FROM THE EDITOR

Our mission on Before the Bell and our Spotlight series is to address the intersection of issues and public policy. In 2018 we produced 14 Before the Bell shows and an additional five Spotlight sessions. The information in each show was captured through our incredible video team at Skyfly Productions with accompanying stories written by Dale Smith that appeared here in The Review as part of Policy magazine.

The breadth of content we examined in 2018 wouldn’t have been possible without the contributions of so many great guests. We are very grateful for the masterful job by our permanent host Catherine Clark, and special guest hosts Susan Delacourt, David Akin, Shawn McCarthy and Lianne Laing.

To ensure that the wealth of this content is easily accessible and continues to be part of the public record, we added a new Archive feature to our website. Now you can search past editions of the shows by topic, date, location and view the full video or read the accompanying stories. We hope you enjoy this new element.

In this edition of The Review we look at three important topics affecting Canadians: the rise of social entrepreneurship, the growing pervasiveness of artificial intelligence (AI), and the legalization of cannabis.

We begin with social entrepreneurship. While Canada lags behind the innovation being witnessed in the United States and the United Kingdom there is a growing movement among Canadian entrepreneurs on delivering social good while making a profit. Dale Smith gives us an account of where we are in his piece Capitalism with a Cause: The Rise of Social Entrepreneurship in Canada.

In a follow-up opinion piece from Tania Canegie, Chief Impact Officer with KPMG, she commends Canada for its first social impact fund as a step in the right direction to help address social causes in Canada’s Social Finance Fund.

Next, Before the Bell examined at the future of AI in Canada while looking at both the opportunities and challenges that it presents. Dale Smith captures this in Artificial Intelligence: Real Implications.

Then François Gaudreau and Sylvia Kingsmill, both with KPMG, argue that the concern over job loss as we move to AI may be somewhat misguided in their piece Intelligent Process Automation.

Finally, with the legalization of cannabis late last year, our Sixth Estate Spotlight session unveiled new research from Nik Nanos on the continued need and desire for education, especially among youth. Dale Smith covered the story here in Cannabis in Canada.

Through 2019 we will continue to cover important topics on both Before the Bell and our Spotlight sessions. You can find a list of our upcoming shows by going to our website SixthEstate.ca. We look forward to seeing you at one of our upcoming events.