Earlier this month, I had the opportunity to attend the Athens Democracy Forum as a member of the Canadian Agora delegation. The Athens Democracy Forum is an annual conference held to bring together hundreds of civil society organizations, political leaders, and policymakers from across the world to advocate for stronger democracy.  Besides the huge crowd it draws, the forum also features a significant number of notable connections and figures, including the Canadian Ambassador to Greece, Sonya Thissen, the Mayor of Athens, Haris Doukas, and the President of Spain, Pedro Sanchez. 

As I hinted at, I joined as a member of the Canadian Delegation to the Athens Democracy Forum –  a coalition of top leaders across civil society, academia, philanthropy, industry, and politics, designed to amplify Canada’s voice on the world stage. This year, we were fortunate enough to be joined by 20 student fellows from Toronto Metropolitan University, who formed our student delegation – the first of its kind at the Athens Democracy Forum. Together, our delegation participated in a week-long series of talks, panels, workshops, networking events, debates, and discussions – centring around the theme of “Building Order Out of Chaos”. 

Here are my takeaways:

• There is a strong appetite to hear what Canada thinks about democracy – Throughout the conference, delegates were extremely interested to learn I was from Canada, and that we had sent a 30+ member delegation to Athens. Carney’s Davos speech continues to strongly resonate with delegates, particularly those from Europe – who are actively adapting to a new waning US world order. There was a strong appetite from other delegates to hear about Evidence for Democracy, and the coalition’s work in the democracy space. 
• The Canadian democracy movement is building momentum – Historically, democracy-focused organizations in Canada have been scattered, often operating independently from one another on separate aspects of democracy (e.g. MediaSmarts and digital media literacy). However, over the course of the last two years, and thanks to the work of TMU’s Democratic Engagement Exchange and Apathy is Boring, isolated civil society organizations are coming together and building momentum. In my discussions with my fellow delegates, there is a strong agreement on the need to deepen relationships, and explore new partnerships and collaborations in the coming year. Be sure to mark your calendars for four upcoming events for 2027: Democracy Xchange, Canadian Vote Summit, and the Ottawa Civic Space Summit.
• Canadian democracy needs coordinated messaging and a united voice – While there is a growing momentum for democracy-focused organizations in Canada, we are facing tough times, and a federal government actively prioritizing other policy areas, including national defence, pipelines, and artificial intelligence. Our discussions revealed a strong need for our network to have a unified voice on our vision for Canadian democracy, and to better articulate what our needs are. E4D was previously a part of campaigns like the Canadian Democracy Fund, which called for a dedicated federal funding stream for democracy-focused organizations – we’ll need to continue these efforts going forward in order to keep momentum going. 

Returning back from the conference, I got a sense that Canada is truly at a crossroads. Thanks to increasingly hostile foreign actors and rapidly scaling emerging technologies, we are now at a moment where Canada needs to look outwards for allies and innovative solutions. We can no longer afford to rely on old solutions and tired approaches. The problems we face – from foreign disinformation election disinformation to coordinated political deepfakes – require innovative solutions, consistent funding, effective community engagement, and deep partnerships. 

E4D’s foundational roots are in science activism, and I think that’s something we can certainly tap into going forward. Evidence-informed decision making is a key aspect to effective governance in Canada, and more critical than ever. By engaging at the national level and beyond, E4D has the opportunity to not only build the necessary partnerships and collaborations to address these complex issues, but to showcase exactly what we can do to improve and strengthen Canada’s democracy.