The theme of this year’s International Women’s Day on March 8 was “Each for Equal,” noting that an equal world is an enabled world, and calling on everyone to help forge a gender-equal world. The campaign stated that “equality is not a women’s issue, it’s a business issue,” and that gender equality is essential for economies and communities to thrive. Before the Bell hosted a panel of women from business and politics to examine the barriers that women continue to face in the workforce, and how they can break them and grow opportunities around the world.

“Let us accept that backlash is resistance to change,…It’s going to happen. It’s how we respond and rise above the voices that don’t want to see progress that really matters.”

Hon. Maryam Monsef MP, Minister of Women and Gender Equality and Minister of Rural Economic Development

Oksana Kishchuk, analyst at Abacus Data, pointed to an RCB Economics study published for International Women’s Day showing that, as of 2018, women earn 42 percent of household income in Canada, as compared to 25.4 percent in 1976. Abacus’ own polling found that 75 percent of millennials believe they will see gender equality in their lifetime, but in that same study, only 36 percent of women felt optimistic about the opportunities available to them.

During the main panel with special guest host Susan Delacourt, Dr. Susan Black, president and CEO of The Conference Board of Canada, announced that they are conducting a study on whether the regulations around “comply or explain” toward reaching a target of 30 percent of women on corporate boards are working or not.

“The TSX-60, those big Canadian companies, they have hit 30 percent and that’s great news, but the proportion of women on boards is only 18 percent overall, and what’s more disturbing, almost two-thirds of the board seats that came open went to men,” said Black.

Black said one reason for that imbalance is that C-suite decision makers tend to fill seats based on their own social networks, and they tend to stick with people who look like them, and only the big companies have looked into ways to disrupt that. As well, Black says that many board directors have a very blinkered view in what they believe makes a good board member.

“I think we’re in another one of those phases where there’s a tipping point,” said Black. “Things like #MeToo, which have brought visibility to some of the things that women face in their lives, have had an impact, and I think the business case for diversity is very well documented and understood.”

Arlene Anderson, president and co-owner of the Original Maple Bat Corporation, which produces customized baseball bats, relayed some of the challenges of working in a male-dominated field, which include assumptions that she doesn’t know her own business.

“This last December, we went to San Diego to present at the baseball winter meetings to all of the equipment managers, and I looked out as we were presenting, and realized I was the only woman in the room,” said Anderson. “But they were hanging onto everything that we were saying, and a number of them came up afterward and said that they didn’t know I had it in me, but I had the best presentation.”

Jaqueline Ovens, women in trade investment program lead at Export Development Canada, said that currently only 16 percent of small and medium-sized enterprises are women-led, and of those, only 11 percent are exporting, which means that only two percent of exporters are women.

“The challenges that women face in exporting aren’t unique to women, and one of those is knowledge — you need to understand the markets you’re entering, the tariffs and regulations,” said Ovens. “The second element is connections, and this can be particularly challenging for women — in a lot of international markets, it can be daunting for women to enter into those markets because of gender biases and cultural differences, and accessing those connections.”

Ovens said that in a lot of cases, women entrepreneurs don’t want to ask for money, so it limits their ability to expand or scale their businesses. As well, the venture capital community rarely funds women-led businesses, in part because of a lack of women on the investor side of the table.

Lenore Zann, MP for Cumberland–Colchester, Nova Scotia, who has not only been a politician at both the provincial and federal levels for the past ten years but was an actor before that, noted that #MeToo has had such an impact in those two fields because of the magnitude of male chauvinism that exists within them. Zann noted that when she first signed a contract as an actor, she had to report her agent to the union because of the advances he made to her.

“In government, it’s still a boy’s club and they look after each other, and you’ve got to be loud and speak up,” said Zann. “In Ottawa, it’s better and they’ve maybe learned from the past, and they’re definitely trying and they’re open to women’s suggestions.”

She added that seeing women in positions of power will change things. “In the film and television industry, the only roles we were given in the eighties were murder victims,” said Zann. “The more we see women in positions of power, it plants the seeds in people’s minds.”

Maryam Monsef, Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Minister for Rural Economic Development, said that while things are changing, there is a lot of hard work that still needs to be done.

“Let us accept that backlash is resistance to change,” said Monsef. “It’s going to happen. It’s how we respond and rise above the voices that don’t want to see progress that really matters.”

Monsef says that her advice to women who want to get into politics is to both learn French, as well as to surround themselves with people who will have their back.

Watch the full edition of Before the Bell here.

by: Dr. Maria Giammarco, Senior Research Associate, and Dr. Susan Black, President and CEO, The Conference Board of Canada 

It comes as no surprise that women, racialized peoples, and other equity groups are underrepresented in leadership positions in Canada – including corporate board seats. These are some of the most powerful positions in the world, yet they’re predominantly held by white men. 

The importance of equitable and diverse leadership, though, also comes as no surprise. Diversity makes good business sense: evidence suggests diverse teams are more agile and innovative, and they bring a wider range of valuable experiences, perceptions, and considerations to the table.

Our social and political climate also demands we do better. This is reflected in part by a growing focus from corporations and their shareholders on social responsibility and sustainable development. It’s simply the right thing to do. But these representation disparities suggest we’re failing to foster inclusive environments where all people have the opportunity to rise to the top. 

When it comes to leadership gaps, Canadian decision-makers have zeroed in on the need to increase women’s representation on boards. While this is one specific area of focus within the larger landscape of diversity and inclusion, it’s an important step towards achieving diverse representation and fostering more inclusive workplaces. 

In 2014, Status of Women Canada released their report Good for Business: A Plan to Promote More Women on Canadian Boards that laid out aspirational goals for Canadian business and public sectors: it set a national target of 30 per cent of women on boards by 2019. 

Research shows that having at least 3 women on a team deals with challenges of tokenism and discriminatory treatment and spurs the hiring of more women moving forward. Not to mention, this target was set when women’s representation on boards across Canada sat at about 10 per cent. 

How this objective would be operationalized was less clear, but later that year, the Canadian Securities Administrators(an umbrella organization of Canada’s provincial and territorial securities regulators that works with them to improve and harmonize market regulation) implemented “comply or explain” disclosure requirements for women’s representation on corporate boards. 

All TSX non-venture companies in participating jurisdictions are required to report annually on information like the proportion of women on their boards or in executive leadership positions. Companies are also asked to disclose the efforts (e.g., diversity policies and/targets) they have undertaken to increase representation. If they don’t comply with the disclosure requirements, they must explain why. The idea is that transparency around a company’s diversity efforts -or lack thereof- will act as a social accountability mechanism and a catalyst for behaviour change. 

Since then, there has since been an increase of women in leadership roles in recent years. The largest corporations in Canada -the TSX60- have achieved 30% women on boards with industries like banking and professional services leading the charge. 

However, overall progress has moved at a glacial pace and we didn’t hit our 2019 target. Representation among all TSX companies still sits at around 18 per cent, and about a quarter of boards have no women at all. Smaller organizations and male dominated industries like mining and oil and gas are lagging the most.

The lack of progress isn’t necessarily driven by a lack of effort. We simply know very little about the drivers of change. Beyond descriptions of year by year changes in women’s representation on boards, we lack robust evidence on what works and what factors matter most when it comes to disclosure. If we can’t answer this, then we don’t know -and can’t advocate for- the best strategies for accelerating change. 

These questions are more critical now than ever. Canada is now the first country to focus on board representation beyond women – disclosure requirements now apply to all employment equity groups (women, Indigenous peoples, racialized peoples, and persons with disabilities) for all federally regulated corporations through amendments to the Business Corporations Act. 

Canada is both a leader and a test case in the use of diversity legislation beyond women. As leaders, it’s more important than ever to understand whether and how disclosure requirements affect representation of historically underrepresented groups—starting with women.

At The Conference Board of Canada, we recently launched an important and unique study that aims to fill this knowledge gap in Canada. All on Board – Turning Evidence into Action for Women’s Leadership examines regulation as a driver of change for women’s representation on boards. Specifically, the research will look at the effectiveness of the 2014 Canadian Securities Administrators “comply or explain” disclosure requirement for women’s representation on corporate boards between 2015-2019. 

The comply or explain approach is a nudge in the right direction, but the path to leadership and a seat at the board table is a complex journey. To see real change, individuals and organizations must be intentional in their efforts to increase representation of women and other equity groups in leadership throughout the career ladder. It’s also very much about fostering inclusive workplaces where diverse people feel welcome and supported and can truly thrive. It’s about recognizing the biases that exist in corporate structure, operations, and individual human behaviour and being accountable for the changes that need to happen at these levels. 

This research will produce the evidence needed to anchor to conversations on the policies and practices that impact real change. It will also provide a set of methodologies that can answer similar questions on related policies, like the recent amendments to the Business Corporations Act. It’s important to know whether different policies and regulations make a real difference in giving a voice to more people of different backgrounds and identities. This project is an opportunity to look at how behaviour – whether people’s behaviour or organizational behaviour – can change for the better. 

As we celebrate International Women’s Day (IWD) and Women’s History Month, we are looking forward to being on Before the Bell on The Sixth Estate and to joining the panel Each for Equal. We will discuss the lasting impact of IWD and other initiatives on diversity and gender equity, including on women’s representation in leadership positions. 

On March 12, with spring training underway, the Honourable Maryam Monsef, Canada’s Minister of Women and Gender Equality, will be surrounded with a superhero all-star lineup on Before the Bell. Entitled Each for Equal, this special edition show expands on the 2020 International Women’s Day theme of diversity and inclusion. Live from the National Arts Centre, the show focuses on the importance of gender equality and what can be done to smash the glass ceiling. 

Leading off the conversation is Dr. Susan Black, president and CEO of The Conference Board of Canada. Canada missed its national target of 30 percent women on boards by 2019 and Dr. Black will be here to discuss why and what needs to be done.

Next up is Arlene Anderson, president and co-owner of The Original Maple Bat Corporation (SAM BAT). In 2007 SAM BAT broke a one hundred year tradition by being the first maple baseball bat used in Major League Baseball. And nothing screams old boys club like baseball. Today the SAM BAT is exported around the world and Arlene Anderson is continuously recognized as one of the most influential people in the game.

Up third, is Jacquline Ovens who heads EDC‘s Women in Trade initiative. Overseeing a portfolio of $2.3bn of committed capital in direct and fund equity investments, Jacqueline helps women entrepreneurs score with financing solutions to access new markets around the world.

Of course, you want a superhero to hit clean up and this lineup has just that! Newly elected Member of Parliament Lenore Zann (Colchester-Cumberland) is a real life superhero having played the role of Rogue in Marvel Comics X-Men animated series during the 90s. Since entering politics, Lenore has been a tireless advocate for women including the #MeToo movement, speaking out against domestic and cyber abuse, sexual violence, human trafficking, and continued financial inequality.

Rounding out the lineup is Oksana Kischuck with the latest public opinion research from Abacus Data. And finally, pinch hitting for Before the Bell host Andrew Beattie is Susan Delacourt. Susan will be interviewing each of the guests, gaining their insights and engaging everyone through audience questions and thoughtful discussion.

Before the Bell is produced in front of a live audience direct from the National Arts Centre in Ottawa and streamed on Facebook. Thanks to the foundational support from KPMG, Abacus Data, the National Arts Centre and the Insurance Bureau of Canada, and this special edition’s sponsors, The Conference Board of Canada, and EDC, Before the Bell is FREE for all Canadians to attend and watch.   To reserve your seat and join our live studio audience or for more information please click here.

Finally, to bring our baseball superhero metaphor full circle, a shoutout to our National Women’s Baseball Team that maintains its WBSC global ranking of #2 in the world and to Baseball Canada for their role in welcoming girls to the great game of baseball.  So, Play Ball!

Joyce Murray was appointed Canada’s first standalone minister of digital government following the October 2019 election. What does this move signal to Canadians, and what should they expect when it comes to things like simplifying access to government services, or the privacy and security measures that protect it? What implications will this have for business across the country? Sixth Estate’s Before the Bell assembled a panel of stakeholders and experts, along with the minister, to discuss these questions.

“Digital government will put the Canadian citizen at the centre of our thinking and organize around that, which is a challenge,”

Hon. Joyce Murray MP, Minister of Digital Government

On the question of whether Canadians are ready for digital government, polling numbers courtesy of Abacus Data showed that only ten percent of millennials read print newspapers, compared to 36 percent of baby boomers, while 71 percent of millennials say that they love being digitally connected constantly, compared to only 36 percent of baby boomers.

Sixth Estate host Andrew Beattie led off with Murray, who said that digital government starts from the point of view of who need services rather than organizing government around departments.

“Digital government will put the Canadian citizen at the centre of our thinking and organize around that, which is a challenge,” said Murray. “Yes, we use information technology, yes there are some ‘elderly’ systems and applications that we’re using and we want to use more modern tools, but at the core of this is that we want Canadians to experience their transactions and services from government as being as quick, effective, and secure as they can transact with Amazon to buy something or deposit a cheque at the bank with their iPhone.”

Murray says that Canada is in the top half-dozen nations when it comes to using digital tools, and that Canada meets with other “digital nations” in annual meetings so that they can learn from each other. She added that digital governance requires a change not only in structures and authorities of government, but also a shift in thinking within the public service.

“It’s an organizational change that will take some time, and will be done step-by-step,” says Murray, crediting her predecessor at Treasury Board, Scott Brison, for taking the first steps.

During the Pulse segment, with host David Akin, Elizabeth Roscoe, senior vice-president and national practice leader in public affairs for Hill+Knowlton Strategies, said that the idea of a ministry for digital government is possibly a bit late in coming when compared to some other nations.

“I would suggest that Minister Murray has the right approach of having a group of public servants that are going to work with her across government to achieve these ends,” said Roscoe. “There is the priority question — what can you accomplish in fairly short order to change the way that citizens interact with government? There needs to be a ‘carrot’ and the systems behind that carrot to make people realize they can do that with government now.”

Rick Anderson, principal at Earnscliffe Strategy Group, pointed to Estonia, where everyone has a digital ID as part of their move to digital governance.

“We need to step back and find a way do this in a way that exists across party lines and across terms of a particular government, because rebuilding your digital presence, rebuilding the government’s web presence, rebuilding the single-window that the minister is charged with creating — that can’t be done in the term of a single government,” said Anderson.

During the Policy segment, hosted by Beattie, Michel Girard, senior fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation, said that while there is political will for a number of their issues, there need to be building-blocks put in place in the backrooms to ensure that there is implementation for the transition to digital.

“There are no internationally-recognized standards to manage this new sector of the economy,” said Girard. “When you think about data, think about data governance, think about data value-chains, think about data-valuation — there’s nothing out there. It’s an entirely new sector of the economy, and we are looking at thousands of new standards that are required so that you achieve inter-operability, so that data can be shared, and that when you get data, you know you can trust it.”

Girard says that Canada is ahead of the curve of other countries in these areas, and if Canada can set standards, we can see our values reflected globally in this field.

Michael Klubal, national industry leader for infrastructure, government and healthcare with KPMG, said that the most important element of becoming digital is having leadership change-agents, who define an ambition for their organizations and empower their people to make a difference.

“Barriers need to be taken away for people to be able to think horizontally and become more citizen-centric,” said Klubal. “Part of that shift is not thinking about what the organization is good at doing internally, but it’s about looking externally, talking to citizens, creating personas and using journey-maps, and mapping out what kind of an experience that we would want as citizens when we interact with our government.”

Klubal added that challenges for public sector leaders will be not only in breaking down silos, but changing the culture around risk-aversion, which will mean creating space for experimentation.

Angela Mondou, president and CEO of TECHNATIONca, said that Canada doesn’t have an innovation problem so much as an innovation adoption problem, particularly given that Canada sits at 23^rd on the UN index of e-government, and tenth out of ten countries when it comes to AI adoption.

“As much as we’re thought leaders and innovators and great technology leaders, we are going down in terms of our adoption, and that is impacting our competitiveness as a nation,” said Mondou.

Mondou said that Canada is behind in terms of modernization as a government, and in terms of the digital economy. “We have work to do,” she added, saying that could mean harnessing private sector solutions.

Watch the full show here:

The Honourable Joyce Murray MP, Canada’s new minister of digital government joins, Before the Bell next Thursday, February 20^th live from the National Arts Centre to discuss this new role and what digital government will look like for Canadians.

Additionally, Before the Bell has invited leading thought leaders to discuss the implications for Canadians and the related issues around business process transformation, digital security, big data and AI. Providing insights on Before the Bell are:  Michael Klubal, national industry leader for infrastructure, government and healthcare with KPMG, Angela Mondou, president and CEO, Information Technology Association of Canada, and Michel Girard, senior fellow with Centre for International Governance Innovation.

Also, our pundit panel is back. Special guest co-host David Akin on The Pulse segment gets into the politics of massive process change to digitally transition government services in Canada. Compare your opinions with Elizabeth Roscoe, senior vice-president and national practice leader public affairs with Hill + Knowlton Strategies, and Denise Siele stakeholder engagement and public affairs consultant.

And setting the stage is the latest public opinion research from Abacus Data on how Canadians access information and what they are looking for.

Before the Bell is produced in front of a live audience direct from the National Arts Centre in Ottawa and streamed on Facebook. Thanks to the show’s foundational support, the content is accessible free for all Canadians to attend and watch.   To reserve your seat and join our live studio audience or for more information please click here.

David Coletto, CEO of Abacus Data, set the stage by pointing to survey data that shows 33 percent of Canadians worry about climate change every day. Forty-three percent of those who voted Liberal, NDP, Bloc Québécois, or Green all worry about the issue every day, as compared to only 15 percent of Conservative voters. As well, 71 percent of Canadians believe than an energy transition will happen, and a further 71 percent believe that governments should put more effort into the growth of renewables and clean tech. Eighty-six percent believe that Canada as the potential to be among the most successful countries in developing and using clean energy technologies.

In the Pulse segment, with host Derick Fage, W. Scott Thurlow, lawyer and past president of the Renewable Fuels Association, said that the government needs to do more to mitigate climate change beyond carbon pricing. Thurlow specified that further action is dependent on the details, especially where “carbon leakage” — firms moving to less restrictive jurisdictions — is concerned.

“For the first couple of phases of the [Output-Based Pricing System], it’s really about accounting and mathematics, and understanding where the emissions can be reduced and where they can’t be reduced,” said Thurlow. “When you see investment flight to other jurisdictions, that has a global impact.”

Sarah Goldfeder, principal at Earnscliffe Strategy Group, said people feel that too much of the onus for climate change action is being placed on them and not enough on corporations, and that when people think about emissions targets, there needs to be an all-of-the-above strategy.

“This isn’t a conversation in government just for Environment and Climate Change Canada,” said Goldfeder. “This is a conversation that needs to happen in every single division within government. In some ways, it’s very much like a conversation we had about gender equity in the [government’s] last mandate — it shouldn’t just be about one department and one group’s actions. It is about everyone considering everything we do through this lens.”

In the Policy segment with host and Sixth Estate CEO Andrew Beattie, John Gorman, president and CEO of the Canadian Nuclear Association, said that despite twenty years of work ensuring cheap renewable energy such as wind and solar, it remains stuck at 36 percent of the total energy mix.

“We need a partner for wind and solar that is not gas or coal, and creating emissions,” said Gorman, who until last year was head of the Canadian Solar Industries Association. “It’s time that we revisit nuclear — not only do we have to refurbish the existing plants so that we’re not slipping backwards, we have to build out massive amounts of new nuclear, and new hydro power to be the partners for wind and solar.”

Gorman says that nuclear is the only proven technology that can decarbonize entire economies in the timeframe that we need to avoid further global warming, adding that Canada has the expertise to help other countries meet those nuclear needs.

Craig Stewart, vice-president of federal affairs with the Insurance Bureau of Canada, said that $1.3 billion in claims was paid out in climate-related losses last year, and that Canada is now a costlier place for insurance than it was a decade ago as a result. He added that this was only for insured losses— that governments paid for the rest of the three-quarters of losses that were uninsured.

“Climate change is both a sword and a shield issue — we need to be thinking about it in those terms,” said Stewart. “We need to be not only attacking emissions vigorously to avoid future losses, but we also need to think that climate change is here now, and we need to start defending ourselves from the effects.”

Céline Bak, founder and president of Analytica Advisors, said that emissions are still rising, both domestically and globally, and that combatting them is becoming more of a team sport. Bak said that the European Union and others are developing a “circular economy” to manage their emissions, which involves mainstreaming climate change mitigation across industries.

“The plan is also translated into the financial sector — sustainable finance is something that is not just on the side, but is a core element of it,” said Bak. “That’s part of our day-to-day lives. The mainstreaming of climate in all parts of our daily lives will help us reduce our own [climate] stress.”

Minister Wilkinson said that the pathways to getting to net-zero emissions by 2050 will be different for each country, and that in Canada, where we have a hydrocarbon sector, it will be a challenge. 

“I don’t want to fool anyone and say that this is going to be easy,” said Wilkinson. “It’s not going to be easy or simple. It’s something that, in a federation like Canada, is particularly complicated, but this is a scientific issue. It’s not a partisan issue. We need to be guided by science.”

Wilkinson added that some municipalities have been leaders, particularly around issues like urban densification, and that some provinces need to catch up with them. 

Watch the full show here.

Sales of electric vehicles took a hit last year in Ontario, as provincial incentives came to an end – but this contrasts with increasing sales in other provinces, such as British Columbia and Quebec. And there’s no question that the long-term trend in EV sales is looking greener. Prices are coming down for both fully battery-operated vehicles and plug-in hybrid vehicles, while awareness of our carbon “tireprint” continues to grow. Yet the transportation sector remains the largest or second-largest carbon emitter in every Canadian province.

Electric Mobility Canada states that Canada had 136,000 zero-emission vehicles on its roads by late 2019; Fleetcarma posted that sales of electric vehicles had increased by 166% between the third quarters of 2017 and 2018 – with electric cars accounting for 8.3% of all sales in Canada.

That all sounds like a boon for the climate because, according to Natural Resources Canada, “The efficiency of energy conversion from on-board storage to turning the wheels is nearly five times greater for electricity than gasoline.” 

Well-to-wheel efficiency

Unfortunately, that’s only part of the issue. Even if your electric vehicle releases no tailpipe emissions, it’s drawing electricity from the grid – and what powers that?

Canada’s provinces are a patchwork of energy mixes, and some are cleaner than others. The Canada Energy Regulator, a new government agency, has mapped the greenhouse gases that province and territory’s grid emits to create a kilowatt-hour of electricity. Nunavut and Alberta, which burn mainly fossil fuels, emit the most per kWh, while Quebec, which relies largely on hydroelectric power, emits the least. The good news is Canada has an abundance of low-emitting electricity. Plug’n Drive, a non-profit organization committed to accelerating the adoption of electric vehicles in Canada, calculates that people who drive electric cars in Canada can reduce their vehicles’ greenhouse-gas emissions by up to 95%, depending on where they live.  

Nuclear power plays an important role here, because it has one of the lowest carbon emissions of any form of power generation, close to that of hydroelectric power. But not every province has the right geography to build more dams.

So, when you charge your electric vehicle in Ontario, you’re getting 62% of that electricity from nuclear power, which means that greenhouse-gas emissions are much lower than if Ontario were still burning coal to make electricity. The real greenhouse-gas emissions from your electric car depend on “well-to-wheel efficiency” – that is, the efficiency of every step of creating your electricity, including oil production or coal mining, transportation, and power generation. This depends on where you drive.

Greening the grid

Even in provinces that depend heavily on fossil fuels, driving an electric vehicle lowers greenhouse-gas emissions. But there is always room for improvement, and there are some hopeful signs. Several provinces have made commitments to getting their grids off coal – and, in December, the premiers of Saskatchewan, Ontario, and New Brunswick agreed to advance the development and deployment of small nuclear reactors which are often referred to as Small Modular Reactors (SMRs). “Nuclear power has virtually no emissions relative to (liquefied natural gas), which has some emissions, relative to carbon capture and storage, which does have some emissions,” Premier Scott Moe told the Saskatoon Star-Phoenix. 

Saskatchewan, which has many smaller remote communities, may be ideally suited for SMRs, which are catching on in new markets, as far away as Poland. And the expertise to build SMRs may come from close to home, as two New Brunswick companies – Moltex and ARC Nuclear – have made advances in their development.

In conclusion

By driving on our grids, Canadians have a huge opportunity to take a bite out of transportation emissions and work towards achieving our country’s climate change goals. Electricity is also much less expensive than gas, which helps consumers save money while reducing carbon emissions. A combination of nuclear and renewable power will continue to “green” our grid, making EVs an important part of our global fight against climate change.    

John Gorman, is president and CEO, Canadian Nuclear Association and Cara Clairman, president and CEO, Plug’n Drive

Watch Sixth Estate Before the Bell January 28, 2020 at 0800 ET on Facebook for a live stream of the show and where you can ask your questions directly to Mr. Gorman. For more information and to see a list of guests appearing tomorrow on the show please click here!

In the 15 years since e-cigarettes hit the market, the conventional wisdom on vaping — which was first seen as a less-harmful alternative to smoking — has evolved as the sometimes-fatal health hazards of the habit have been made public. Recent polling from Angus Reid indicates that 62 percent of Canadians now feel that vaping does more harm than good, up from 35 percent at the same time last year, before an outbreak of vaping illness linked to chemical additives.  The same study shows that 17 percent of parents with children under 19 are aware of their children vaping, and 92 per cent of these parents say they consider it harmful. In December, Health Canada took measures to restrict the advertising of vaping products with a goal of curbing their usage among young people. The Sixth Estate’s Spotlight with host David Akin assembled a panel of experts and stakeholders to delve into the issues that surround vaping.

Dr. John Oyston, of the physician-led program Quit by Vaping, which uses vaping to maximize the probability of quitting smoking, said that because vaping does not involve tobacco — even though it is often labelled as a tobacco product — and because it doesn’t involve combusting materials that are then inhaled, it can provide a safer delivery of nicotine.

“Research published in the New England Journal of Medicine, funded by a medical organization, has proved that you are 83 percent more likely to quit smoking if you use e-cigarettes with support than if you use available nicotine replacement therapy with support,” said Oyston.

Oyston said that even those who switch to vaping over the long term are still less exposed to harm than cigarette smoking, and vaping has the added benefit of being able to control the nicotine concentration, so that users can wean themselves off of the nicotine over time.

Marino Francispillai, program manager for school and community mental health and wellness with Ottawa Public Health, said that there has been an acceleration of vaping among youth, which is a concern for health officials.

“The issue here is that this is a product that still has a lot of unknowns,” said Francispillai. “We still don’t have clear-cut [data that shows] yes, there’s no harm related to this, or the harm is really reduced, and we’ve been seeing severe lung illnesses.”

Francispillai noted that while retail vape products that come in pods have a fixed content, which Ontario may be looking at capping the nicotine content of, there are a lot of unknowns with products that come from less reputable sources.

Sherwin Edwards, president of VapSelect, which manufactures vape products, started off by clarifying that the tobacco industry did not develop the vape industry and has stood in the way of its development.

“On the federal level, they’re getting it right,” said Edwards of the regulatory environment. “Where we have concerns, it’s the provinces. Nova Scotia recently announced a flavour ban. There is a very important component in this conversation, which is the estimated one million Canadians who have transitioned away from tobacco to use vaping for their nicotine needs, and they use flavours and a variety of nicotine levels, and they need to be part of the discussion.”

Edwards said that flavour bans will affect harm reduction, and would essentially hand the industry over to Big Tobacco and Big Pharma. He also clarified that the problems in the United States with respiratory issues are related to cartridges containing THC and vitamin E acetate and not nicotine.

Dr. Amy Porath, director of research with the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction, said that vaping can still harm youth regardless of whether vapes contain nicotine or cannabis, and that includes cognitive impairment with regular cannabis use.

“What we heard from youth is that they’re not having good, honest, non-judgmental conversations with the youth-allies in their lives — parents, educators, guidance counsellors, healthcare practitioners,” said Porath. “We also heard from those youth allies that they don’t know how to start the conversation, as cannabis is a new territory as it moves from an illicit to a legal substance.”

Porath added that kids are curious, and they will want to talk about substance use without necessarily wanting to go out and do it.

Eric Gagnon, head of corporate and regulatory affairs with Imperial Tobacco Canada, said that the industry is looking to bring less harmful alternatives to tobacco to the market now that the regulatory framework has been established in Canada.

“We know that where smokers go is to convenience stores,” said Gagnon. “We believe the ability for them to choose that vaping product alternative is to have it available for them there.”

Gagnon added that fear-mongering in the media has pushed the view that vaping is more harmful than smoking when Public Health England has proven that vaping is 95 percent less harmful than cigarettes, and that misinformation around flavours and capping nicotine content could lead consumers to either the black market, or to simply return to cigarettes. He added that Canada requires a regulatory environment that discourages use by children while still serving adult users.

The Honourable Johnathon Wilkinson MP, minister of environment and climate change joins Before the Bell next Tuesday, January 28^th to discuss Canada’s options to meet and surpass both the 2030 and 2050 greenhouse gas emissions targets and issues impacting the environment.

Other guests appearing on Before the Bell to discuss these important issues include:  Craig Stewart vice president federal affairs with the Insurance Bureau of Canada, Céline Bak founder and president Analytica Advisors, and John Gorman, president and chief executive officer with the Canadian Nuclear Association.

Also, our pundit panel is back. Special guest co-host David Akin on The Pulse segment gets into the politics of mitigating impacts of climate change in Canada. Compare your opinions with Sarah Goldfeder principal with Earnscliffe Strategy Group, W. Scott Thurlow lawyer and past president of the Renewable Fuels Association, and Denise Siele stakeholder engagement and public affairs consultant.

And setting the stage with the latest public opinion research is  David Coletto CEO, Abacus Data.

Before the Bell is produced in front of a live audience direct from the National Arts Centre in Ottawa and streamed on Facebook. Thanks to the show’s foundational support, the content is accessible free for all Canadians to watch.   To reserve your seat tand join our live studio audience or for more information please click here.

The Sixth Estate is pleased to announce the guest lineup for this Wednesday’s spotlight on vaping. Host David Akin’s guests appearing on this Sixth Estate spotlight include: Dr. Amy Porath director of research, Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction, Eric Gagnon, head of Corporate and Regulatory Affairs Imperial Tobacco Canada, Sherwin Edwards president of VapSelect Inc., Marino Francispillai program manager, school and community mental health & wellness, Ottawa Public Health, Dr, John Oyston, MB BS, BMedSCi, FRCP(C), with Quit by Vaping a physician-led program that uses evidence-based techniques to maximize your probability of quitting smoking.

Earlier this year, an Angus Reid poll shows that almost double the number of Canadians (62 percent) now feel that vaping does more harm than good versus the same time last year (35 percent). The same study shows that 92 percent of parents with children under 19 years of age consider vaping harmful.  In December, Health Canada took measures to restrict the advertising of vaping products aimed at curbing usage in young people. 

Sixth Estate Spotlights are delivered in front of a live audience direct from the National Arts Centre in Ottawa and streamed on Facebook free for Canadians to watch.   A limited number of tickets remain and there is no charge to attend in studio. For more information please and to register click here.