Welcome to The Advance, the newsletter of the CCA. If you haven’t subscribed yet, you can sign up here.

IN THIS EDITION:

• Canada’s weather service at a crossroads
• What does impact look like?
• Readings on Canadian data sovereignty, Indigenous policing, oxygen levels and marine life, equity in higher education, and more
• We’re hiring!

Canada’s weather service at a crossroads

Jim Abraham, a former senior executive with Environment and Climate Change Canada, recently spoke with The Logic’s David Reevely about the future of Canada’s public weather service at a time of extreme weather and dynamic geopolitics. “As populations increase, as urbanization continues to increase, as we become more vulnerable to drought or flood or what have you, this kind of information is going to become even more valuable,” Abraham told Reevely. The two spoke extensively about the potential of artificial intelligence, which the Meteorological Service of Canada could use “to assist its forecasting and free up resources to predict extreme conditions—and their consequences.”
 
The Logic’s story follows the release of The Future of Hydrological and Meteorological Services in Canada, a CCA expert panel report chaired by Abraham. And Reevely wasn’t the only reporter who took note. Drawing on the report, the Canadian Press noted Canada’s “need for a co-ordinated flash flood warning system” and an opportunity for the country to “deepen its European partnerships as the United States cuts climate- and weather-related funding.” A spokesperson for Environment and Climate Change Canada told the Globe that the department would look to the report as it considers “areas like digital innovation, user-centric service design, and potential directions for enhanced public–private collaboration.”
 
As the expert panel noted, Canada’s weather service has a considerable opportunity to become more efficient, resilient, and innovative in the face of change. Read The Future of Hydrological and Meteorological Services in Canada, or download a one-page overview, to learn more about the opportunity ahead.

Readings and Events

• On October 3, the University of Ottawa’s Centre for Law, Technology and Society will host “Shaping Technology for Society,” an anniversary event exploring the past 25 years of technological evolution and its impacts on “our society, human rights and the rule of law.” Details are available here.
  
• On October 9, RCIScience and the Gairdner Foundation will host “Trust Issues: Science, Skepticism, and Showing Up,” a free conversation in Toronto.
  
• Prime Minister Mark Carney has announced that Canada’s newly created Major Projects Office will support a project on data sovereignty, to include a “Canadian Sovereign Cloud.” The announcement follows an open letter from Canadian academics, experts, and public figures, who called for “resetting Canada’s digital policy agenda to better serve Canadian interests.”
  
• Following a violent incident in Hollow Water First Nation, Grand Chief Jerry Daniels told the Winnipeg Free Press that the community, which lacks cellular coverage in areas, needs better connections to emergency services. In Waiting to Connect, the CCA examined Canada’s connectivity gap, noting that “connectivity in Indigenous communities supports self-determination and elevates Indigenous participation and leadership in the economy.”
  
• During the recent Assembly of First Nations Annual General Assembly, Indigenous leaders “reiterated the need to invest in their own police services while improving the training of other services,” according to a Radio Canada report. Naiomi Metallic, a member of the CCA’s Expert Panel on Policing in Indigenous Communities, previously spoke with the CCA about its 2019 report Toward Peace, Harmony, and Well-Being, on Indigenous policing.
  
• A new report in Higher Education reveals a decline in Canada–China research co-publications. The authors “discuss the potential implications for Canada’s science and technology sectors, and specifically Canadian researchers of Chinese origin.”
  
• The McGill Law Journal published an essay by Adelle Blackett, previously delivered during the Canadian Association for the Prevention of Discrimination and Harassment in Higher Education conference. Blackett, a professor of law at McGill and chair of the federal Employment Equity Act Review Task Force, “reflects on the importance of a transformative framework—centred on barrier removal, meaningful consultations, and regulatory oversight—for reshaping relationships in higher education in Canada, and beyond.” (The CCA’s 2024 report, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in the Post-Secondary Research System, is available here.)
  
• In a new report, oceanographer Sam Stevens details the extent of oxygen starvation for marine life in Queen Charlotte Sound. The study “raises alarms about the future of some of Canada’s most productive waters,” writes the National Observer.
  
• And Food Banks Canada documented a recent 40% increase in food insecurity, as well as “record high” food bank usage. (The CCA’s Expert Panel on Indigenous Science and Food Sovereignty meets later this month. Learn more about their work here.)