Maclean's November 2023

In an era where commerce knows no bounds, small business owners are seeking innovative ways to expand their reach. eBay has carved a unique niche for itself as a launchpad where entrepreneurs can access a global customer base. For more than twenty-five years, the legacy e-commerce company has evolved beyond a digital marketplace and into a partner platform equipped with the comprehensive tools and insights business owners need to thrive. “It’s inspiring to see so many Canadian businesses start small and build an enterprise on eBay,” said Garry Thaniel, General Manager, eBay Canada. “Exporting is critical for Canadian small businesses, and through our global platform, eBay sellers are connected to more than 130 million buyers across 190 markets around the world. Allowing them to not only thrive locally, but globally.”…

This month, to accompany our issue on the future of AI, Maclean’s art director Anna Minzhulina created a striking cover using AI image-making software called Imagine. Anna chose Imagine from among a bunch of other AI design programs such as Dall-E 2, Midjourney and Fotor because, frankly, it was cheap. It costs just $81 a year for a subscription, an all-you-can-create image-generation buffet. Services like Imagine are trained on massive image banks and designed to interpret users’ prompts to produce an infinite number of illustrations and designs. For almost two decades, Anna has commissioned artwork the old-fashioned way, assigning jobs to illustrators and photographers. She’s an artist herself and a firm believer in the power of human-made art. She even wrote her master’s thesis on the importance of hand-drawing. She…

TWO YEARS AGO, when Canada’s federal government made the pledge to ban sales of new combustion-engine cars and trucks by 2035, many wondered if such a lofty goal could be achieved. The announcement was backed by a series of funding incentives designed to shock drivers, automakers, and alternative fuel companies into action—with several billion dollars pledged since the initial announcement. With a penchant for automotive innovation, Volvo Cars was one of the first premium car manufacturers to announce their ambitious plans for full electrification, and long before the government mandates, planning to sell only fully electric vehicles by 2030. Today, Canada’s electric vehicle revolution is ramping up fast, with data showing a healthy new e-mobility ecosystem of drivers, car manufacturers and charging services companies that all rely on one another…

HEAT WAVE Anne Shibata Casselman’s September 2023 cover story, predicting Canada’s climate future, was a wake-up call for many readers: I am gobstruck after reading Anne Shibata Casselman’s article. Holy smoke—literally. And yet Casselman has left me with hope, despite the tragedy of this summer’s climate exhaustion, despite the catastrophe I’m seeing all around me. We can change our consumption of fossil fuels and convert to green energy, we can come together to force our government to act. The lives of our children and our grandchildren are at stake. I live in an out-of-the-way-place in southern Ontario but I will travel to rallies and protests; my old legs will march. If you breathe, you must come with me. Thank you to Casselman for opening my eyes. Now it’s time for…

CONVERSATIONS WITH THE NATION’S NEWSMAKERS EVERY NIGHT IS a blockbuster night for Shawn Levy. Coming up in the ’90s, the Montreal-born director, screenwriter and producer mastered the buttery box-office banger—think Date Night, Cheaper by the Dozen, Night at the Museum and The Pink Panther (Beyoncé’s version). Even now, it’s virtually impossible to escape his creations. Perhaps you’ve heard of Stranger Things? He produced it. Deadpool? He’s partway through directing instalment three. Star Wars? Ha! In development. Hollywood’s franchise fetish certainly shows no signs of abating, but, lately, Levy’s had to evolve his oeuvre along with a shifting industry, one disrupted by streamers; a new wave of scrappy, Macbook-owning Canadian talents; a contentious SAG-AFTRA strike and, relatedly, AI. Even the crowned emperor of family comedies is wading into more dramatic fare,…

There’s been a concerted shift in the way Indigenous peoples engage in resource development in Canada. Despite a long history of exclusion, there is now recognition of the unique and vital role Indigenous stewardship plays in managing the land and, in particular, forests. Asserting their place as stewards of the land, Indigenous peoples are actively engaging in forestry management. “This has strong implications for sustainable forest management, from economic participation and community-led land initiatives to growing stewardship,” says Paul Robitaille, senior advisor of Indigenous Relations for the Sustainable Forestry Initiative, and a citizen of the Métis Nation. “Indigenous peoples are going to take care of their place in the world. That’s a unique and important mindset to have represented and equally involved in forest management.” True reconciliation involves economic reconciliation…