Weekly Quiz: Canada Post, Court Reporting, and Campus Statements

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const title = "Weekly Quiz: Canada Post, Court Reporting, and Campus Statements"; const date = "May 23, 2026"; const data = [ { image: "https://walrus-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/img/Moscrop-CanadaPost-1800-1536x1024.jpg", title: "Canada Post Lost a Record $1.57 Billion in 2025. So What?", url: "https://thewalrus.ca/canada-post-lost-a-record-1-57-billion-in-2025-so-what/", question: "Canada Post was originally a government department before becoming a Crown corporation, a shift that’s shaped how the institution is evaluated today. In what year did this change occur?", options: [ "1962", "1974", "1981", "1993", ], answer: "1981", correct: "Canada Post exists in much the same way roadworks, the civil service, or the armed forces do. That is, to perform a function we have collectively decided should not be left entirely to the market, even if the private sector might overlap with some of its activities. Canada’s post office has operated in this spirit since 1851, more than a decade and a half before Confederation. For most of its history, it was a branch of government before being converted in 1981 into a Crown corporation—a state-owned enterprise expected to balance commercial pressures with national obligations. And the scale of those obligations is staggering.", incorrect: "Canada Post exists in much the same way roadworks, the civil service, or the armed forces do. That is, to perform a function we have collectively decided should not be left entirely to the market, even if the private sector might overlap with some of its activities. Canada’s post office has operated in this spirit since 1851, more than a decade and a half before Confederation. For most of its history, it was a branch of government before being converted in 1981 into a Crown corporation—a state-owned enterprise expected to balance commercial pressures with national obligations. And the scale of those obligations is staggering.", }, { title: "Canada Is Spending Billions on AI. Why Are Companies Still Fleeing?", url: "https://thewalrus.ca/canada-is-spending-billions-on-ai-why-are-companies-still-fleeing/", question: " As Canada searches for ways to build its AI sector, some proponents point to the precedent set by Shenzen, China’s first Special Economic Zone. What was Shenzhen prior to becoming a global technology hub?", options: [ "A textile manufacturing centre", "A mid-size factory city", "A military harbour", "A fishing village", ], answer: "A fishing village", correct: "One policy proposal that has emerged among Canadian AI builders is the creation of Special Economic Zones oriented toward AI development; these are geographically targeted regions, with zero capital gains tax on long-term technology investments. The purpose is direct: to offer venture capital an incentive structure competitive with the United States, so that incorporating in Canada is not a concession but a strategic choice. This strategy is not without precedent. Shenzhen used tax exemptions and regulatory flexibility to transform from a fishing village into a global technology hub now home to more than 2,600 AI enterprises.", incorrect: "One policy proposal that has emerged among Canadian AI builders is the creation of Special Economic Zones oriented toward AI development; these are geographically targeted regions, with zero capital gains tax on long-term technology investments. The purpose is direct: to offer venture capital an incentive structure competitive with the United States, so that incorporating in Canada is not a concession but a strategic choice. This strategy is not without precedent. Shenzhen used tax exemptions and regulatory flexibility to transform from a fishing village into a global technology hub now home to more than 2,600 AI enterprises.", }, { image: "https://walrus-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/img/WEB_OpenCourtPrinciple_MAY26_02-1536x1024.jpg", title: "In Thunder Bay, Court Reporting Is Quietly Disappearing", url: "https://thewalrus.ca/in-thunder-bay-court-reporting-is-quietly-disappearing/", question: "As courts grapple with how easily information spreads online, some legal scholars argue the justice system still depends on “practical obscurity”—the idea that public records remain difficult to access in practice. According to Osgoode Hall Law School researcher Jon Khan and associate professor Sean Rehaag, what assumption underlies “practical obscurity”?", options: [ "That most people lack the legal training needed to accurately interpret court records", "That most people are lazy and unwilling to go through an onerous access process", "That most people lose interest in court proceedings unless personally affected", "That most people value privacy over transparency in the justice system", ], answer: "That most people are lazy and unwilling to go through an onerous access process", correct: "An open secret of the open court principle is the system’s reliance on “practical obscurity”—the fact that finding information theoretically available to the public is, in practice, a pain in the neck. As Khan and Rehaag write: “Practical obscurity is premised on the idea that individuals are ultimately lazy; that they will lack the time or money to follow through with an onerous access process; or that they will not even discover the access process.” The idea is to keep bad actors from accessing sensitive information, but time and money are in increasingly short supply for media outlets too.", incorrect: "An open secret of the open court principle is the system’s reliance on “practical obscurity”—the fact that finding information theoretically available to the public is, in practice, a pain in the neck. As Khan and Rehaag write: “Practical obscurity is premised on the idea that individuals are ultimately lazy; that they will lack the time or money to follow through with an onerous access process; or that they will not even discover the access process.” The idea is to keep bad actors from accessing sensitive information, but time and money are in increasingly short supply for media outlets too.", }, { title: "As Universities Become Political Battlegrounds, They Cannot Afford to Remain Neutral", url: "https://thewalrus.ca/as-universities-become-political-battlegrounds-they-cannot-afford-to-remain-neutral/", question: "Universities increasingly face pressure to comment on sociopolitical issues. According to author and philosophy professor Shannon Dea’s “proximity model”—which is based, in part, on the Kalven Report’s approach to institutional neutrality and exceptions—when should universities issue public statements?", options: [ "When there is clear consensus among university leadership", "When the sociopolitical issue in question is related to academic freedom", "When universities are morally or materially implicated in an issue", "When a majority of campus communities demand a statement", ], answer: "When universities are morally or materially implicated in an issue", correct: "There were two exceptions to institutional neutrality carved out in the University of Chicago’s 1967 Kalven Report: first, the university may oppose threats to “the very mission of the university and its values of free inquiry,” and second, the university may need to carefully assess the consequences of “university ownership of property, its receipt of funds, its awarding of honors, its membership in other organizations” when these activities are “incompatible with paramount social values.” These exceptions provide the foundation for what Dea calls the “proximity model.” Public statements by universities should be undertaken with considerable restraint since they risk interfering with the academic mission. Since they need to be sparing about public statements, they should reserve such statements for proximate matters—that is, matters in which they are morally or materially implicated.", incorrect: "There were two exceptions to institutional neutrality carved out in the University of Chicago’s 1967 Kalven Report: first, the university may oppose threats to “the very mission of the university and its values of free inquiry,” and second, the university may need to carefully assess the consequences of “university ownership of property, its receipt of funds, its awarding of honors, its membership in other organizations” when these activities are “incompatible with paramount social values.” These exceptions provide the foundation for what Dea calls the “proximity model.” Public statements by universities should be undertaken with considerable restraint since they risk interfering with the academic mission. Since they need to be sparing about public statements, they should reserve such statements for proximate matters—that is, matters in which they are morally or materially implicated.", }, ];