Episode 249: The Debate Over Canada’s AI Strategy - My Consultation Submission and Appearance at the Canadian Heritage Committee
49:18
49:18
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49:18The government’s AI consultation concluded at the end of October with expectations that a strategy will emerge before the end of the year. I participated in the consultation with a brief submission and in an appearance as a witness before the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage for its study on the effectiveness of technological advances in art…
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The Law Bytes Podcast, Episode 248: Mark Surman on Why Canada's AI Strategy Should Prioritize Public AI Models
36:55
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36:55AI Minister Evan Solomon’s AI public consultation – framed as a 30 day sprint – wrapped up last week with expectations that the government will unveil a new AI strategy by the end of the year. Much of the emphasis to date has focused on how Canada can ensure that it is an AI leader with Solomon previously warning about how the government may have “…
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Episode 247: My Senate Appearance on the Bill That Could Lead to Canada-Wide Blocking of X, Reddit and ChatGPT
35:32
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35:32Bill S-209, the legislative effort to establish age verification requirements for sites and services that are said to facilitate access to pornography, is back. The bill has some modest improvements from the earlier S-210, but the core concerns – overbroad scope that lumps in social media companies, Internet providers, and AI services with pornogra…
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Episode 246: Mohamed Zohiri on the Rise and Emerging Regulation of Stablecoins
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38:46Stablecoins have increasingly begun to enter the mainstream with previously reticent policy makers, regulators, and financial institutions now shifting toward regulatory frameworks that seem more supportive of their development. The U.S. has been the most aggressive with the recent passage of the GENIUS Act, but Canadian officials have taken notice…
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Episode 245: Kate Robertson on Bill C-2’s Cross-Border Data Sharing Privacy Risks
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50:24Bill C-2, the government’s proposed lawful access legislation, has been the subject of several prior episodes covering warrantless disclosure of information as part of the new information demand power in Part 14 of the bill as well as some of the surveillance technology capabilities found in Part 15. Those remain major issues, but there is another …
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Episode 244: Kris Klein on the Long Road to a Right to be Forgotten Under Canadian Privacy Law
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32:57The “right to be forgotten” – perhaps better characterized as a right to de-index - has been a hotly debated privacy issue for well over a decade now, pitting those that argue that the harms that may come from the amplification of outdated but accurate content outweighs the benefits of maintaining such content in search indexes. The issue gets its …
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Episode 243: What Are Canada’s Digital Policy Plans as Parliament Returns from the Summer Break?
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28:37The return of the Law Bytes podcast series this week coincides with the return of Parliament from its summer break. Digital policy may not be at the very top of the legislative agenda, but there are no shortage of issues that could attract attention. This includes lawful access legislation introduced last June, the prospect of online harms safeguar…
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Episode 242: Sukesh Kamra on Law Firm Adoption of Artificial Intelligence and Innovative Technologies
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42:44The pressure to adopt new legal technologies, notably including AI, continues to increase as lawyers, law firms and their clients look for new efficiencies and tools to improve the practice of law. But these tools aren’t always easy to adopt – pilot programs, costs, fear of new technology, and security concerns are part of the package. Sukesh Kamra…
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Episode 241: Scott Benzie on How Government Policy Eroded Big Tech Support for Canadian Culture
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33:36TikTok’s decision to pull support for multiple Canadian cultural organizations and events in light of the federal government’s decision to ban the company from operating in the country has sparked increasing concern. Putting the spotlight on TikTok makes sense, but it risks missing the bigger picture which involves a steady stream of funding cancel…
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Episode 240: Dean Beeby on Why Canada’s Language Laws May Stop Government From Posting Access to Information Records Online
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25:34
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25:34Canada’s outdated and discouragingly ineffective access to information system has languished for years to the frustration of many transparency advocates. One potential fix – or at least improvement – would be for government departments and agencies to make the full text of the records from access requests available to the public by default online. …
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Episode 239: The Rise and Fall of Canada’s Digital Services Tax
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20:52Two days after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to suspend all trade negotiations with Canada unless it rescinded the digital services tax, Canadian Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne announced that the government was rescinding the tax. The rise and fall of the Canadian DST was marked by repeated warnings of potential U.S. retaliat…
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Episode 238: David Fraser on Why Bill C-2's Lawful Access Powers May Put Canadians' Digital Security At Risk
35:08
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35:08The Bill C-2 lawful access focus has thus far primarily centred on the creation of a new warrantless information demand power and the expansion of production orders to access information. Those provisions are found in Part 14 of the bill, but there is also a Part 15 that requires closer scrutiny. It grants law enforcement access to electronic servi…
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Episode 237: A Conversation with Jason Woywada of BCFIPA on Political Party Privacy and Bill C-4
37:23
37:23
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37:23The government’s unexpected privacy reform agenda includes both lawful access in Bill C-2 and the evisceration of political party privacy in Bill C-4. While Bill C-4 is framed as implementing affordability measures, it also exempts political parties from the application of privacy protections on a retroactive basis dating back to 2000.To examine th…
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Episode 236: Robert Diab on the Return of Lawful Access
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39:49Lawful access is back. Bill C-2, the government’s border bill, includes a new information demand power that would result in warrantless disclosure of information about a subscriber, a new international production order, and requirements for providers to assist law enforcement in working with their networks. There will no doubt be multiple podcast e…
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Episode 235: Teresa Scassa on the Alberta Clearview AI Ruling That Could Have a Big Impact on Privacy and Generative AI
31:00
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31:00The privacy concerns with Clearview AI sparked investigations and court cases around the world. The issues date back many years, but recently an Alberta court weighed in on the application of provincial privacy law in a decision that has big implications not only for that company but for the intersection between privacy and generative AI.To help un…
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Episode 234: “Solutions Aren’t Going to be Found Through Nostalgia”: Mark Musselman on the CRTC Hearings on Canadian Content Rules
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36:13The CRTC recently wrapped up a two-week hearing on the Online Streaming Act that featured most of the usual suspects, though notably not the large streaming services. The Commission grappled with foundational issues such as modernizing the definition of Canadian content, instituting IP requirements, and introducing new discoverability rules into Ca…
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Episode 233: Abdi Aidid on AI, the Law and the Future of Legal Practice
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53:25The discussion on the intersection between AI and the law, especially with respect to legal services continues to grow. From lawyers that mistakenly rely on AI generated cases to AI support for due diligence and comment review, the role of AI within legal practice has emerged as a critical issue. Professor Abdi Aidid is a law professor at the Unive…
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Episode 232: What Will Canadian Digital Policy Look Like Under the New Liberal Carney Government?
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25:11Digital policy did not play a major role in the recent federal election, but the new Mark Carney Liberal government is quickly going to face a wide range of digital-related policy questions. This week’s Law Bytes podcast examines the short, medium and longer term issues including the future of the digital services tax, Canadian digital sovereignty,…
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Episode 231: Sara Bannerman on How Canadian Political Parties Maximize Voter Data Collection and Minimize Privacy Safeguards
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30:44As the 2025 federal election passes the midway point, it is increasingly apparent that the federal political parties are not only battling for votes, but also for data. Canadians may not see it but political parties are data machines anxious to collect and use as much data about potential supporters as possible. Sara Bannerman is the Canada Researc…
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Episode 230: Aengus Bridgman on the 2025 Federal Election, Social Media Platforms, and Misinformation
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38:30The 2025 federal election is now in its second week and the battle for attention and ultimately votes is taking place both online and offline. The enormous influence of online sites such as Twitter, Facebook, TikTok and a handful of others raises real issues about how information spreads, its reliability, and risks of misinformation and disinformat…
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Episode 229: My Digital Access Day Keynote - Assessing the Canadian Digital Policy Record
28:26
28:26
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28:26With a federal election just called and the campaign now underway, the focus will turn - at least in very small part - to party policies. It is certainly possible that digital issues such as AI regulation, online harms, and the fate of Internet laws will merit a mention. I’m hoping to cover those issues in the weeks ahead, but this week, I offer on…
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Episode 228: Kumanan Wilson on Why Canadian Health Data Requires Stronger Privacy Protection in the Trump Era
26:39
26:39
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26:39The craziness of the Trump administration relationship with Canada was on full display this past week as seemingly every day involved some form of policy change on tariffs – first on, then slightly delayed for some goods, then slightly delayed for more goods and by week’s end threats of new tariffs. Given the uncertainty, I recently co-wrote an op-…
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Episode 227: Tara Henley on How to Save the CBC
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32:49Debates over the role and future of the CBC are seemingly about as old as the CBC itself. Those debates have become increasingly fractious in recent years as some see the public broadcaster as essential to Canadian culture and to address concerns about misinformation, while other insist it is hopelessly biased, outdated, and a threat to marketplace…
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