A recently disclosed police report provides a somber outlook about Canada's future, highlighting concerning trends such as climate change, the spread of misinformation, declining trust in government and the looming threat of a worldwide economic downturn.
"The global community has experienced a series of crises, with COVID-19, supply-chain issues, and the Russian invasion of Ukraine all sending shockwaves throughout the world. The situation will probably deteriorate further in the next five years, as the early effects of climate change and a global recession add their weight to the ongoing crises," said the report by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).
The nine-page, highly censored, report, "Whole-of-government five year trends in Canada," highlights changes in domestic and international landscapes that may affect the Canadian government and the RCMP.
Noting that the "geopolitical, economic, social, technological, and environmental shifts" included in the report are "complex and continue to evolve," it warned that "they can disrupt or redefine law enforcement work and operations in unexpected ways."
"Both minor and major shifts have the potential to cause multi-faceted disruptive change across the organization," it said.
Quoting French President Emmanuel Macron on "the end of abundance," the declassified report from 2023 noted that "future economic forecasts are 'bleak.'"
In part titled, "Popular Resentment," the report paints a grim picture, especially for the younger generations in Canada.
"The coming period of recession will also accelerate the decline in living standards that the younger generations have already witnessed compared to earlier generations," it said, adding that "many Canadians under 35 are unlikely ever to be able to buy a place to live."
On the use of artificial intelligence, the RCMP report notes particular concern about "deepfake" in the next five years.
It further notes the possibility of "quantum computing" also becoming available in the next five years.
Other major titles in the report are about environmental changes, as it notes that "Canada is facing a wider array of complex environmental challenges than at any point in its history."
"Over the course of the next five years, environmental scientists expect that increasingly violent and even concurrent storms, worsening drought, floods and persistent heat waves all over the globe will reduce the global output of a variety of commodities," it said.
The report also warns that law enforcement must prepare for destructive weather patterns that will affect government operations, causing infrastructure damage, pressure to cede Arctic territory and other challenges.
