On April 17, 1982, the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms came into force, outlining the rights and freedoms that all Canadians are entitled to within our country.

As we consider the Charter as the anniversary passes for another year, we have an opportunity to be reminded that all of the rights outlined in the Charter apply to every Canadian citizen, including children and youth. After all, children are not citizens-in-waiting; they are already holders of rights. Children and youth are a particularly distinct group of citizens whose rights need to be safeguarded. This assertion is especially pertinent with the rise of the “parental rights” movement, which falsely positions the rights of parents over the rights of children. To be clear, the Charter does not give parents special rights over any other rights holder.

In fact, “parental rights” are not explicitly named in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The Charter does name fundamental freedoms (like freedom of conscience, religion and expression) and life, liberty and security of the person. These rights have been interpreted by courts to include a parent’s right to make decisions regarding the care and education of their children.

However, these rights have limits. The rights of parents need to be balanced against children’s rights and their best interests. Parental decision making is also subject to the government’s obligation to protect children and uphold their rights.

Canadian policymakers often focus on natural resources, telecommunications and automotive manufacturing when talking about the country’s economic pillars. However, there is another major industry that employs more people than some of these sectors, even as it steadily loses money.

Right now, the Canadian media and advertising sector is facing serious challenges. The 2026 Canadian Media Means Business (CMMB) report shows that in 2024, the sector provided 137,600 direct jobs.

That’s more than auto manufacturing, telecommunications and almost 40 per cent more than mining. Including indirect and related jobs, the sector adds $22.6 billion to Canada’s GDP.

Even though the industry is a big part of the economy, there is now a major gap between how much Canadians use media and how much money stays in Canada.

As a part of its body-worn camera program, the RCMP recently completed a pilot project using artificial intelligence to draft reports. The AI-generated reports are created from audio captured from officers’ body cameras. A report can be drafted in mere seconds. The pilot, which ran for about six months and concluded in January, occurred across eight detachments in British Columbia generating nearly 800 reports.

Harnessing AI to write police reports is replete with some serious and unresolved concerns and must be immediately discontinued.

It isn’t even entirely clear why police need to use AI in the first place.

The primary justification for the expanding use of AI to generate police reports across law enforcement is to free police from the administrative burden of having to write reports in the first place. The idea is that officers could do more relevant police work, presumably patrol work.