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How the heck do you follow television host and author Rick Mercer on stage after he's given the most riveting, hilarious, thought-provoking and patriot rant ever? That's all that kept going through my head on Tuesday as I sat through his IAPP Canada Privacy Symposium 2025 keynote and knew I had to somehow make the link between his rant and our profession with over 1,000 people in the audience.
At the end of the day, however, there were actually many parallels and lessons to derive. Take ethical and reasonable chances. Don't be the office of "no." Be as Canadian as possible at all times, and respect but don't try to be American, British or French — or anyone else.
All these qualities translate into how our privacy, artificial intelligence and cybersecurity profession has evolved in this country. If you were there, you know that at one point in his speech Mercer spoke about a pigeon flying into his mouth. What's the lesson there? No matter how much we plan, organize and analyze things, there are always variables that pop up that catch us off guard and force us to change course — and run to the drug store to buy emergency mouth wash.
In the past few days since the Symposium, my inbox has been filled with notes from people saying how much they appreciated the conference, emphasizing how much they got out of it.
In my opening remarks to the conference, I spoke about my gratitude to be part of this community and to be part of this amazing and unique annual conference in Canada. After receiving these thoughtful emails, I'm reminded again that this sense of gratitude is not an isolated occurrence. I think many, if not all of us in our community, feel pretty grateful to be part of a profession that is inclusive, welcoming, encouraging and willing to face the challenges of our future with thoughtful and ethical principles in mind.
By the way, the idea of incorporating the grateful aspects to my life and profession came moments before getting on the stage because my wonderful and beautiful partner, Anne-Marie, gave me the idea to speak from my heart, to speak to my gratitude. Thank you, Anne-Marie.
Speaking of gratefulness, I can't even start to list all the great sessions and keynotes and networking opportunities this past week gave us. One of the things that stood out: the rise of the next generation of professionals willing to embark on and keep going on this journey. About 30% were attending for the first time and there were also over 25 students there, whom the IAPP had awarded scholarships to. To see them interacting with the senior pros in our field, including commissioners and their staff was telling. We have a bold, bright and determined class of new(er) professionals ready and willing to help lead through challenging times.
Another thing I'm hugely grateful for this week is the IAPP staff that made the Canadian Symposium happen. I'd list them by name, but the list would be too long and, quite frankly, I know some of them don't like to be called out. Their humility and hard work is something I admire tremendously. Please raise a very Canadian bloody Caesar toast to this excellent crew.
Kris Klein, CIPP/C, CIPM, FIP, is the managing director, Canada, for the IAPP.
This article originally appeared in the Canada Dashboard Digest, a free weekly IAPP newsletter. Subscriptions to this and other IAPP newsletters can be found here.
