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Politico
12-06-2025
- Business
- Politico
The PM finds his fixer
Presented by The Canadian Medical Association Send tips | Subscribe here | Email Canada Playbook | Follow Politico Canada Thanks for reading Canada Playbook. Let's get into it. → Ottawa Inc. lands a top executive. → Trump's man in Ottawa dodges and deflects. → 'Canada's BERNIE SANDERS' rules out a comeback. THE FIRST THING THE CAT CAME BACK — Welcome back to the fishbowl, MICHAEL SABIA. Prime Minister MARK CARNEY announced Sabia, a repeat former senior bureaucrat and longtime corporate executive, would start on July 7 as clerk of the Privy Council — a key adviser who oversees the sprawling federal bureaucracy. Sabia replaces JOHN HANNAFORD, whose expertise through the transition between JUSTIN TRUDEAU and Carney has been 'invaluable,' the PM said in the statement. Hannaford will be named a privy councilor for his decades of public service. — Saying the right things: Sabia's name was floating around office pools. His remarks at this week's Globe's Intersect 2025 conference weren't exactly a tell — but they would've landed well in the Prime Minister's Office. 'We have an ambition deficit,' the soon-to-be-former CEO of Hydro-Québec said of Canada. The former Finance DM sang from Carney's time-to-build songbook, emphasizing the importance of hard-earned Indigenous buy-in for business deals. 'There is no substitute when working on these transactions for human presence,' he said. 'Human presence leads to trust. And we don't have a lot of that right now.' → Sounds familiar: We sense a theme emerging in the PM's inner circle of advisers, where a track record of speaking Carney's language in these uncertain times is a major asset. Recall the words of MARC-ANDRÉ BLANCHARD (currently incoming PMO chief of staff) at the Public Policy Forum's April gala. 'There is no shortcut to trust,' he told a Toronto crowd. 'There is only the steady, honest, often uncelebrated, work of listening, of engaging with people who disagree with us, not thinking we know better, of standing in someone else's shoes, of doing the right thing and the right thing is often not theoretical perfection, but a good old Canadian compromise, even when it's hard.' — Crisitunity: When Sabia led the U of T's Munk School in the pandemic's earliest days, he wrote this of the way out of the crisis: 'Governments will need to lead on this. Leaving it to chance will only make the reignition process longer, more difficult and more haphazard. What's more, we would forfeit a precious opportunity to shape our future economy. Remember Rahm Emanuel's famous: 'You never want a serious crisis to go to waste.'' — From the archives: PAUL WELLS on the enterprising Mr. Sabia (2023) Trade war CAN'T CONFIRM, WON'T DENY — Nothing like the whiff of breaking news to inject steak-like sizzle into a rubber-chicken lunch. U.S. Ambassador PETE HOEKSTRA was taking the stage Wednesday at the Canadian Club of Ottawa when CBC — and then CTV — reported 'progress' and document-shuffling in talks toward a new Canada-U.S. economic and security agreement. Trump's envoy took his hand-held microphone into the crowd on the hunt for anyone with fresh intel. Château Laurier lunchers hunched over their phones to find out more. Hoekstra would not confirm any details, though he teased the possibility of a 'breaking news' moment. — More mayhem: MERCEDES STEPHENSON of Global News opened her 'fireside chat' with Hoekstra by pressing for an update. Cue more media lampooning. 'Shh. Some people said those were secret,' Hoekstra said, in reference to reports POTUS and the PM are in direct communication. 'I don't know how those would be secret. I'd hate to see if it was wide open and transparent.' — For the record: When asked for an update, a spokesperson for Canada-U.S. Trade Minister DOMINIC LEBLANC told Playbook: 'I cannot confirm anything on this matter.' — A little salty: Hoekstra did say the U.S. is 'thrilled' with Canada's plans to bump up defense spending: 'We very much appreciate that you're stepping up to the commitment that was made in 2014 by all NATO countries.' TALK OF THE TOWN DON'T CALL IT A COMEBACK — CHARLIE ANGUS may be growing a one-man grassroots movement, but he insists he's not interested in leading the New Democratic Party. Still though, he has thoughts on how he'd fix the federal orange team. — Out: TikToks and Zoom. — In: Pub nights and bean dinners. 'What we need is to make a party again that people feel like they belong to,' Angus said Wednesday on Parliament Hill. — Don't look at him: 'I will not be running for the leadership,' the former MP told reporters. — He's focused on bigger issues: Like raging against DONALD TRUMP and his policies. The former NDP MP has been mobilizing progressive Canadians, bringing them out to political rallies on his 'Elbows Up/Resistance Tour.' 'This is a unique moment for Canada because what's leading the resistance are ordinary people,' Angus said. — His declaration: Angus says the 'gangster president' is not just a political threat, but a danger to democracy. He points to Trump's relationship with VLADIMIR PUTIN and the deployment of the National Guard in California. 'This is now a clear and present danger on our border,' he said. — Gaining ground: The rallies are drawing progressives by the hundreds, according to Angus' own account and estimates in local newspapers. — There's no denying: That's more than former NDP Leader JAGMEET SINGH managed during the federal campaign. Angus called the NDP's loss under Singh an 'unmitigated disaster.' The two have not spoken since Singh lost his seat and the NDP caucus was reduced to seven. Online comments about his rallies urge Angus to return to the political scene: 'Please run for PM,' reads one. Others view the longtime lawmaker as 'Canada's BERNIE SANDERS' and 'Canadian hero.' — Seriously, Angus insists: He's moved on. 'I need to focus on Canada, and I will continue to focus full out.' ON THE HILL — Only the Bloc Québécois voted in favor of its non-binding motion calling on the government to compensate Quebecers for federal carbon rebates. The Bloc also failed to amend the motion to include British Columbia, which also administers its own carbon pricing scheme. THE ROOMS THAT MATTER — Sikh leaders will hold a press conference in West Block at 11 a.m. to discuss the PM's decision to invite Indian Prime Minister NARENDRA MODI to the G7 Summit. — Ontario Energy Minister STEPHEN LECCE will be at a Canadian Club Toronto lunch event where he'll share his 'plan to power the strongest economy in the G7.' — Emergency Management Minister ELEANOR OLSZEWSKI, Energy Minister TIM HODGSON, Indigenous Services Minister MANDY GULL-MASTY and Environment Minister JULIE DABRUSIN will hold a briefing on the 2025 wildfire season at 12:30 p.m. in the National Press Theatre. Want more POLITICO? Download our mobile app to save stories, get notifications on U.S.-Canada relations, and more. In iOS or Android . MORNING MUST-CLICKS — EMILY HAWS and BOB FIFE report that the Senate is seeking to hold hearings on Carney's bills to cut taxes, fast-track major projects. — Government House Leader Steven MacKinnon has rejected the Bloc Québécois' proposal to split Bill C-5 in two parts, the National Post reports. — On 'The Decibel' pod, SARA MOJTEHEDZADEH and host MENAKA RAMAN-WILMS discuss the 140-page Bill C-2, the Strong Borders Act. The CBC's EVAN DYER also takes a closer look at that bill. — The PBO reports that an eligible first-time homebuyer would save an average of $26,832 in sales tax on a newly built home under Ottawa's latest housing proposal, Craig Lord of The Canadian Press reports. — Former Finance Minister BILL MORNEAU told the Bloomberg Invest conference in Hong Kong that Canada should bolster ties with China to hedge against uncertainty from Trump's approach to bilateral relations. — On 'The Global Exchange' pod, Sen. PETER BOEHM and Sen. PETER HARDER — both former sherpas — explain why pursuing a consensus document at next week's G7 Summit would result in 'a race to the bottom.' — Former PM JEAN CHRÉTIEN is on the latest edition of the 'WONK' pod. — And MARK BOURRIE, who 'ruined most of 2024' writing a book on PIERRE POILIEVRE, tells readers of The Walrus why Canada has not seen the last of the former MP from Carleton. PROZONE For Pro subscribers, here's our latest policy newsletter. In other news for Pro readers: — UN treaty to protect marine species moves closer to ratification. — Cannabis users more likely to enter psychiatric intensive care, study finds. — EPA reorg puts Great Lakes research at risk, scientists say. — 'Scorched earth': Former diplomat on Trump's climate attacks. — Trump's tariffs can be enforced for now, appeals court rules. PLAYBOOKERS Birthdays: HBD to former MPs DAVE MACKENZIE and CATHY MCLEOD. SOPHIE NORMAND of Innovative Medicines Canada also celebrates, as does ANDREW MACDOUGALL of Trafalgar Strategy. Noted: The SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD statue on the front lawn of the Ontario legislature has been uncovered. Agriculture Minister HEATH MACDONALD is heading to Saskatchewan for his first official visit. Spotted: Alberta's senior rep in Ottawa, JAMES CARPENTER, flashing a thumbs up with U.S. Ambo PETE HOEKSTRA. — QP scenes: Conservative MP SCOTT AITCHISON, chatting up PM Carney before question period got underway … Carney, continuing a recent trend of sticking his hand in his jacket front pocket as he responded to opposition questions — a mannerism he shares in common with KING CHARLES III. — At Rideau Cottage for the prime minister's garden party with the Parliamentary Press Gallery: MARK CARNEY, MARJORIE MICHEL, JILL MCKNIGHT, JOËL LIGHTBOUND, JULIE DABRUSIN, MANINDER SIDHU, MÉLANIE JOLY, WAYNE LONG, RECHIE VALDEZ, ELEANOR OLSZEWSKI, JOANNE THOMPSON, STEVEN MACKINNON, GARY ANANDASANGAREE, STEPHEN FUHR, MANDY GULL-MASTY, BUCKLEY BELANGER, STEVEN GUILBEAULT, HEATH MACDONALD, PATTY HAJDU, MARC-ANDRÉ BLANCHARD and MARCO MENDICINO. — At the Pearson Centre gala honoring former Cabmin IRWIN COTLER: ANITA ANAND, JULIE DABRUSIN, MARIE-FRANCE LALONDE, RANDEEP SARAI, HELENA JACZEK, ALI EHSASSI, YVES-FRANÇOIS BLANCHET, ALEXIS BRUNELLE-DUCEPPE, ROB OLIPHANT, DARYL FRIDHANDLER, RODGER CUZNER, LESLIE CHURCH, KARINA GOULD, YASIR NAQVI, ANDREW CARDOZO, TALEEB NOORMOHAMED, ANTHONY HOUSEFATHER, GREG FERGUS, KODY BLOIS, RACHEL BENDAYAN, JUDY SGRO, ANITA VANDENBELD, MARILOU MCPHEDRAN, FARAH MOHAMED, LISA HEPFNER, JAMIL JIVANI, VINCE GASPARRO, GIOVANNA MINGARELLI, JAKE SAWATZKY, JUDY WHITE, DUNCAN WILSON, DAWN ARNOLD, DAVID LAMETTI, IDDO MOED, YULIYA KOVALIV, ROSALIE ABELLA and HARRY LAFORME. Rookie Conservative MP ROMAN BABER, lost in West Block, walking into the Liberal caucus entrance amid an ongoing meeting. AI Minister EVAN SOLOMON, hanging out with France President EMMANUEL MACRON in the Canada pavilion at the VivaTech conference in Paris. Movers and shakers: JOANNA DAFOE, a senior climate strategist and former chief to then-Environment Minister STEVEN GUILBEAULT, is leaving Parliament Hill … ANDREW BERNARDO is now principal adviser on defense and security for PAA Advisory | Conseils. Lobby watch: The Canadian Bankers Association posted a dozen May meetings with senior public servants. Among the bankers' targets: Fentanyl Czar KEVIN BROSSEAU, Canadian ambo in Washington KIRSTEN HILLMAN, New York Consul General TOM CLARK, and Superintendent of Financial Institutions PETER ROUTLEDGE. Got a document to share? A birthday coming up? Send it all our way. TRIVIA Wednesday's answer: ERNESTO ZEDILLO, president of Mexico at the time, delivered a speech in the House of Commons on June 11, 1996. Props to JOHN ECKER, JOHN PEPPER, YAROSLAV BARAN, ROBERT MCDOUGALL, JEFFREY VALOIS, KELSEY MACDONALD, RON CREARY, HUGUES THEORET, ELIZABETH BURN, PETER STUDER, DAVE PENNER, GORDON RANDALL, MARCEL MARCOTTE, MARJORY LEBRETON, MALCOLM MCKAY, JOHN ALHO and STEVEN HOGUE. Today's question: After warning voters not to expect miracles — 'I am neither God, nor the czar, nor a hero' — who was elected on this date in history? Send your answer to canadaplaybook@ Writing tomorrow's Playbook: MIKE BLANCHFIELD and MICKEY DJURIC. Canada Playbook would not happen without: Canada Editor Sue Allan, editor Willa Plank and POLITICO's Grace Maalouf.
Business Journals
02-05-2025
- Health
- Business Journals
Using AI for good: Advancing health equity and saving lives
For all its power to transform administration and innovation, AI can revolutionize equity and access to care and become a force for good in the medical field. At Intersect 2025, San Francisco General Hospital Foundation (SFGHF) CEO Kim Meredith sat down with Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center (ZSFG) Cardiologist Dr. Lucas Zier for the breakout panel, 'Using AI for Good: Advancing Health Equity and Saving Lives.' Sponsored by the San Francisco General Hospital Foundation, this presentation discussed the incredible results AI has already created here in San Francisco, including the reduction of heart failure readmission rates by 13 percent and mortality rates by six percent. The panels also discussed the potential of public-private partnerships and ways to deal with constricted federal funding. Through the Zuckerberg Patient Care and Quality Improvement Fund (ZPCQI), SFGHF has invested in Zier's research as co-founder and director of the PROSPECT Lab at ZSFG (Pioneering Research and Organizational Solutions to Promote Equitable Care through Technology) — the digital innovation team at the city's public hospital. 'Our foundation represents the potential of public-private partnership, bringing private support for this public institution. We are investing in new technologies, especially AI,' Meredith says. The patients at ZSFG are extremely diverse, making equity of access to treatment a priority. According to Meredith, 'About 40 percent of our patients are from the LatinX community, 20 percent from the Asian American community, and 15 percent are from the African American community. And more than 90 percent of all our patients benefit from some sort of public assistance.' Zier serves as Director of Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes at ZSFG and an Associate Professor at UCSF. His work with the PROSPECT Lab began in 2017, 'not because of some major technological breakthrough, but to solve a problem in our system. We had major challenges with heart failure care, particularly with elevated readmission rates. Inequities led to elevated mortality rates,' Zier explains. 'These issues put us at risk of losing $1.2 million per year of public funding.' The PROSPECT Lab initially developed AI pilots which were successful, but not scalable across ZSFG. 'We built an integrated AI model to identify our highest-risk heart failure patients with basic machine learning,' Zier says. By tailoring risk prediction to suggest specific actions, the PROSPECT Lab team reduced readmission rates by 13 percent and mortality rates by 6 percent. The new AI-driven model also eliminated significant equity gaps in outcomes for African American heart failure patients. 'By meeting the readmission metrics and retaining $1.2 million a year in public funding, we've saved the health system almost $8 million in total,' Zier says. This success has made Zier a national leader in AI and medical equity. ZSFG recently hosted leaders from 15 public hospitals across the US, including Parkland Hospital in Dallas and Grady Hospital in Atlanta, to share this new approach to saving lives. Describing what makes the Prospect Lab so unique, Zier says, 'We had a clear problem we were trying to solve, and a clear plan for improving ROI. My lab is very bullish about machine learning and AI, though we understand that we can't just flag who is high risk but must link those patients to specific workflows and plans. For example, we identified that our patients who had heart failure and were using methamphetamines were at considerable risk. So, we developed the Heart Plus clinic staffed with both heart failure and addiction medicine specialists.' The PROSPECT Lab owes much of its success to a combination of public and private funding, which Meredith endorses as a key component to successfully integrating innovation and healthcare. 'When I think of scaling, my first instinct is to start with private philanthropy,' she says, 'then work with public institutions and government to expand across the country.' Even with interest in AI at an all-time high, the current political climate poses challenges to any healthcare research, especially regarding equity and inclusion. 'Funding for health equity research is at risk right now, so other sources, including philanthropy, can step in,' says Zier. 'Health systems should not be deploying large-scale tools without a pilot to demonstrate efficacy. By starting small and expanding, researchers and providers can build the organizations they need.' The PROSPECT Lab is a case study for how AI and machine learning, when applied strategically, can make an enormous difference for healthcare providers and patients alike, even when equity is out of favor with regulators. For their visionary work, ZSFG and the PROSPECT Lab received the Bernard J. Tyson National Award for Excellence in Pursuit of Healthcare Equity in 2024. 'This project took ZSFG from the worst performing safety health system in California to one of the best, if not the very best,' says Zier.
Business Journals
02-05-2025
- Health
- Business Journals
Artificial intelligence and virtual care: Transforming healthcare delivery
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has the power to improve patient outcomes while driving down costs, and emerging AI systems have already changed doctor-patient interaction by making virtual visits and remote care significantly more convenient. But adoption of every new technology requires adherence to regulation and a measured, thoughtful approach to ensure that it can deliver what it promises to deliver. At Intersect 2025, three leading minds in healthcare, information, and legal best practices sat down to discuss their individual personal views of the challenges of AI adoption and the regulatory landscape facing AI-enabled solutions. Daniel Cody is a Health Care and Life Sciences Member at leading law firm Mintz, and he spoke about the pressing need for AI-driven solutions in medical care, saying that, 'Hospitals are stressed, especially with ongoing threats to Medicaid and other programs. So, the twin goals of improving outcomes and reducing costs are universal.' Cody went on to list key ways that AI is already improving the experience of providers and patients. 'Remote monitoring devices are more advanced, with AI capabilities. It's not just about helping folks with diabetes and chronic disease track their conditions but being predictive and giving information to their PCPs on a 24/7 basis. AI tools are also fantastic for helping radiologists evaluate images so they can diagnose and start treatment earlier.' The tools we now call AI have actually been in use for years, giving organizations a long runway to find the ideal approach. 'Five years ago, AI was called clinical decision support,' says Adnan E. Hamid, Regional Vice President and Chief Information Officer at CommonSpirit Health. 'As one of the larger Catholic healthcare systems in the nation, CommonSpirit makes sure that when we select technology, it's human centric and mission centric. The goal is to not replace but augment the human interaction between the clinician and patient.' expand To reach this goal, medical organizations must navigate an ever-evolving field of regulations. 'We have a systemwide UC AI Council and similar oversight committees, and a chief AI officer at each medical center. The UC AI Council sponsored the development of the UC Responsible AI Principles, and a publicly-available model risk assessment guide with procurement process questions built in. We offer an AI primer, and many of our education webinars are open to the public. Twenty UC policies connect to UC AI guidance, considering the many privacy and security requirements on the campus and health side,' says Noelle Vidal, Healthcare Compliance and Privacy Officer for the Office of the President of the University of California. Regulations such as HIPAA are all-important when considering whether to use an AI tool, especially since the better-known apps add user data to their own algorithms. 'When ChatGPT was released, our providers were interested in the power of generative AI,' Hamid says. 'But if you enter patient information, it's no longer private but resides as part of the tool. To ensure nobody was accessing ChatGPT from our systems, we accelerated efforts to produce our own internal generative AI tool using Google Gemini on the back end. Data and security are our IT cornerstones.' AI adds a new layer to assess. As Vidal says, "A thorough assessment can take awhile. Whenever we get a request, it goes through a multi-team scan for privacy, security, and other UC requirements, including the new AI assessment questions. An AI tool's use of data continues to evolve and change how impactful the tool will be. Every change in the technology could contradict what we negotiated earlier in a prior contract with the same vendor. We've got different teams to rank the risk of using a tool. I know it frustrates our stakeholders who want to get every innovation in quickly, but we try to balance adoption with risk prevention.' Ultimately, only the AI applications with the most practical uses are going to clear the vetting and regulatory process to change how practitioners improve the patient experience and the efficacy of healthcare. 'The targeted tools that solve real problems are going to win,' Cody says. 'They're going to ensure security and privacy compliance.' As noted by Hamid, 'the fastest way to get technology approved is to have a really good use case. If you can provide the details of how the tool will solve a problem, then users will complete that process faster. Ultimately, AI adoption is influenced by the structure and mission of the organization.'
