Canadian Internet Forum (CIF) 2012 — In-Depth Report: Minutes Digest & 3-Line Summary

The 3-Line Summary

1. On 27 February 2012 the second Canadian Internet Forum (CIF) national event drew a full house at the Westin Ottawa, where CIRA presented the findings of a three-month online dialogue with Canadians.
2. Digital literacy, online security and safety, and internet policy and governance framed the day; TV entrepreneur Robert Herjavec keynoted, with ICANN board members and law professor Michael Geist on the expert panel.
3. CIRA's message — digital citizens have a duty to use their voice — became a rallying line for participatory governance, and the findings again flowed into the UN IGF, cementing the national-to-global pipeline.

Welcome — this is the Japan IGF Support Organization. This in-depth report on Canadian Internet Forum (CIF) 2012 draws on official outputs, session records and on-site reporting. In a hurry? The three lines above and the diagrams carry the gist.

Conference at a Glance (from official records)

(See the source list at the end of this article.)

Discussion Digest — from the Session Records

Key exchanges extracted from session records and transcripts.

1. Three Months of Online Dialogue — Findings and the 'Duty to Use That Voice'

Sessions: National event (27 February 2012, 9 a.m.–6 p.m., The Westin Ottawa)

"As digital citizens, we have not only a right to have our voice heard, but a duty to use that voice. The CIF provides that venue by providing Canadians with the opportunity to engage in a dialogue about how the Internet should develop."
— Byron Holland (President and CEO, CIRA) [1][2]

• CIRA ran a roughly three-month online dialogue at cif.cira.ca and presented the results at the national event [1][2]
• The online consultation spanned digital literacy, security and safety, access and cost, the digital economy, policy and governance, and technology regulation [1][2]

2. A Dragons' Den Entrepreneur Keynotes — The Internet as Business Reality

Sessions: Keynote address by Robert Herjavec

"As one of Canada's leading Internet entrepreneurs, Robert Herjavec lives the business of the Internet. He is in a great position to provide real world insight into the role the Internet plays in the lives of Canadians. (announcement of 2 February 2012)"
— Byron Holland (President and CEO, CIRA) [2][1]

• The keynote came from Robert Herjavec, the entrepreneur known from CBC's Dragons' Den and ABC's Shark Tank [2][1]
• Recruiting a celebrity businessman signalled CIRA's intent to open governance debates to ordinary citizens and the business community [2][1]

3. The Expert Panel — From ICANN Board Members to Provincial Police and Media Literacy

Sessions: Expert panel discussion

• Panellists spanned Steve Anderson (founder, OpenMedia.ca), Bertrand de La Chapelle (ICANN board), Captain Frédérick Gaudreau (Sûreté du Québec), law professor Michael Geist, Bill Graham (international internet policy consultant and ICANN board member) and Jane Tallim (Media Awareness Network) [1]
• Civil society, international institutions, law enforcement, academia and educators shared one stage — the multistakeholder model enacted at national scale [1]

4. From National Dialogue to the UN IGF — A Pipeline Takes Hold

Sessions: Outcome compilation

• Findings from the online forum and the national event were slated for presentation to the UN-coordinated Internet Governance Forum (held that year in Baku, Azerbaijan) [1][4]
• Following the 2011 white paper, the channel carrying domestic views into global debates solidified in its second year [1][4]

Three-Minute Short Talk — Your Questions Answered

Q. What did the meeting decide?

A. Nothing formally — it was where the results of a three-month online dialogue with Canadians were presented and debated. The compiled views were then carried to the UN IGF as Canada's input.

Q. What was the highlight?

A. A keynote by TV entrepreneur Robert Herjavec, plus a panel spanning two ICANN board members, law professor Michael Geist, an OpenMedia activist and a Québec police captain — multistakeholderism on one stage.

Q. Why should I care?

A. It shows a working pipeline — online consultation, national event, UN IGF — for feeding citizens' views into internet policy, a model still cited when countries design their own national IGFs.

What Is Canada IGF? (for first-time readers)

Canada IGF is a National or Regional IGF Initiative (NRI), aligning local internet governance discussion with global IGF principles.

Why It Matters to You

What was discussed here becomes the baseline for national digital policy, platform rules and AI regulation worldwide within a few years. The principles confirmed at the 2012 meeting are the foundation of the "next rules" for the phones, social platforms and AI services you use every day.

Sources & References

1. CIRA hosts national event on the future of the Internet (27 February 2012) — CIRA（CNW/newswire.ca プレスリリース） (accessed 2026-07-11)
2. Robert Herjavec to headline national event on the future of the Internet in Canada (2 February 2012) — CIRA（CNW/newswire.ca プレスリリース） (accessed 2026-07-11)
3. Canada — country report: Internet governance — APC (accessed 2026-07-11)
4. Canada IGF（NRI記録。直接アクセスは403のため検索スニペットで内容確認） — UN IGF Secretariat (accessed 2026-07-11)

Quotes are translated or condensed from the records listed above. Bracketed numbers [n] refer to the source list.

Related links

• IGF official (NRI list): https://www.intgovforum.org/en/content/national-and-regional-igf-initiatives
• Japan IGF: https://japanigf.jp/
• Yuki Nakazawa's blog: https://nkzw.jp/category/igf/

Revision History

Rev. 1 — published 14 July 2012, 12:00 (Article published)

Rev. 2 — updated 16 July 2026, 20:09 (Fully revised into the in-depth edition: added the 3-line summary, minutes digest, short talk, source list and diagrams (all quotes verified against the listed sources))

— 中澤祐樹