[Music playing] I'm Glen McInnis and
this is Outburst. On the program, are
you experiencing more financial stress
than a year ago? I think everybody is. No, not really. Well, everything is higher--
home heating, groceries particularly. It was a struggle
from the beginning. But first, artificial
intelligence is seemingly becoming a household phrase
with each passing day, week, month, and year,
but many people feel AI could be the
spark which ignites more misinformation
and disinformation for mill
ions of voters
around the world, including here in Canada. In 2024, roughly
half the world will be going to the polls in
their respective countries, so will AI help or hinder
the democratic process around the world and here at home? I'm not too familiar
about AI, but I do think that there
probably will be some impact at some point, yes. And I think AI will
affect a lot of things we do, including the
elections, and what we see and what we do, what we
get on our news feeds. -And what we hear.
-Yea
h. Yeah. I do believe that
AI is going to be an issue that both
countries are going to be dealing with significantly. I just cannot justify that
I want some artificial intelligence thinking for
me, and trying to make up, and trying to put out things
that are going to influence people to vote and
everything else concerned when it's not
actually coming from the heart of some human being. And so, I'm not a big proponent
and fond of AI at all. Definitely. AI seems to be kind of
infiltrating every ar
ea of politics and life. AI could not only affect
our future elections. It could affect our whole
country and the world. If there is-- because we
have so much social media, we depend so much
on electronics, that it's easy to manipulate
and, yes, it's a concern. Oh, absolutely. The AI development is amazing. It's impressive,
but I think it's going to be used in a
highly manipulative way, and I think it will affect
the upcoming elections, both in the US and in Canada. Well, the first thing is
you
tied together two words that I don't think fit-- intelligence and elections. [Laughter] So artificial
intelligence has been around for the last
hundred years as a science, as a research issue, and it's
been in place for corporations and business, and playing
a major role in terms of shaping future society. But talking about the phenomena
of just the sensationalism of artificial intelligence and
whether it's going to distort an election, waste of time. I think we're now getting
it into the public
domain, but in my line of
work, we've been aware of artificial
intelligence for quite some time,
and it's now pervasive. I mean, it's part
of when you search the internet why
certain articles come your way and other ones don't. So it's already shaping
people's opinions even if they're not aware of it. So, yes, it's going to
have a significant impact on future elections. It definitely will
have an impact. I mean, even if you look at how
campaigns could be organized, using information from
artifi
cial intelligence sources. They could basically know
what a campaign to the public to get the public
to vote for them, so that definitely
would be an influence. Yeah, that's probably
a very simplistic view, but it definitely
will have an impact. 100% yeah. I think if campaigns aren't
using artificial intelligence to sort of market
trends, process data, they'll fall behind. I think it'll be,
yeah, 100% it will. If you look around outside,
artificial intelligence may actually be
better at providin
g a stable and balanced
government for us, if you look around at
the general public. But I believe
artificial intelligence is something that needs
strong regulation and control. I mean, it's kind of
scary to think about, but I do believe it
will have an impact-- for better or worse,
it's too early to say-- but it definitely
will impact in the future. Yes, absolutely, 100%. [Glen] Tell me why. Well, because you
have no control of what happens
behind the algorithm, who's controlling it. It's a tot
al unknown
once you let it loose. Well, yes, yes. I mean, look at what's
going on with the internet. People are just so
driven by what they see and they don't question it. So just look at what's
happening down in the States with all the, you know,
potential fake news and things that are going on. So, yeah, absolutely. If you don't question what
you-- what you see and read, then absolutely. I think so. I mean, in the
sense of just people using AI to vote but
not in another sense. I don't think it
could
impact it in a bad way but in a good way. It could make the
process faster. [Glen] Okay. Okay, and you? I think that people can use AI
to search, like, to learn more about the people that are-- [Glen] Running? Yeah, exactly. So it could be helpful, but
I don't think it will be bad. So maybe it can be useful
but not in the wrong way. I think it could impact
the future of everything. [Glen] Yeah. Because it is-- it can
actually do on a certain level some thinking, so if
people get lazy and
let it do the thinking,
and don't channel it, then, yes, it could. I think in terms of what's
been going on in the US, it's already affected the way
people think about things. The Bannon-- Steve
Bannon, he was kind of a pioneer in creating
something from nothing and making people believe it. So I think it's just one
of the many things we have to worry about with AI. It's good stuff, but watch
out for the bad stuff. Because it gets more and more
difficult to understand what's the fake and what's
reality. And I see a lot of--
some people as using it to take advantage of
the situation and doing whatever they can to-- how do you say-- take an advantage, manipulate
is a good word, yes. So, yes, I can see it as
affecting future elections. [Music playing] When it comes to helping
less fortunate countries around the world,
Canada has always been quick to lend
a helping hand through peacekeeping,
sending food and supplies, or providing financial aid. And while helping people in
need is the righ
t thing to do, some people feel the federal
government is overlooking people in need in
this country and we should look after our
own before shipping millions out the door. So we took this
question to Canadians. I'd say yes and no for me. They spend a lot
in foreign aid, but I don't think they put
it in the right places, and I don't think they
monitor where the money goes. It's not-- you know, sometimes
I think it goes into places that the intention's
good but I don't think it gets into the
righ
t hands and people don't get the benefit of it. No, I think we have a
responsibility to provide as much foreign aid as we can. Now, having said
that, we do have to have some fiscal
responsibility, you know, in government,
but foreign aid is a very important part
of being a member of NATO and a very important part of
being in the United Nations. Well, I don't think so. I mean, basically,
one way or the other, we're all-- we're all
part of one world, and we definitely have
to do what we can to mak
e things good for everyone. I know that until we succeed
at making things as good as we can for Canadians,
then we-- then we, you know, we can't afford-- the average Canadian
can't afford, you know, to help
as much directly. So I'm looking
forward to a time when we all feel
confident that helping others is a good thing because
we feel we're able to do it. I believe they do. [Glen] Yeah? Should help more at home. Big time. [Glen] Big time? Why? Well, we should be focusing
on our local communities
first probably, you know,
instead of elsewhere. No, not enough, in fact. Regardless if we're Canadian
or we're somewhere else in the world, it's our
responsibility as humanity to look after each other,
and to protect each other, and to care for each other. So if we have $10 and
somebody has nothing, we should both have five. Absolutely. Canada definitely needs to help
its own people before reaching internationally. Well, it depends on how you
classify foreign aid, I think. I'm pro-Palestinian.
I do not support what
our government is doing with Israel, but I do believe
that foreign aid as a concept is important to support. There are lots of countries in
the world where Canadians are seen as helpful and
empathetic, and I do think that our tax dollars
should be better spent on helping people that
really do need it, including those in
our own country. Well, I don't know how much
we spend on foreign aid, so it's hard to know if we do. But if Canada doesn't
spend a lot of money on foreign a
id, what
countries should? What countries can? We want to be part of
the G7 and the G20. That comes with
a responsibility. So I think, yes, and
I think some people figure it's one or the other. Is it one or the other? I'm not sure. Yeah, there are problems here. Look around Bank Street. We have a lot of homeless
people living in the malls, riding the buses
and the trains. But if we decide that
it's one or the other, then it's a hard choice. But I'm not convinced
it's one or the other. So I think
Canada has
responsibilities abroad, and our cities and provinces
have responsibilities here. It's a tough one. I think that our
well-being is also dependant upon what's happening
outside of our borders. So in that way, no. But, yeah, I think for our own
homeless, for our own people, yeah, it's-- how can you say-- it's a tough decision. But I'd say, no, it doesn't. I think it does affect
our well-being what happens outside our borders. Not sure. It ought to be a
calculated balance. [Glen] What d
o you mean
by calculated balance? What do you mean by that? Well, you may-- you'll have to
determine how much, you know, in terms of your
foreign policy you want to dedicate to
actually supporting foreign causes abroad. I don't know what
the values are. I do think that
we have a moral-- [Glen] Obligation. --obligation to, yeah,
to certainly do that. We are very well off overall,
although there is a component of our population that is not. That's a tough question. I mean, there's never enough
mon
ey to go around, right? That's the reality. We are a major
nation in the world. We are a wealthy nation. We are part of the United
Nations, the Commonwealth, and we have a role to
share with our neighbours around the world. So I don't believe we're
spending too much on that. We might look at belt
tightening somewhere else but not on that. Right now, I think they
spend what they can to help out, you know, other nations. And I see money going
to places like Ukraine and the Palestinian-Israeli
conf
lict, and I think it's important
to provide support to those people, especially
when we come from a country that's as wealthy as ours. No. In fact, I would rather
see them spend more on our defences and
foreign aid but get us back into the world where
the world respects what we do. We don't spend enough
money on foreign aid. We spend too much money
supporting fossil fuel industry, and we
spend too much money trying to create jobs in Canada
which doesn't seem to work. [Music playing] Who was the
oldest
Canadian prime minister to assume office? Alexander MacKenzie,
Sir Charles Tupper, Sir Robert Borden? Sir Robert Borden. Tupper. Tupper. Tupper. Tupper. Borden. Tupper?
No? MacKenzie? No? Tupper. Maybe it was MacKenzie. Assume office. I'll go with Tupper. Yeah, it's Tupper. Oh, I was lucky there. That was a guess, wild guess. [Glen] At age 74, Sir Charles
Tupper holds the distinction of being the oldest person
ever sworn in as prime minister of Canada. Tupper was a father
of Confederation
, serving as Nova Scotia
premier when the province joined Canada in 1867. He also served in several
cabinet positions in the House of Commons and as the
Canadian High Commissioner to Great Britain. Tupper is also the
shortest serving Canadian prime
minister at 68 days, after being defeated by Sir
Wilfrid Laurier's liberals in the 1896 general election. [Music playing] Millions of Canadians are
still experiencing a higher cost of living in 2024. Even though inflation rates
have dropped recently,
they've also risen slightly,
and Canadians from coast to coast continue to
practise a precarious balancing act when it comes
to managing their money. As we are well underway
in a brand new year, we took to the streets
to ask Canadians if their financial prosperity
has grown or weakened in the last 12 months. Our question. Uh, this time more
than last year? [reporter] Yeah. Uh. Actually, I feel like it was
a struggle from the beginning because like, life
is really hard, especially for
internation
al students since we have like the school-- like the payments for the
university is super high and we have a lot of
charges, other charges. So, I believe it's getting
worse year by year, especially with the inflation,
because the university fees are higher this year,
so it's definitely worse. Yeah. [reporter] And you? I think it's harder. For example, as she
said, university fees. We came here with a
scholarship but they added a percentage this year
which made it very, very hard. And rent as wel
l. Rent percentages are
so high right now it made it very hard for us. I think it's inflation but it's
not-- it's not helpful at all. It's getting very,
very complicated for students, especially
international students. Well, everything is
higher, home heating, groceries particularly. Getting around is
more expensive. Everything is just
more expensive. -Yeah.
-Yes. Yes, but again,
I'm very well off, so I'm not going
to worry about it. But I'm a commercial
real estate broker. I do office leasing.
Look around us, how many people
are going to their offices nowadays? But I have nothing
to complain about. I wouldn't say stress. I think we have a
decent family income. We don't-- We can't afford
everything we used to. Maybe we won't be taking a
trip March break this year, maybe stay closer to
home in the summer, but-- In the larger scheme of things. But, yeah, we have less money
to spend than we used to, there's no question. The financial stress aspect of
it, to a certain extent, yes. I'm alwa
ys uncertain about
what the financial markets are going to do. Unfortunately, for
us, our biggest issue is the escalation of
our interest rates because of the rates that
the federal government has established. And that's raised the
substantial amount of people that are trying to be the first
time home owners to buy and go out and be able to
purchase a residence and so it's impacted the
housing market in a number of different things. Not so concerned about
the consumer market, credit cards, and
s
tuff like that, granted that has some
impact on people's budget. But the ability for
first time home owners and people to go out
and get themselves established, that
makes it significantly harder when our
interest rates are as high as they are right now. I-- No, not really. [Laughing] It like fluctuates based
on what job you're having, I mean, groceries
are obviously way more expensive but that's-- Yeah, normal
increase inflation. Yes [Chuckling] There's, I mean, prices seem
to have gone up for
everything. Everything. You know, even just trying
to take a break away in a short holiday
and everything you do is like 20% to 40%
higher in everything. Everything. And wages haven't kept up. Yeah, yeah. I think I've made a
lot of phone calls in grocery stores of, "Is this
really the price that this should be?", with everything. And especially-- actually
bread is one that surprises me. It's the prices of bread
going up, that's one. I don't-- That sounds weird
but I'm like, why is bread-- Bread
shouldn't be
going up in cost. That's such a basic need. But yeah. I'm blessed to be in a position
where I do feel the stress, but it's not like the 50%
of Canadians that can't find $500 in an emergency. That is a national shame. The US is the same. People are going through
food crisis these days and it shouldn't
happen in our country. I mean, yes. I feel like every year I
feel like financial stress gets worse and worse because
every year our taxes go up. And I feel like-- I feel like being
in t
he working class is really difficult
because you don't get-- you don't qualify for as
many, say, subsidized housing or subsidized--
Social programs. Yeah, social
programs and grants. So, I feel like as a
working class person, it is difficult every year,
more difficult every year. Um. Yeah. Just because everything--
And also inflation. Everything's growing in
price too, and, yeah. And as a senior, I agree. I think it's more
expensive this year, I find, for just regular
groceries and just regular
things you need. Um, well obviously
interest rates have gone up which
means that mortgage repayments are higher. Even if you have a credit
line, the repayments on that will be higher. Food prices. I mean, some items
within a week, you'll see a 25% jump in the
price of one single food item. So, people's grocery
bills could possibly have increased by up to 30% to 40%. And that presents
challenges for people who want to eat healthily
and look after their health and feed their
children healthy foods
. Yeah, so I think everybody
is feeling the pinch, and myself included. Oh, definitely more. You'll go for milk,
bread, and eggs, and somehow it'll be 100 bucks. Yeah, so definitely
pinching pennies. I don't know,
that's hard to say. I'm trying to get a little
more responsible with my money. So, I may have been more
financially stressed last year but I'd say it was
a bit my fault. But things are definitely
more expensive now so you've got to be a
little more careful. I think everybody is. I mean
, you know, people have-- Price of gas. And, uh-- Everything-- Especially when we
were living in PEI. Everything we had-- we
don't have the option of rail and stuff, so
everything that comes in here comes by truck. So that's-- The
truckers have to pass that on to the consumer. So, I mean, yeah it's-- Everything keeps going up. Yes, I would say so. I think I've experienced
financial stress like a little bit, but
this year it's definitely hitting me a bit harder. But, yeah. Yes, absolutely. Absolu
tely. As a Canadian, for sure,
especially here in the Maritimes. I've actually relocated
here from Nova Scotia, so I have a bit of
experience with both of them. Both Nova Scotia and
PEI over the last year have been hit very hard
with financial struggles. [Music playing] The way people debate
or discuss politics has changed dramatically
in recent years. Tools like Facebook,
Instagram, TikTok, or X, just to name a few, has enabled
people to discuss the issues more freely and more often. But some p
eople fear
it also plays a part in distorting the facts. We took to the streets to ask
people if these platforms do more harm than
good, or, are they an essential part of the
modern day political debates? Our question. I mean, I think in
the next election we-- this is going to
change how people vote for our prime minister
especially, because we know what's actually going on
because social media is powerful and is showing
us what's really happening around the world. Social media has a large impac
t
on just about everything. Social media has got such
an influence on our younger generation that cannot
determine things without seeing what, and going along
with what everybody else feels that should be
right irregardless if it's right or wrong. I would really prefer
that social media just kind of go away and
people start learning to think on their own. There are so many
things on there that you don't
know if it's real or if it's coming from an
educated research background. And I fall for it
a
ll the time too. She's really good at educating
herself in the right places, and I see it all
online and social media and I always come
to her and like freak out over certain things. And she's like, That's not-- That's not correct. It was, you know, manipulated
or it's not a reliable source, so I think it's bad. Thank you.
Yeah, you're smart. I'm not. [Laughing] What happens in social media
is that people tend to silo. They tend to go
into echo chambers and they never hear
other opinions, and th
at's kind of un-Canadian. You know, traditionally
in our culture, we were willing to listen to
the other person's perspective and try and reach
some kind of consensus on things we can agree on,
and move forward on those. And I think one of the
impacts of social media is that people stop having
the capacity to entertain alternative perspectives
on world events, on public policy issues,
on virtually everything. And they live in echo
chambers and they just shout to a crowd. And when they encounter
people who don't agree, they don't know how to cope. I think that social media has
a negative effect because we have a lot of
these, I don't know if they're companies
or people that are putting out false information. And a lot of times
people feel because it's on social media they
believe that it's the truth and they do no
investigation of their own. And so they take what
people are saying without checking the facts. And so I think there
needs to be some standard or some guidelines when people
p
ost things on the internet that the facts should
be checked first, before they even post. And if they post something,
that we find out that it's not true, a fine should be paid. Well, it has a negative
effect on Canadian politics. And I think that when you
see the amount of time that people are spending on
social media, it's worrying. Well, I mean, it's not going
to disappear anytime soon. I think that if people who
are interested in politics and who have good ideas, if
they make sure that they
stay involved in social media,
then it'll probably have more of a positive impact. And if we ignore
it, and if we don't move with the modern
times, then whoever's trying to have a
negative impact, they can definitely
harness that power. Uh, definitely a negative. I think that social
media kind of amplifies spreading hatred
towards your neighbours, people with differing views. And then it spreads,
and communities suffer. Yeah, so I think social media
is definitely a negative. Ooh. I think it can
have both. I think that there's
definitely lots of positives but there's certainly
some negatives. And I think that, just
like anything else, that that goes for politics. I think it has a
positive impact. You get more information
through social media than you would just listening
to the politicians speak. So, I think it definitely
has a positive impact. I think it has both a
positive and negative impact. I think compared to
the legacy media, you might be able to access
various different types of
opinions. As opposed to when we
rely on legacy media, oftentimes, we get
trapped into our own echo bubbles and echo chambers. So it's, I think, a
complicated answer. I think it has both. I would say that
if you're looking for one type of politics
it'll tend to serve you what you're already looking for. It's hard to deny that the
rise of right wing politics and encouraged by
platforms like Twitter, now X, are in a monetary
bubble right now. You know, that kind of
getting rage attention is where
people are seeing a
financial gain and benefit. It has been positive, but
when you have platforms like Twitter or Facebook,
that are owned by these very individualized
private corporations, it's hard to know if their
algorithms are trustworthy or that they have the people's
best interests in mind, I think. I don't think it brings
out the best in people. I think it makes everybody
a little bit more hostile. Negative, for sure, because
as soon as you load any of it it's just down a rabbit
hole of
negativity and adverse thoughts. Negative. [reporter] Why? Again it's-- If
you have a soapbox, you can get on that
soapbox and people will listen to you whether
your viewpoints are good, bad, or whatever. It just-- It just-- What do I want to say? It's just it gives
an avenue for anyone to say anything
without any check-- checks and balances. Repercussions, yeah. I think the way it's trending
right now, it's a negative. Yeah. I think there's too much
false posts putting out there. And I don't th
ink enough
people really grasp what's real and what's fake. And so, overall, I'd say right
now it's trending negative. I think-- I won't say negative. People-- I think social
media is very helpful. People can give their opinion. They can express
themselves freely. And that's-- I think
it's very positive. Social media is so good. Like you can-- You can talk about whatever
you want and it's very helpful, and it's reachable. [reporter] What about you? I believe the opposite
because I think that soc
ial media is like
the worst thing for people nowadays. I'm not using
social media at all. And I'm not
trusting them at all because I believe that
they're spreading fake news. So, I believe that
people are using it to like manipulate us. And I think that's-- You should learn more by
yourself by like travelling, or by like living
through experiences. But I don't trust social
media, like, to be honest. [Music playing] Thanks for watching this
episode of Outburst on CPAC. If you have any comments ab
out
this show or any other show, you can find us
on social media. You can also find us on
our website at www.cpac.ca. I'm Glen McInnis, and on
behalf of my colleagues at the Cable Public Affairs
Channel, thanks for watching. We'll see you next time. [Music playing]
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