Mark Jaccard and Chris Ragan: This time, let’s set climate targets — and achieve them too | Vancouver Sun
October 7, 2019 | In this opinion piece in the Vancouver Sun, Max Bell School Director Chris Ragan and Mark Jaccard, Director at the School of Resource and Environmental Management at Simon Fraser University, argue: "the impacts of a changing climate — from forests fires to heatwaves to floods — are getting worse and are making life harder for Canadians. A commitment to achieve deep emissions reductions by 2050 in Canada is consistent with the scale of the threat."
19 million Canadians have had their data breached in eight months
September 2, 2019 | An estimated 19 million Canadians have been affected by data breaches between November 2018 and June 2019, according to numbers obtained by "Attention Control with Kevin Newman," a new podcast that launched Monday. The numbers come from 446 breaches that were reported to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC). Victims of these kinds of data breaches are vulnerable to identity theft, financial crime, even violence in some cases.
Canadian polarized, but social media use likely not the culprit: study
September 12, 2019 | Social media might not be to blame for Canadians’ ideological polarization, a new report on digital democracy in Canada finds. “A lot of people don’t use social media very actively,” said Eric Merkley, a researcher on the project. “People on Twitter are not representative of the broader population.”
Fake news preys on emotions, expert warns
August 10, 2019| Beware of things you see online that make you emotional, one media expert warns ahead of the fall election. Taylor Owen, professor at McGill University and the co-creator of the Digital Democracy Project, says fake news often preys on feelings like anger and fear.
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Canadians' media-consumption habits lead to misinformation, study finds
August 7, 2019 | Canadians aren’t as divided into partisan echo chambers as social media would suggest, but a heavy news diet doesn't guarantee you'll be informed, a new study has found.
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The government just made its toxic media bailout plan even worse
May 24, 2019 | The news release put by Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez begins well: "The Government of Canada understands that for a democracy to function properly, it needs to have solid, independent news media."
If only he had stopped there. But instead, the release goes on for another 700 words to outline a plan whose principal effect will be to undermine the independence of the news media.
The Hill Times features Digital Democracy Project
August 29, 2019 | The latest data from the Digital Democracy Project suggests that while 17 per cent of respondents indicated the environment was a top election issue, on par with health care, and second to the economy at 20 per cent, support for reducing emissions through a carbon price is soft, even among left-leaning voters.
New podcast launches to cover the impact of technology on our democracy during the 2019 Canadian federal election
Attention Control with Kevin Newman podcast released its first episodes this week, exploring digital media’s impact on the 2019 federal election.
Digital Ecosystem Research Challenge Winners Announced
The Digital Ecosystem Research Challenge has awarded 18 Research Awards ranging from $3,000 to $75,000 to research teams from Canada and abroad. The Digital Ecosystem Research Challenge is a collaborative effort between Dr. Taylor Owen, Associate Professor in the Max Bell School of Public Policy, McGill University and Dr. Elizabeth Dubois, Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication and a Centre for Law, Technology and Society Faculty Member at the University of Ottawa.
Andrew Potter joins McGill University’s Max Bell School of Public Policy
August 14, 2019 | The Max Bell School of Public Policy is thrilled to announce that Andrew Potter has joined the School to support its teaching, outreach, research, and policy engagement activities.
Canada’s wisest policy: stealing policies from other countries | The Globe and Mail
August 12, 2019 | In this piece, Christopher Ragan, Director of the Max Bell School of Public Policy, argues that economists know the more we lean on carbon pricing, the better off our economy will be. He draws on the experience of Sweden's carbon tax and the U.S efforts to reduce acid rain by taxing sulfur-dioxide producing plants.
Canadians' media-consumption habits lead to misinformation | National Observer
August 7, 2019 | A report published by the Digital Democracy Project suggests that overall misinformation levels in Canada are low. However, certain trends in media consumption put news consumers and voters more at risk to be misinformed about key political issues.
People with strong partisan views get more facts wrong on a current events test: survey | Global News
August 8, 2019 | A survey launched by the Digital Democracy Project found that most Canadians across the political spectrum got a common set of facts from an array of mainstream media outlets. The report also highlighted voters' tendencies to select and consume news from sources that support their political beliefs, generating so-called echo chambers.
Canadians who hold strong links to political parties more likely to be misinformed about politics | The Star
August 8, 2019 | The Digital Democracy Project, an initiative of Max Bell School of Public Policy in collaboration with the Public Policy Forum, analyzes the increasing amounts of disinformation and hate in the digital public sphere. A new study shows the links between political affiliation and misinformation.
News that's safe to use: Researchers aim to track information during campaign | CBC News
August 8, 2019 | In an age where information is increasingly scrutinized yet more easily diffusable than ever, Canadians might be more misinformed than disinformed. New findings from the Digital Democracy Project show how information ricochets around the Canadian political landscape.
