Jacob Beaulieu
Jacob Beaulieu works in the federal public service in data analytics and public-sector modernization, and writes on governance, public policy, and infrastructure accountability.
A health-care system should not make people sicker while they wait to receive care. Nor should it train people to avoid seeking care because they dread the ordeal of accessing it. Universal health care shouldn’t mean universal waiting. It should mean universal access to care that is timely, connected, efficient and humane.
The lesson should not be about finding one person to blame. It should be about building a system of governance in which responsibility for decisions and outcomes can never again become this difficult to locate.
Whether AI advances quality of life will depend on the choices governments, employers, and workers make together. Just as previous generations shaped the future of work, so will ours.
The chain of decisions did not begin with former mayor Jim Watson, though he bears significant responsibility for procurement and oversight failures. The first domino fell when Watson’s predecessor, Larry O’Brien, cancelled the original north–south Siemens light-rail project, scrapping years of engineering work, environmental approvals, and federal funding agreements.