Hour 2 of Ottawa Now for Tues. September 2nd, 2025

A rising number of students across Canada are struggling with bullying, poverty, and mental illness as they head back to the classroom. That’s according to the brand-new Raising Canada Report, commissioned by Children First Canada. It says more than 70 percent of Canadian youth between the ages of 12 and 17 have experienced bullying in the last year. Furthermore, over 13 percent of children were living in poverty by the end of 2024. And when we examine the data for teenagers, 1-in-5 say they’ve experienced cyberbullying in the past 12 months. We dig through the data in Hour 2 with the help of Sara Austin. She works for the charity organization who fronted this report. Shifting our attention to Canadian employment, what are the odds that a significant chunk of public service duties will be taken over by Artificial Intelligence? Prime Minister Mark Carney has talked about the idea of incorporating A.I. into Canada’s public service sector on several occasions, although it’s not clear to what degree. Nevertheless, it has public servants wondering about their long-term future. Paying us a visit to rip off that band-aid is Viet Vu, who works at Toronto Metropolitan University.