People involved with politics make good actors, someone once said.

But do actors make for good politicians?

Yes and no. When we Canadians get asked a question like that, we immediately think about one Justin Pierre James Trudeau, PC, MP.

Canada’s prime minister did a lot acting, as the Conservative Party never tires of reminding us. And Trudeau was indeed an actor.

He even has his own IMDB page, where we are informed that Trudeau was the star of a film called — ironically, given what he and we have been preoccupied with, lately — The Great War. In that 2007 CBC mini-series, Trudeau portrayed Talbot Papineau, a soldier.

The similarities between Papineau and Trudeau are rather striking. Just like Trudeau, Papineau had an English mother from far away — and his father was French, and involved in politics, and the leader of a political party. Just like Trudeau, Papineau was effortlessly bilingual, and studied at McGill University in Montreal.

But there the similarities end. Papineau enlisted, and was killed during shelling at the Battle of Passchendaele, near Ypres, Belgium. He was a true Canadian military hero.

Trudeau never enlisted, never fought in a war, and — as most of our NATO allies now grimly note — has presided over a historic hollowing-out of the Canadian military.

Until a couple weeks ago, Trudeau wasn’t much of an actor. He was, as a female friend once observed, the national yoga instructor — all breathy and moist, all tone but never content. Stretch, Canada. Stretch.

And then, the war happened.

I believe that Trudeau, and the world, changed on the evening of Feb. 24, 2022. On that evening, a day after fascist leader Vladimir Putin invaded, Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy appeared before European leaders via a flickering video link.

As the Europeans sat in suits and ties in a well-appointed Brussels boardroom, Zelenskyy seemed to be in a bunker somewhere in Ukraine, wearing stubble and his ubiquitous military-green T-shirt.

“This may be the last time you see me alive,” Zelenskyy said, and renewed his plea for more weapons and sanctions.

The New York Times takes it from there: “When the leaders emerged from the room, they were visibly shaken. Some described Zelenskyy’s appearance as a catalyst and a game-changer.”

It was. Within hours, the Europeans — and the Canadians, and the Americans, and much of the world — froze the personal accounts of Putin and his cabal, and expelled Russia from the global banking system. The civilized world came together, spurred into action by the powerful words of one man.

Was Zelenskyy’s appearance a performance? An act? Perhaps. Maybe. Like Trudeau, he used to be an actor, something Putin’s Satanic propaganda machine never tired of reminding us. He was on the Ukrainian version of Dancing With The Stars, wearing fringe and hot pink. He was the voice of Paddington Bear, in the Ukrainian version of that children’s film. He did stand-up comedy.

And now? Well, now, Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy isn’t just the leader of Ukraine. He is the leader of the free world, basically. With his for-the-ages refusal to leave his homeland — “I don’t need a ride, I need more ammunition,” he told the Americans who offered him safe passage out of Ukraine — he has won the hearts and minds of all of us who cherish democracy and decency.

Did Trudeau witness Zelenskyy’s appearance, his performance, on the night of Feb. 24? Perhaps. Maybe. He certainly would have heard all about it, by now.

And, as with so many others, I believe it has changed him. Gone is the glib, smirking yoga instructor. In its place, a serious, sober leader. For once.

Is Justin Trudeau an actor? Of course he is. So is everyone in politics.

And being an attentive understudy to Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy?

There are worse roles.

— Warren Kinsella was special assistant to Jean Chretien.

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Do you think Vladimir Putin spies on his employees?

Of course he does. He’s literally a former KGB spy. And Putin has established a vast surveillance infrastructure in Russia — which he uses to squash dissent and crush his critics.

Being spied on by your superiors is never, ever good — in Russia or anywhere else. But is it against the law in Canada?

The answer may surprise you: Not so much.

Now, in Ontario, Labour Minister Monte McNaughton has initiated a raft of legislation to foster a better employer-employee relationship. Among McNaughton’s changes: A worker’s bill of rights, to prevent bosses from imposing on workers’ personal time — and a ban of non-compete clauses, which have the effect of trapping employees hoping to find a new job.

McNaughton’s ministry has won accolades from labour organizations — one of which, full disclosure, my firm represents — for his efforts to protect workers from intrusive and/or bullying bosses.

But what about Canada-wide? Are workers currently protected from being spied on by their employers, online and off?

If Liberal MP Michael Coteau has his way, they will be.

Coteau represents a Toronto-area riding. He’s also been a senior minister at the provincial level under past Liberal governments. And Coteau is this week bringing forward a legislative package to prevent employers from spying on their workers, anywhere in Canada.

“I’m doing this because there has been a huge growth in employer monitoring of employees who work from home — and there are virtually no protections for employees, no rules for employee consent, no rules about data storage.” says Coteau.

“Is your boss spying on you at home? As creepy as it sounds, it is happening more and more. Over the past two years there has been a massive growth in employee monitoring software and no one is talking about this. I think we need to do something about it.”

Privacy rules across Canada are a patchwork of laws and regulations — many of which never anticipated the sort of software that companies can now use to monitor employees after-hours. Over the course of pandemic, Coteau says, “there’s been a huge increase in employer surveillance of employees who work from home, and without privacy protections or consent.”

“Surveillance technology,” as it’s sometimes called, isn’t anything new. Workers at warehouses or those who do so-called gig work have long been the targets of high-tech that is welded to track their whereabouts, and what they are doing.

But, in the past two years, such technology has become more and more sophisticated — and more and more intrusive, says Coteau. As a Ryerson University Leadership Lab report said last year, “digital technologies played a critical role in connecting employers with employees beyond the physical workplace and into employees’ homes (during the COVID-19 pandemic).” The problem, however, is that the new software didn’t just allow employees to work remotely. “It also enabled employers to track, monitor and analyze workers,” said the report’s authors.

So, if your iPhone can access sensitive work documents when you’re at home, your boss may also be able to see what’s on your phone — or tablet, or desktop computer. Remote access sometimes works two ways, giving you access to work stuff. But it may also be giving your boss full access to what you are doing after-hours.

Coteau has support from MPs across the political spectrum. And he intends to bring forward his package next week.

Says the MP: “I’ll be working with my colleagues in the House — and other legislators and key opinion leaders across Canada — to bring forward a comprehensive package, including a Private Members’ Bill, to address the issue.”

“Should your boss be able to turn your camera on and watch you at home without your knowledge? I say no way!”

Us, too. We don’t need Vladimir Putin’s approach to privacy.

In Canada, or anywhere.

— Kinsella is a lawyer and has been an adjunct professor of law at the University of Calgary

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