MacEachen Institute for Public Policy and Governance

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MacEachen Institute for Public Policy and Governance

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The MacEachen Institute for Public Policy and Governance is a nationally focused interdisciplinary centre that supports progressive public policy and citizen engagement.

06/12/2026

Call it fate, call it serendipity, but on the day that the Government of Canada introduced the Safe Social Media Act (Bill C-34), the MacEachen Institute gathered experts together on a panel to launch new research on that EXACT TOPIC!

Entitled “Think of the Children: The Policy Trade-offs of Digital Age Verification,” panelists Michael Karanicolas (Palmer Chair at the Dalhousie University - Schulich School of Law), Dr. Toby Mendel (Executive Director at the Centre for Law and Democracy), Renee Black (Founder and CEO of GoodBot) and Dr. Val Webber (Postdoc Fellow at the Sexual Health and Gender Research Lab) discussed the privacy concerns, technology challenges, and constitutional grey-zones that broad social media ban legislation will need to contend with.

🗝️3 KEY TAKE AWAYS:

1️⃣IT WON’T JUST IMPACT THE KIDS🍁: Social media bans will impact ALL Canadians who will have to verify their age to access social platforms online.

2️⃣THE TECH STILL NEEDS TO CATCH UP⚙️: While many age verification tools exist, and each introduce unique pitfalls and privacy concerns. There is no singular “safe” tool or technology.

3️⃣IMPACT WILL NOT BE EQUAL⚠️: Broad social media bans will not impact all kids equally. Marginalized youth who rely on social media for access to community, such as 2SLGBTQ+ youth who rely on online spaces for identity development, support and access to affirmation, will be disproportionately impacted by these bans. Age verification technologies are also less accurate with members of BIPOC communities. This means racialized youth over the age of majority may be subject to further, potentially more invasive, age verification measures.

We will be watching the response to Bill C-34 in the weeks and months ahead. Thanks to all who came out to support the launch of this timely research!

Photo Credit: Dylan Chiasson

06/09/2026

📲🚫News outlets have reported that on Wednesday, social media bans will be part of new Online Harms Legislation introduced in Ottawa. WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT?

The MacEachen Institute will be hosting a panel on Wednesday titled “Think of the Children: The Policy Trade-offs of Digital Age Verification.”

Be part of the conversation. Tickets are going fast. Register through the link in the description. 🎟️

06/08/2026

📻MEDIA SPOTLIGHT: Yesterday Dr. Michael Karanicolas, Dalhousie University - Schulich School of Law Professor and Palmer Chair was a guest on Maritime Connection with VERN RAMESAR on CBC/Radio-Canada Radio 1 to discuss the question “How do we balance keeping children safe online with preserving our own digital privacy?”

Want to learn more about this key policy issue? The MacEachen Institute is hosting a Report Launch and Panel this Wednesday, June 10th, on the Policy Trade-offs of Digital Age Verification.

🎟️Register now for FREE at the link in our bio!

🔥Tickets are going fast! Register now!

06/05/2026

📣 Meet MacEachen 2026 Research Fellow Dr. Larry HUGHES! 🎉

Dr. Larry Hughes is a Research Fellow at the MacEachen Institute for Public Policy, with a research focus on energy security, the energy transition, and climate change at the provincial, regional, and national levels. ⚡🪫

Dr. Hughes has published in academic journals including Energies MDPI, Applied Energy, Energy, and Energy Policy, and the mainstream media, such as The Globe and Mail, allNovaScotia.com, Halifax Examiner, and Policy Options / Options politiques. He is regularly interviewed on CityNews Radio (Halifax), and has been interviewed by CTV News, CBC/Radio-Canada, and Global television, Coastal Radio (Cape Breton), National Observer, Globe and Mail, and CBC Radio 1. Dr. Hughes is often quoted in the mainstream media; his research has influenced corporate and government energy and climate policy in Nova Scotia.

Previously, he was a Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Dalhousie University.

➡️Learn more about our Research Fellow Program via our LinkTree

🥳 Congratulations, Larry! Welcome to the MacEachen Team!

06/03/2026

🧐 Did you know the MacEachen has a Monthly Newsletter?

Check out our NEW May 2026 Issue of “Keeping Up With MIPP” at the link in our bio!

💡 Highlights include our recent Ottawa Launch Event at the Rideau Club with Hon. Sean Fraser, the formal launch and inaugural paper of the MacEachen Papers Series by Elliot G. Ugalde, our upcoming panel on AI Age Verification led by Michael Karanicolas, and much more!

✅ Subscribe now! (Link also in Bio)

05/29/2026

✈️Can you guess where the MacEachen Institute team travelled this week?

We are overjoyed to celebrate the success of our second Friends of the MacEachen Dinner, this time hosted at the Rideau Club in Ottawa, Ontario! 🍁

💡Here were some highlights of the evening:

➡️The night began with a welcome from Co-Chairs Colin P. MacDonald, and Minister of Justice, The Honourable Sean Fraser. MacEachen Institute Director Dr. Jerry Bannister spoke about the importance of fostering dialogue that is non-partisan, but NOT apolitical.

➡️Award-winning journalist and featured speaker Don Newman reflected on his time working closely with Allan J. MacEachen and the importance of communication in politics. MacEachen’s mastery of silence might have been difficult for journalists, but it was also how Mr. MacEachen was able to build strong and trusting relationships within his caucus and especially with Prime Minister Pierre E. Trudeau.

➡️After dinner, former diplomat and Vice President at the Canadian Global Affairs Institute Colin Robertson gave his remarks on Allan J. MacEachen. Having worked for Hon. MacEachen, Mr. Robertson was able to corroborate what was most important to him: “MacEachen believed that good public policy is good politics.”

➡️The evening concluded with a wonderful roundtable discussion on communication in politics, public engagement and advocacy, and the need for further identification of reasonable and actionable solutions to key policy issues.

At the MacEachen Institute, we continue to uphold Hon. MacEachen’s belief that good public policy is not just good politics, but that good policy should work towards putting bread on the table for all Canadians. 🥖🍁

A huge thank you to for sponsoring this event!

05/22/2026

🧐 Top Three Things We Learned At Day One of the Canadian Convention at Dalhousie University! 🛠️🍁

1️⃣ Clean technology is NOT about creating new technologies. It’s about finding the best solutions with the fewest downsides, whether they’re historical or cutting-edge.

2️⃣ We can reduce waste more effectively by thinking about “repair” as the third R in the classic waste reduction cycle. ♻️ Reduce ➡️ Reuse ➡️ REPAIR ➡️ Recycle! ♻️

3️⃣ The EU is way ahead of Canada when it comes to the right to repair - not just in terms of legislation, but in making repair an attractive and practical option. Tools like the “Repairability Scale” used in France, or the one developed by iFixit, allow consumers to make choices which better align with their core values.

We heard two wonderful keynotes. Former MP Brian Masse spoke on the History of Right to Repair Advocacy in Canada, and then iFixit CEO Kyle Wiens spoke on the State of the International Right to Repair Union!

📸 Photo highlights capture: (1 &2) Visiting the wonderful folks at the CanRepair Cafe, (3) Listening to organizers Alissa Centivany and Anthony Rosborough at the “Community Empowerment and Repair” Panel, and (4) MacEachen Project Coordinator Hilary Doda with Brian Masse.

🥳 Day one has wrapped, but DAY TWO IS JUST BEGINNING! 🙌

Find the Full Program here for Day 2, including links to watch all keynotes and panels for FREE in our bio!

The MacEachen Institute is proud to be a sponsor for the 2026 Canadian Repair Convention.

05/20/2026

📣 On June 10th at 1:30pm, join the MacEachen Institute in a panel that builds off the new report co-authored by Michael Karanicolas, Finn Mitra and Marium Nawal Oishee titled “Think of the Children: The Policy Trade-Offs of Digital Age Verification.”

Join Michael Karanicolas, James S. Palmer Chair in Public Policy & Law, Renee Black of GoodBot, and Val Webber from the Sexual Health and Gender Lab, for a coffee, tea, and a guaranteed lively discussion about a current and controversial digital policy challenge.

ℹ️ More about the event: Around the world, an increasing number of countries have proposed or implemented digital age verification schemes. But while their proponents claim that age verification is necessary in order to protect children from online harms, experts warn these rules are a privacy and censorship nightmare, which will dramatically escalate digital surveillance while providing new opportunities for hacking and blackmail. As Canada grapples with its own rules blocking youth access to social media or chatbots, or imposing broader age verification requirements on websites, these tradeoffs are increasingly salient.

🎟️ Register for FREE on our eventbrite, link in description!

This event is in-person at the MacEachen Institute, 6257 Alumni Cres, Macdonald Building, 2nd Floor.

Space is VERY LIMITED! Don’t miss this opportunity to join the speakers and co-authors of the report to consider how policy makers can respond to these new findings. Register today!

05/15/2026

🎉 The MacEachen Institute is pleased to support Dalhousie’s new Information Policy Lab by hosting their first publication on our website!

“Think of the Children: The Policy Trade-Offs of Digital Age Verification” provides a comprehensive scoping of the legislative and policy landscape, including traders related to privacy, freedom of expression, and crucially, child protection, inherent in many of the proposed schemes.

Congratulations to Dr. Michael Karanicolas, Finn Mitra and Mariam Nawal Oishee on this achievement.

📩Find a downloadable PDF version of the report on our website (through our linktree in bio!)

05/14/2026

🛠️🍁 On May 21-22nd, the first ever Convention is coming to Halifax and the MacEachen Institute is proud to be a supporter and sponsor!

Organized by MacEachen Project Lead and Professor Anthony Rosborough, this two-day summit is bringing together scholars, policymakers, industry professionals, community repairers, and students. The Convention provides a forum for discussing how repair affects sustainability, innovation, consumer rights, and economic resilience.

💵 AFFORDABLE ticket prices begin at $14 for students, and discounts are available to those working for NGOs, in policy, or in academia.

⏰ Taking place May 21–22, 2026 at Dalhousie University in Halifax, the Convention will feature panel discussions, policy conversations, and hands-on demonstrations.

The event aims to connect ideas with practice by fostering dialogue across disciplines and sectors. Whether you are a researcher, policymaker, technician, community organizer, business professional, or simply curious about the Right to Repair movement, the Convention offers an opportunity to learn, collaborate, and help shape the future of repair policy in Canada.

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6257 Alumni Crescent, Macdonald Building, Second Floor
Halifax, NS
B3H4R2

Website

http://dal.ca/mipp

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