Chapter 6 Videos with Critical Thinking Exercises

Ontario

Video 1: Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Jobs at risk from automation, The Exchange [video]. Toronto, ON: CBC/Radio-Canada; 2016.

Link       https://curio.ca/en/video/jobs-at-risk-from-automation-10549/.

  • This link requires registration. The Curio service is free to most Canadian university attendees.

Length  5 minutes 11 seconds

Short summary/description

  • This video introduces robotics and artificial intelligence as aspects of knowledge-based economic development. CBC’s Havard Gould talks with Sean Mullin of the Brookfield Institute for Innovation + Entrepreneurship about how robotics and artificial intelligence could eliminate a huge number of Canadian jobs. They discuss career tips to avoid finding oneself among the 42% of Canada’s workforce that may be replaced by automation over the next 10 to 20 years.

Critical Thinking Questions

  1. With automation and job transformation in Canadian industry, which sector(s) are at risk from a job-loss perspective?
  2. Is advanced robotics part of the knowledge-based economic transformation? Explain.

 

Video 2: Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Attawapiskat water needs critical as Indigenous Services promises to help. The National [video]. Toronto, ON: CBC/Radio-Canada; 2019 Jul. 

Link       https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M278toDP0GQ.

Length  2 minutes 31 seconds

Short summary/description

  • This video highlights an Indigenous community in Northern Ontario and the plight of residents in this region due to the poor state of community infrastructure.  The tap water in the Ontario First Nation of Attawapiskat is not considered safe given high levels of a chemical byproduct produced by the chlorination process in the community’s ailing water plant. Residents are hoping the federal government supports its promise to fix the problem.

Critical Thinking Questions

  1. Several Indigenous communities in Canada experience inadequate community infrastructure. Provide two examples in Ontario.
  2. What is the connection between safe water in Canadian First Nations communities to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous peoples (UNDRIP)?

For more on this topic, see also: The Conversation. First Nations, water and the extractive economy – Ring of Fire. “Neskantaga — We love our land" [video]. Co-produced by PraxisPictures and Neskantaga First Nation; 2020 Nov 22. Available from: https://theconversation.com/mining-push-continues-despite-water-crisis-in-neskantaga-first-nation-and-ontarios-ring-of-fire-150522.

Short summary/description

  • The mining push continues in Ontario’s Ring of Fire despite the water crisis in Neskantaga First Nation. The infrastructure crises that have plagued Neskantaga First Nation for decades have reached a breaking point. On Oct. 21, the northern Anishinaabe community’s ailing water systems once again failed completely, and this time in the context of the global coronavirus pandemic.

 

Video 3: Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Robo pot: Aphria says automation key to low-cost cannabis production - How Aphria uses automation to grow pot [video]. Windsor, ON: CBC/Radio-Canada; 2018 Oct 18.

Link       https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/windsor/automation-aphria-leamington-cannabis-before-legal-marijuana-1.4857992.

Length  1 minute 9 seconds

Short summary/description

  • This video highlights the growing cannabis industry in Canada. One of Canada's largest producers believes automated machines will be the key to producing more cannabis.

Critical Thinking Questions

  1. Since cannabis legalization in Canada in 2019, the cannabis industry has grown although not without challenges. Why are some Canadian producers investing heavily in automation in cannabis production?
  2. What may be the downside to increasing automation in Canadian manufacturing?

 

Video 4: Global News. Medical robotics changing health care in Canada [video]. Global News; 2018 Mar 19.

Link       https://globalnews.ca/video/4093029/medical-robotics-changing-health-care-in-canada.

Length  3 minutes 8 seconds

Short summary/description

  • This video showcases robots and their growing use in healthcare, particularly in larger cities in Canada as knowledge-based activities expand. In operating rooms across Canada, doctors are getting high-tech help from robots that are becoming indispensable. They help surgeons be more precise, and make patients feel at ease. Allison Vuchnich reports on the changing landscape of medical robots.

Critical Thinking Questions

  1. The use of medical robots in Canadian healthcare is growing and projected job loss as a result of automation is high. Benefits from robotic surgery and other areas of medicine are obvious, but do you foresee any negative social impacts of automation? Explain.
  2. With Canada’s aging population on the rise, how may robotics support healthcare and population health in Canada?
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