From the desk of Regional Director Robyn Mawhinney
Hello,
Tendrils of spring are visible in our lengthening days and the songbird choir is beginning to assemble… I’m grateful winter is in the rearview mirror. This report shares news from the February Board meeting where the 2026-2029 Financial Plan was finalized, another sure sign spring is around the corner!
We’ve probably all encountered AI by now. Some large language model (LLM) AI programs are among the fastest and most comprehensive information tools on the Internet, and arguably, the most “stupid.” Have you ever been harassed by an AI-powered telephone service whose programmer neglected to include the concept of wrong numbers? Or been fed incorrect political information by an AI program that did not know which party or Prime Minister was in power? However if you want to check something like medieval canon law, to ensure the attitude of a character in the novel you’re writing accurately portrays the times: it can take seconds with ChatGPT. Everything has to be fact-checked and sources verified, but tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude remain remarkable and they’ll improve as the glitches are addressed.
My guest this morning is Dr Vered Shwartz, an Assistant Professor of Computer Science at the University of British Columbia, a CIFAR AI Chair at the Vector Institute, and the author of the book “Lost in Automatic Translation.”
Continue reading Large Language Model AI Programs: Hallucinations, Other Challenges and an Incredible Potential
By Bob Mackin, Prince George Citizen Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
The Canadian Human Rights Tribunal (CHRT) decided March 2 that the RCMP discriminated against Indigenous people who accused the Mounties of failing to properly investigate claims they were abused at Catholic-run Immaculata Elementary School in Burns Lake and Prince George College in the 1960s and 1970s.
“Accommodating the Indigenous crime complainants by ensuring they were told that they could report allegations of abuse, be given an update about the outcome of the investigation into their allegations of abuse, and not be repeatedly offered a polygraph would not have interfered with the RCMP’s duty to conduct its investigations in the public interest,” CHRT member Colleen Harrington wrote in the 145-page decision, which was originally expected in early 2025.
Harrington ruled, on a balance of probabilities, that race and national or ethnic origin were factors in “some of the adverse differential treatment or denial of service that was experienced by some of the complainants and their witnesses in relation to the RCMP’s investigations.”
Continue reading RCMP ordered to pay damages for failing to investigate Catholic school abuse claimsIn the back pages of New Scientist magazine, in a section called Almost the Last Word, readers pose questions that are then answered, usually by well-informed other readers. In the July 13, 2024 edition, someone asked, “Once life is established, is the evolution of intelligence inevitable?”
Garry Trethewey of South Australia attempted the first answer. “Probably not. Wings have evolved four times—in birds, bats, pterosaurs and insects. Legs and eyes have evolved multiple times. Swimming ability has also evolved many times. But intelligence has only evolved once, very recently. Is it useful? Is it a survival trait? Is it somehow better than not-intelligence? Given the 8 billion of us versus the vastly greater numbers of microbes and how long they have been around, I would put my money on the microbes.”
Continue reading The Quadra Project: IntelligenceMore than a month has passed since Prime Minister Mark Carney took centre stage at the World Economic Forum with a speech calling for middle powers to forge strategic partnerships across energy, food, critical minerals, finance, and supply chains – standing up to lawless superpowers pursuing their own interests. Days have elapsed since Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre addressed the Economic Club of Canada, outlining his vision for a stronger Canada. In this morning’s interview, Jennifer Lash, a former senior policy advisor for Environment Canada, compares their visions for the nation’s future.
Continue reading Canada’s Path Forward: Two Visions for a Stronger Nation
