Conversations Live with Stuart McNish

A report issued in January predicts Metro Vancouver will hit 3 million residents this summer, 4 million in 2041 – just 17 years down the road. Overall, the province is on track to have 5.65 million residents on July 1 – up about 150,000 in just one year – and is projected to top 6 million people in 2028, 7 million just a decade later. 

Every one of those people will need a safe and comfortable home, reasonably near work and amenities. Not to mention all the infrastructure supporting that home and related quality of life – sewer and water, electrical, gas, roads, transit, parks, schools, hospitals, grocery stores . . . . 

On February 27 we will re-visit the critical issue of addressing BC’s housing crunch with an outstanding panel including both the provincial minister and an outspoken suburban mayor.

The panel:

• Ravi Kahlon – BC’s Housing Minister
• Richard Stewart – Mayor of Coquitlam
• Michael Geller – Architect, planner, developer, and real estate consultant
• Ryan Berlin – Vice-President and Senior Economist, Rennie
• David Hutniak – CEO of Landlord BC

One of our panelists, Michael Geller, put BC’s population growth in critical context in a January 20 Vancouver Sun article:

“Going from 2.9 to 3.0 million to mind is not that significant,” said Geller. “But how we accommodate the next million, that’s significant.”

The province is taking “dramatic” action with new legislation aimed at significantly increasing density and adding more housing – particularly around bus loops and transit hubs. However, questions are being raised by municipalities about the workability of the province’s approach – especially where cities have been undertaking planned densification to ensure infrastructure is enhanced to keep up with more population. 

Cities like Coquitlam are raising local concerns, while also taking steps to manage the impact of growth and related construction, working to sustain quality of life while the community rapidly adds population. 

We hope you can join us for the conversation – on webcast 7 p.m. February 27.

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Join us for a special edition about organized crime in BC - 2:30 p.m. February 6. 

The panel:

• Kim Bolan – Vancouver Sun reporter
• Calvin Chrustie – Partner, Critical Risk Team
• Fiona Wilson – Deputy Chief Constable, VPD
• Neil Dubord – Chief Constable, Delta Police 

We hope you can join us for the conversation.

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As Canada’s population grew by a record 1.1 million people in the last year the push to build housing gained new urgency. 

New housing requires expanded infrastructure capacity – not just municipal roads, sewer and water lines but also new electrical grid capacity all the way down to transformers on utility poles, gas lines, schools, and more transit. Existing infrastructure is already straining under increased demand. Water shortages are prompting more serious restrictions in summer, in some cases even total bans on agricultural irrigation. Regional parks are having to implement new policies managing parking and visitor numbers. BC Ferries is carrying a record number of passengers and regularly suggesting people walk on during busy weekends. Schools are adding even more portables to house classes – struggling to get them all insulated and up to standards in time for winter. For the first time, some BC hospitals are also adding portables to expand waiting room capacity. 

Major infrastructure and resource projects essential to the Canadian economy and vitally important to First Nations are bogged down. 

Billions of dollars of investment is needed across numerous sectors simply to catch up to the infrastructure needs of Canada today, never mind tomorrow. That work would require years – if contractors can be sourced. 

Join us 7 p.m. January 23 as we dig into the challenges and solutions of our infrastructure deficit. 

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44 per cent of BC exports go to markets in the Asia Pacific. 20 per cent of Canadians have family ties to the region. According to Global Affairs Canada the “Indo-Pacific region will play a critical role in shaping Canada’s future over the next half-century.” 

The region has 40 economies including China and India, almost two-thirds of the world’s population, and $47.19-trillion in economic activity. It is home to half of Canada’s top trading partners. 

The opportunities are tremendous. So are the challenges. 

Canada’s relationship with India hit a new low this year when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau suggested the country may have been involved in the murder of a Sikh separatist leader in BC. India retaliated by halting the issuance of travel visas to Canadians and threatening to revoke the protections accorded to Canadian diplomats in that country, prompting Canada to withdraw 41 staff. 

China is BC’s second largest trading partner after the USA. It’s not a comfortable relationship – Canada has recently criticized the Chinese government for unfair trade practices and human rights abuses. China has been accused of espionage and operating a shadowy network of unofficial police stations in Canada engaged in intimidation of Canadians with Chinese heritage and their families – including Canadian MP Michael Chong. Military tensions are rising in the region. 

The panel:

• Sukesh Kumar, Audit Partner and National Leader of KPMG’s India Practice in Canada
• Duncan Wilson, Port of Vancouver Vice President, Environment and External Affairs
• Jeff Nankivell, President & CEO, Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada
• Brenda Bailey, BC Minister of Jobs, Economic Development & Investment

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More than 150 court victories have confirmed that the resources of Canada can only be developed when working with and obtaining First Nations approval.

Many First Nations are on a road to reclaiming prosperity and revitalizing cultures.

Some urban First Nations have become significant land-owners actively pursuing development with the potential to help address our housing crisis. In rural areas some First Nations have taken ownership stakes in resource projects. Numerous companies are playing an active and positive role in reconciliation. 

These early days – far from smooth and uncontroversial. It is likely impossible to envision where we will be in the decades to come. The interests of First Nations are enormously diverse, and often at odds – witness examples in salmon farming and forestry. 

BC conducted a homeless count in October – indigenous people made up a third of those counted. Incarceration rates of indigenous people are more than 10 times those of the total population. Poverty and unemployment rates remain astronomically high. First Nations communities too often remain without the services that others take for granted.

The issues are not unique to BC, or even Canada – in an October referendum Australians voted against creating an advocacy committee to advise parliament on policies affecting Indigenous people. 

Join us by webcast 7 p.m. November 21 as we bring together a panel of leaders in First Nations, business, and law to discuss economic reconciliation today, and into the future. 

The panel:

• Ellis Ross – MLA (Skeena), Shadow Minister for Energy and LNG
• Crystal Smith – Elected Chief Councillor of Haisla Nation; Chairwoman of the First Nations LNG Alliance
• Conrad Browne – President & CEO, Dakwakada Capital Investments
• Greg D’Avignon – Former President & CEO of the BC Business Council of BC; Partner, Canadian Strategy Group
• Roger Dall'Antonia – President and CEO of Fortis BC
• Thomas Isaac – Aboriginal Law Lawyer, Partner at Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP
• Leon Gaber – Executive Director & National Lead (Critical Infrastructure Resilience & Emergency Management Practice), KPMG

We hope you can join us!

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A Conversations Live special edition – A dialogue with Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim

Join us November 9 when we sit down with Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim for a wide-ranging dialogue about his first year as Vancouver’s mayor. This special edition of Conversations Live will run 3:30 – 4:30 p.m., webcast on the Vancouver Sun and right here on our own website. 

Viewers will have a chance to ask the mayor your own questions via Slido. 

We hope you can join us for the Conversation!

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On Oct 10 we will be joined by an outstanding panel of people actively engaged in fostering workplace accessibility from a variety of perspectives – not just as it relates to disability, but

difference and diversity of all types.

The panel:

• Stephanie Cadieux - Canada’s first Chief Accessibility Officer
• Charlotte-Anne Malischewski - Human Rights Commission interim Chief Commissioner
• Mark Wafer - Disability rights activist and keynote speaker
• Wendy Lisogar-Cocchia - Pacific Autism Network founder & director
• Kathleen Reid - Switchboard PR founder & Chief Communications Officer
• Jillian Frank - KPMG partner, employment & labour law
• Parm Hari - Vancouver Fraser Port Authority Vice-President, People, Process & Performance

The statistics tell a powerful story. 16 per cent of Canada’s adult population has a disability. According to Statistics Canada’s 2022 survey only 59.4 per cent of Canadian adults with a

disability have employment, compared to more than 80 per cent of Canadians without a disability.

Yet, hiring a diverse workforce has proven benefits, across numerous studies – increased profits, a variety of perspectives leading to better decision-making, more innovation and creativity, reduced turnover and better engagement, and a broader pool of candidates from which to hire.

Mark Wafer and his wife Valerie’s story proves the point. They owned seven Tim Hortons’ franchises in the Toronto area. Hearing impaired himself, Mark was interested in creating jobs for people with disabilities. One of his first hires was a young man with Down Syndrome. He became a star employee – dedicated, hard-working, and friendly. Mark and Valerie went on to hire more than 250 people with disabilities during 25 years in that business – averaging about 17 per cent of their workforce at any one time, in roles from managers to bakers. They hired people with autism, hearing impairments, physical disabilities, and intellectual delays.

Fast food restaurants are infamous for high (and costly) employee turnover. What Mark found, however, was that while the average tenure for their employees overall was 1.3 years that grew to 7.0 years for employees with disabilities. The employees were dedicated, didn’t miss shifts, and worked hard.

In a CBC story, Mark estimated it costs him $4,000 to hire and train a new employee. With their longer tenures and strong work, hiring Canadians with disabilities improved their business performance and increased profit, while creating opportunity for dozens of people. Yet, unemployment rates among Canadians with disability remain stubbornly high even during times of labour shortage.

We hope you can join us for the conversation – webcast live 7 p.m. October 10.

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We launch our second season with a deep dive into the new world of artificial intelligence with some of Canada’s top thinkers in the field. 7 p.m. Oct 3, Stuart McNish will moderate a panel including:

• Edoardo De Martin – CEO Industrio AI & Chief Development Officer, Digital Innovation Cluster
• Mark Low – KPMG Ignition
• Terri Griffith – Keith Beedie Chair in Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Simon Fraser University Beedie School of Business
• Dr. Sylvain Moreno – Founder of the Circle Innovation model
• David Seymour – Vice President and General Manager in Office Media Group, Microsoft Vancouver,
• Calvin Gerus – Borealis AI 

Early AI actually started playing an important role in our lives in the 1980s (even earlier in science fiction) - a computer science used for simple but detailed tasks such as inspecting circuit boards in manufacturing. Early AI proved good at picking patterns out of huge quantities of data and noting details a human eye may miss. It’s critical in the algorithms driving online search engines like Google, and in detecting credit card fraud. 

With the launch of ChatGPT, however, the technology has been thrust into public discourse in a new way. Overnight, the new platform was writing blogs, conducting online research, and helping students cheat on papers. Its limitations have quickly become apparent, as have some of the new challenges the technology creates. 

Perhaps more importantly, but quietly, new AI applications are being developed across hundreds of fields. AI’s already starting to play a key role in healthcare, education, and manufacturing. It’s creating new fields of work not conceived of until recently but already employing thousands. 

It’s also fostering fears of increasing automation costing jobs – playing a key role in the recent port strike and ongoing Hollywood actors and writers strike. There is concern people will stop learning underlying processes AI can replicate and we’ll lose expertise in creating art by hand, writing, and research. 

If AI does free humans from tedious and dangerous work but creates new jobs managing that work, is it a net positive? Will it finally be the technology that frees up our time for other things?

Can AI help us overcome looming challenges of capacity in fields such as healthcare and education? 

AI is already starting to play a role in healthcare, helping doctors diagnose ailments from an array of scans, patient history, genetics, test results, and devices such as a fitness band or heart monitors. It has the same potential to radically change our financial systems, education, militaries, transportation networks, and media. 

We hope you can join us as we strive to answer some of these questions on Oct 3. 

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BC’s economy is slowing, along with economies around the world.   

• For our next conversation June 20 we have pulled together a panel of individuals with robust insights into the provincial, national, and global economies. Jock Finlayson – Senior Policy Advisor at the Business Council of BC
• Murray Leith – EVP & Director of Investment Research at Odlum Brown
• Christine Bergeron - President & CEO of VanCity
• Katrine Conroy – BC Minister of Finance
• Walter Pela – GVA Regional Managing Partner at KPMG

A recent BC Business Council survey of major employers found they expect slower growth and sales over the next year, and are cooling economic investment plans. Hiring plans, however, remain ‘robust.’ While we’re not in a recession, according to the numbers, most firms surveyed believe it’s likely to happen this year.  

Late last year BC released an economic forecast following a meeting with the 13-member Economic Forecast Council. At that time the group anticipated growth of just 0.4 per cent in BC through 2023. 

Since that report was released the Bank of Canada has raised the core interest rate just once, to 4.50 per cent, following a series of hikes through 2021 and ’22 meant to curb rapidly-rising inflation. Rising interest rates and inflation are putting very real pressure on many British Columbians, especially those struggling to afford increasingly-expensive groceries or with large variable-rate mortgages that have become far more expensive. 

Despite this BC’s diversified economy, with growth industries such as life sciences and technology, position the province to weather this economic storm even as more traditional sectors such as forestry struggle. 

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On May 16 we will sit down with an outstanding panel to explore an emerging high-tech industry with the potential to become one of BC’s most important economic sectors – life sciences. 

BC has become a hub of life sciences innovation in recent years, with hundreds of companies leading the way in research into new therapies, pharmaceuticals, and biotechnology. According to Life Sciences BC the province is home to the country’s fastest-growing life sciences sector with 1,100 active companies employing 20,000 British Columbians and generating $5.4 billion in annual revenue. 

Yet there are considerable impediments holding companies back from growing to larger scale in the province. BC’s corporate and income tax structure, limited industrial land needed to affordably build out office and processing facilities, and a challenging housing market all make it difficult to attract employees and scale up. 

Our question – how can we create the conditions to ensure this sector’s success in BC?

Our panel:

• Andrew Booth, CFO - AbCellera
• Allen Eaves, President & CEO - Stemcell Technologies
• Brenda Bailey, BC Minister of Jobs, Economic Development and Innovation
• Darryl Knight, President - Providence Research
• Wendy Hurlburt, President and CEO - Life Sciences BC

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