The Conversation Piece

Canada is racing to build the infrastructure that will shape its economic and political future. But moving faster means little unless the systems guiding that development are strong enough to be trusted.Independent lawyer and consultant Jesse McCormick argues that making any meaningful progress with Canada’s major projects will require building trust with First Nations by prioritizing their consent and establishing regulatory systems that put First Nations behind the wheel.McCormick spoke at The Walrus Talks Sovereign Canada in Toronto on October 28, 2025.To register for upcoming events happening online or in a city near you, and to catch up on our archive of The Walrus Talks, visit thewalrus.ca/events.And subscribe to The Walrus Events newsletter for updates and announcements, at thewalrus.ca/newsletters. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The adoption of DEI, or diversity, equity, and inclusion, is often framed as progress, but for some, it functions as nothing more than corporate strategy. For journalist Pacinthe Mattar, nowhere are the limits—and failures—of DEI more stark than in relation to Palestine.She shares how the “Palestine exception” plays out in newsrooms, schools, and other areas of public life, and underscores the importance of confronting the anti-Palestinian racism DEI has failed to name.Mattar spoke at The Walrus Talks at Home: DEI on June 17, 2025.To register for upcoming events happening online or in a city near you, and to catch up on our archive of The Walrus Talks, visit thewalrus.ca/events.And subscribe to The Walrus Events newsletter for updates and announcements, at thewalrus.ca/newsletters. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What happens to poetry—and art at large—in a world shaped by algorithms?Poet Bardia Sinaee considers what it means to live in a time dominated by data and celebrates poetry’s ability to offer meaning where machines cannot.Sinaee spoke at The Walrus Talks Cultural Futures on April 30, 2024.To register for upcoming events happening online or in a city near you, and to catch up on our archive of The Walrus Talks, visit thewalrus.ca/events.And subscribe to The Walrus Events newsletter for updates and announcements, at thewalrus.ca/newsletters. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Teachers play a significant role in the lives of youth, shaping not just what they learn, but who they become. Yet, across Canada, schools are facing unprecedented teacher turnover due to demanding workloads, complex student needs, and the lingering effects of COVID-19.Dr. Jan Hare, Dean of Education at the University of British Columbia, highlights the critical work teachers do, the pressures they face, and what it will take to ensure the sustainability of the profession.Dr. Hare spoke at The Walrus Talks at Home: Public Education and Philanthropy on March 25, 2025.To register for upcoming events happening online or in a city near you, and to catch up on our archive of The Walrus Talks, visit thewalrus.ca/events.And subscribe to The Walrus Events newsletter for updates and announcements, at thewalrus.ca/newsletters. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You could be forgiven, listening to the news these days, for thinking the electrification economy is dead. And yet, over the next two years, 95 percent of the world’s electricity growth demand is going to be met by renewables.Rachel Doran, executive director of Clean Energy Canada, examines the shifting energy landscape and identifies four obstacles Canada must confront in order to seize the promise of the clean energy transition. Doran spoke at The Walrus Talks Power Economy in Toronto on May 29, 2025.To register for upcoming events happening online or in a city near you, and to catch up on our archive of The Walrus Talks, visit thewalrus.ca/events.And subscribe to The Walrus Events newsletter for updates and announcements, at thewalrus.ca/newsletters. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.