The Timeline & Presenters
The Assembly has come together in two types of meetings: regional sessions on weekdays and national sessions on weekends.
Regional Sessions
The regional sessions of the Assembly are two-hour meetings that see the members joining one of three cohorts: eastern, western, and francophone. These sessions typically occur on weekday evenings and are designed to accommodate members’ schedules — the presenters and program remain the same across each cohort.
National Sessions
The national sessions of the Assembly are three-hour meetings where all members of the Citizens’ Assembly join. These sessions typically occur on Saturday afternoons (EDT/EST).
June 16, 18, & 22 Regional Pre-Sessions
Welcome and Pandemic Planning Update
July 21, 22, & 23 Regional Pre-Sessions
Presentation: Introduction to the topic
Presenter: Taylor Owen, Associate Professor at the Max Bell School of Public Policy and holder of the Beaverbrook Chair in Media, Ethics and Communications.
September 12 Full Assembly Session
Presentation: “Democratic Expression and Online Harms”
Presenter: Dr. Elizabeth Dubois, Associate Professor at the University of Ottawa and member of the Centre for Law, Technology and Society
September 15, 16, & 17 Regional Sessions
Presentation: “A Healthy Internet”
Presenter: Laura Tribe, Executive Director, OpenMedia
September 22, 23, & 24 Regional Sessions
Presentation: “Editing the public sphere”
Presenter: Chris Tenove, Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Political Science at the University of British Columbia, award-winning journalist and broadcaster
October 3 Full Assembly Session
Presentation: “Social Media and Restraints”
Presenter: Ronald Deibert, Professor of Political Science, and Director of the Citizen Lab at the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy, University of Toronto
October 6, 7, & 8 Regional Sessions
Presentation: “Legal and Regulatory Options”
Presenter: Anastasia Berwald, legal advisor in the research department of the Commission des droits de la personne et des droits de la jeunesse du Québec
October 13, 14, & 15 Regional Sessions
Presentation: “Protecting Free Expression”
Presenter: Brendan de Caires, Executive Director of PEN Canada, a nonprofit that promotes literature and defends freedom of expression
October 20, 21, & 22 Regional Sessions
Program: Possible responses and interventions
Presenter: None
October 31 Full Assembly Session
Presentations: “Information quality & content moderation” (Google), “Introduction to Facebook Content Policy” (Facebook)
Presenters:
Google:
Jason Kee, Public Policy & Government Relations Counsel at Google, &
Colin McKay, Public Policy Strategist and Communicator
Facebook:
Peter Stern, Director, Content Policy Stakeholder Engagement,
& Rachel Curran, Manager, Public Policy Canada
November 3, 4, & 5 Regional Sessions
Program: Identifying and explaining concerns
Presenter: None
November 17, 18, & 19 Regional Sessions
Program: Revising and refining concerns
Presenter: None
To Come
November 21 Full Assembly Session
November 22 Full Assembly Session
November 24, 25, & 26 Regional Sessions
November 28 to December 3 Individual Check-ins
December 5 Full Assembly Session
December 6 Full Assembly Session
December 8 to December 10 Report Review (online)
December 12 Full Assembly Session