https://www.michaelmotala.org/brexit daily 0.75 2017-01-20 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5504a4abe4b07d289191844a/1479827921152-4GCIIMDQH3NIWVN6FGLL/Brexit.jpg Brexit https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5504a4abe4b07d289191844a/1479827921152-4GCIIMDQH3NIWVN6FGLL/Brexit.jpg Brexit https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5504a4abe4b07d289191844a/1484891331547-4C58YKOB78GCHEU62TCR/HSH.jpg Brexit - His Serene Highness Hans-Adam II So grateful I had an opportunity to meet with His Serene Highness to discuss the destruction of the Astro-Hungarian empire, and gain insight into the Imperial wisdom needed to weather the storm. A treat! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5504a4abe4b07d289191844a/1484891412783-OCVLF1X342EU59RYPD6D/Chambers.jpg Brexit - The Infamous Article 50 Case Thanks very kindly, Mr. Dominic Chambers QC, the victorious barrister in the recent Article 50 case, for sharing your insights for my investigative theis project on Brexit.   https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5504a4abe4b07d289191844a/1484891461042-GV7IQN3VJ0QIQF1YZ0RS/Maughm.jpg Brexit - Undoing Brexit Such an honour to catch up with Jolyon Maughm QC, the barrister behind the Dublin case. In essence, should he succeed, he would successfully lay the groundwork for reversing course on Article 50 and undoing Brexit. Fascinating interview. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5504a4abe4b07d289191844a/1484891495953-9W3U04E4RHXHMMQVEF9P/Remain.jpg Brexit - REMAIN It was a privilege catching up with Lucy Thomas, former Deputy Director of Stronger in Europe, to discuss the inside story of where Remain fell short and how Leave w https://www.michaelmotala.org/ft-bracken-bower-prize daily 0.75 2017-11-14 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5504a4abe4b07d289191844a/1509819169341-8W1WYDCUWUJ96F8GHVA0/FT+Bracken+Bower.png FT Bracken Bower Prize https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5504a4abe4b07d289191844a/1509819169341-8W1WYDCUWUJ96F8GHVA0/FT+Bracken+Bower.png FT Bracken Bower Prize https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5504a4abe4b07d289191844a/1509819367555-5RAB3JJG0D0O0XEGP224/Finalist.png FT Bracken Bower Prize - Finalist Click here to read the entries for the Financial Times Bracken Bower prize. Check out a copy of my entry below: THE PEER-TO-PEER SOCIAL CONTRACT How Aristotle’s Philosophy of Friendship Can Rescue the Platform Economy from Moral Meltdown By Michael Motala What do you suppose Travis Kalanick is doing in his spare time these days? Perhaps, like you, he is picking up a book on business ethics, reflecting on his meteoric rise, and spectacular fall, from the most notorious and highly-valued start-up of the past decade. Uber’s former chief executive, and the company he led and created, have been fodder for the business press for years. During Uber’s rapid expansion, as the firm went from an amateur start-up to a global player, Kalanick devised what he called a “philosophy of work” — a highly individualistic vision of meritocracy that became Uber’s corporate ethos. Kalanick’s values included “customer obsession”, “make magic”, “super-pumped”, “meritocracy and toe-stepping”, and “let builders build.” As Brad Stone writes in The Upstarts, the “values of Uber’s founder became Uber’s values.” They were emblematic of Ayn Rand’s objectivist libertarian philosophy. Kalanick’s Twitter avatar, after all, had long been the cover of Rand’s magnum opus The Fountainhead. Since its inception, the digital taxi brokerage has captured as much as 40 per cent of on-demand short distance travel market share in leading global centres like London, San Francisco, and New York. Despite Uber’s failure in the Chinese market and regulatory injunctions in cities around the world, revenues went from $6.5bn in 2016 to $20bn a year later. Emblematic of Silicon Valley’s cheating culture, instead of abiding by the rules, Uber’s rapid entrance into municipal markets has proceeded on the basis of a fait accompli. Approaching a private valuation of $70bn dollars in late 2017, as the first-mover and dominant player in the global urban transport market, Uber had surpassed its rivals. Even with an adjusted net loss of $2.8bn, investors were not deterred. The firm was well on its way to an initial public offering in 2018, securing Kalanick’s place in the pantheon of Silicon Valley titans. So what went awry? Kalanick’s professional downfall, and Uber’s fall from grace, were not the culmination of the company’s legal and regulatory fracas. All it took was a blog post, which exposed in microcosm Silicon Valley’s toxic and misogynistic cheating culture. In February 2017, Susan J Fowler, a former Uber engineer, aired allegations of sexual harassment, rampant misogyny, and gender discrimination that ultimately forced her to find another job. When Fowler’s allegations went viral, they precipitated a spate of public relations disasters including the #deleteUber campaign. A report by former US attorney-general Eric Holder later commissioned by the company’s board then put Uber’s corporate culture in the cross-hairs. Following his mother’s untimely death in a boating accident, Kalanick took a leave of absence from the company. He was then pushed out of his executive role by a bloc of unhappy investors. Shareholder litigation ensued. What was once perceived as an indomitable titan of the platform economy was soon rendered leaderless and left in disarray. In today’s platform economy, consisting of upstarts like Uber, Airbnb, Google, Amazon, and Facebook, it is clear that character, integrity, and corporate culture still matter to the consuming public — despite the fact that society has given Silicon Valley arbitrageurs a free pass because of the consumer benefits. Postulating business ethics, therefore, is not strictly a question of academic concern — it is apparent that ethical risk can and does threaten the bottom line, underscoring the need for a new approach to the peer-to-peer economy for forward-looking businesspeople. More important, failing to address emerging ethical issues pervading the rapidly growing peer-to-peer economy — ranging from privacy, to cyber security, Russian election tampering, discrimination, tax, regulatory arbitrage and poor leadership — risks de-legitimising the modern corporation as an institution deserving public imprimatur. Traditional ethical theories have failed to guide Silicon Valley’s invisible hand. Since Adam Smith pioneered the modern discipline of economics, homo economicus — the economic man — has occupied a central place in economic theory and corporate philosophy. Homo economicus is emotionless. He is governed by rational self-interest, and is motivated by the forces of pure competition. Homo economicus exists in an atomistic social world. He does not belong to a community. He has no friends. Not only is the current literature biased by individualism — its underlying philosophy ignores female perspectives in the workplace. Yet we know relationships are central to our everyday lives. They condition the way we develop, think, feel and grow. We are fundamentally interdependent. We belong to communities. Relationships are a hallmark of peer-to-peer exchange, and their authenticity has been a key to the sector’s remarkable growth despite emerging in the depths of the global economic slowdown. The current management debate forecloses the possibility of a much-needed integrative, realistic, and feminist approach to contemporary ethics in the peer-to-peer context. Given the conceptual gaps, how are we to make moral sense of our new networked digital reality? It turns out Aristotle’s oft-ignored philosophy of friendship has many of the answers. Enduring questions about the nature of human friendship provide a template for a new social contract concerning data, human relations, and transactions. Peer-to-peer exchange involves millions of consumers, and it entails new social responsibilities. To understand these responsibilities, Aristotle encourages us to view companies as communities. Within these communities, the ancient philosopher asks us to strive for excellence, integrity, good character and reasoned decision-making so we can achieve communal moral and intellectual virtues. Reinterpreting Aristotle’s philosophy of friendship, in particular, provides us with a comprehensive map for understanding the web of moral contracts that characterise the networked peer-to-peer economy. Examining 14 case studies from 2007 to 2017 at five major tech companies, my book will make the case that the gradual creep of social technology companies into our everyday lives threatens unwanted cumulative effects on the fabric of society — that is, unless we as a digital community adopt an updated moral outlook called peer-to-peer ethics and put it into practice. My book proposes a peer-to-peer social contract that will rescue the platform economy from moral meltdown. Michael Motala is a freelance writer and Joseph-Armand Bombardier Doctoral Fellow studying at the University of Toronto. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5504a4abe4b07d289191844a/1510346167847-UWB1O59G11V4ZXH5X0QM/Janklow-Nesbit.wpm_.jpg FT Bracken Bower Prize - Literary Representation I am absolutely thrilled to announce I am now represented by the premier literary agency Janklow & Nesbit Associates in New York. Representing authors like Fareed Zakaria, Chelsea Manning, Winston Churchill, Barbara Walters, Michael Moore, Carrie Fisher, and many others, I am beyond thrilled to launch the next stage of my writing career under their auspices. It has been a whirlwind week since the FT Book Awards, and I am so grateful to the Financial Times and their Management Editor Andrew Hill for opening the door to this amazing opportunity. Any queries regarding publishing and speaking engagements must now be forwarded directly to the agency. For more information and details, please visit janklowandnesbit.com and michaelmotala.com. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5504a4abe4b07d289191844a/1510676184103-C1I3Z2QENXP68TCB6HWR/Podcast.png FT Bracken Bower Prize - Podcast: how to publish a business book Check out this excellent podcast by the Financial Times on how to publish a business book. I am featured in the Q&A section, along with the two other finalists.   https://www.michaelmotala.org/businessastrust daily 0.75 2019-08-09 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5504a4abe4b07d289191844a/1565363223328-EY5TDU0GR9GVUZ3C2801/NBE+2.png New Business Ethics https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5504a4abe4b07d289191844a/1565363223328-EY5TDU0GR9GVUZ3C2801/NBE+2.png New Business Ethics https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5504a4abe4b07d289191844a/5d4d8bceae5c17000198cedd/5d4d8ce42f0d8a0001a4487b/1565363460038/ New Business Ethics - Motala on Business-as-Trust: Corporate Social Responsibility in the Era of AI The new Artificial Intelligence-powered social technology economy has disrupted local and global markets with bewildering speed. From hoteling to online dating to urban transportation, GPS-enabled location-based apps like Uber, Facebook, Amazon, and Airbnb have broken down conventional axes of economic regulation, social interaction, and commercial power. Why and how must we reimagine the normative and practical foundations of corporate social responsibility and business ethics? Current approaches such as the stockholder and stakeholder theory of corporate social responsibility are vague, abstract, indeterminate, and have little relevance to the modern economy. To move past this impasse, this lecture, which is based on a forthcoming book entitled The New Business Ethics (Routledge, 2019), argues we must reimagine corporate social responsibility in five critical ways: as a practical process of decision-making and accountability that exists to foster and maintain trust in enterprise; as a dynamic and process-relational system of interconnected institutions and agents; as a discourse ethics concerned with articulating a new universal pragmatics; as an actor-centric model of market-state relations; and as a new social constitution of the digital economy grounded in the principles of responsibility, transparency, and accountability. Michael Motala is an Ethics of Artificial Intelligence Graduate Research Fellow at the University of Toronto’s Centre for Ethics, and a PhD student studying political science. Michael’s research interests lie at the intersection of law, economics, political science, and pragmatist moral philosophy. He holds degrees from Columbia University, Osgoode Hall Law School, the London School of Economics and Political Science, and the University of Toronto’s Trinity College. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5504a4abe4b07d289191844a/1565363371214-4XY1SA7IZG2J42DT9KOQ/Screen+Shot+2019-08-09+at+11.08.50+AM.png New Business Ethics - PUBLIC LECTURE Click on the link below to see my first public lecture, delivered at the University of Toronto’s Centre for Ethics on August 7th, 2019. The lecture is in anticipation of my forthcoming book on business ethics and the new artificial intelligence economy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VuXr9ammiE&fbclid=IwAR3aes1KxYowXOsjfdXCpL3HtfWh8RBTaElbiGi65V47jAIYHC9Q0YUQwDc https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5504a4abe4b07d289191844a/1565363659846-ORYWPQN101CRKSSGOBRP/image-asset.jpeg New Business Ethics - Fairness and Equity in the Digital Age Presenting at a panel at the conference Fairness and Equity in the Digital Age, which launched the Schwartz Reisman Centre for Technology and Society at the University of Toronto. https://www.michaelmotala.org/splash daily 0.75 2022-09-30 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5504a4abe4b07d289191844a/1620425838393-SLHNAB1S0X89AEON4VYG/Screen+Shot+2021-05-07+at+6.17.08+PM.png Splash https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5504a4abe4b07d289191844a/1620424882316-EA7H6N3DCEVMONDX7BFE/detail-Aristotle-School-of-Athens-Plato-Raphael.jpg Splash https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5504a4abe4b07d289191844a/1479237934897-RMSP11VELMBPAOSH4DI6/Egale+Report.jpg Splash - PMO Implements the Just Society Report Government Action 1. Prime Minister's Office, Government of Canada, "Prime Minister Announced Special Advisor for LGBTQ2S Issues" (15 November 2016). 2. Ministry of Justice, Government of Canada "Section 159 of the Criminal Code" (15 November 2016) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5504a4abe4b07d289191844a/1447561408191-6PNHPDK0SEYFMFKXYU9O/PRESS.jpg Splash - Hong Kong's Next Magazine So happy I got to interview with Hong Kong's Next Magazine as the story was bubbling over. My quote reads: "Michael Motala, a Juris Doctor (JD) candidate at Osgoode Hall Law School, has released a detailed research paper about law and Ubernomics in the sharing economy. Michael explained Uber has succeeded so far because it has taken advantage of the existing regulatory lacuna. Their business strategy appears to seek market dominance at any cost, and address the legal and regulatory challenges once they have an established marketplace and economic leverage. That way the public interest dominates over private corporate interests, and the interests of groups like existing taxi cab operators. Michael also suggested that Uber is a sign of things to come in the digital economy, governments and regulatory authorities would benefit from closer collaboration with technology companies like Uber, coupled with high-level regulatory redesign." https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5504a4abe4b07d289191844a/1447975725316-76NHB1HSGEUTUMGNTQBU/image-asset.jpeg Splash - Selected Works See a small collection of photographs, graphic design, info graphics, and occasionally layouts. https://www.michaelmotala.org/rip-queen-elizabeth-ii daily 0.75 2022-09-08 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5504a4abe4b07d289191844a/1662661009469-X0Q36O9YVA09SP6E95ES/FcJld7qWIAA-CUu.jpeg RIP Queen Elizabeth II https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5504a4abe4b07d289191844a/1662661009469-X0Q36O9YVA09SP6E95ES/FcJld7qWIAA-CUu.jpeg RIP Queen Elizabeth II https://www.michaelmotala.org/welcome daily 1.0 2023-01-19 https://www.michaelmotala.org/publications daily 0.75 2022-11-11 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5504a4abe4b07d289191844a/e97c0894-7605-4c63-827d-099d32df4fb0/66396643135__91837BD5-2983-4BF4-BE2B-FB2C86DDD547.jpg Publications - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.michaelmotala.org/about daily 0.75 2023-06-12 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5504a4abe4b07d289191844a/ac7f9c79-7562-4e3f-a71e-1563f4992caf/Michael+Motala+Headshot.png About - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://www.michaelmotala.org/egalejustsociety daily 0.75 2022-05-20 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5504a4abe4b07d289191844a/1466104544676-CYAW0IOW78MFTC2CJ146/Daniel.jpg JUST SOCIETY REPORT https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5504a4abe4b07d289191844a/1466104544678-39MMJZBG8CTDGQ5GL6AJ/Doug.jpg JUST SOCIETY REPORT https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5504a4abe4b07d289191844a/1466104545236-ACLQBBA3A267MNTTZNP7/Michael+Reading.jpg JUST SOCIETY REPORT https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5504a4abe4b07d289191844a/1466104545277-G6XS3F8Q08DYER6AGTCE/Presenting.jpg JUST SOCIETY REPORT https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5504a4abe4b07d289191844a/1466104545437-0K6OAX8UFDY2IF0F5WKO/Supreme+Court+3.jpg JUST SOCIETY REPORT https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5504a4abe4b07d289191844a/1466104545453-KXS5QA3E4M6H713G5WPS/Supreme+Court+4.jpg JUST SOCIETY REPORT https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5504a4abe4b07d289191844a/1466104545662-T4P4ESI8P9GX4XV7O86C/Supreme+Court+5.jpg JUST SOCIETY REPORT https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5504a4abe4b07d289191844a/1466104545623-8PDEPO2Y3INLPHUEQOS9/Supreme+Court+6.jpg JUST SOCIETY REPORT https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5504a4abe4b07d289191844a/1466104545862-TGNLMEOM4PNK1ARRZX6B/Supreme+Court+7.jpg JUST SOCIETY REPORT https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5504a4abe4b07d289191844a/1466104545881-NMCZZLK17GF4EUBT0C3U/Supreme+Court+Shot+2.jpg JUST SOCIETY REPORT https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5504a4abe4b07d289191844a/1466104546068-MHSWCWRVC2G99GKOXJI7/Supreme+Court+Shot.jpg JUST SOCIETY REPORT https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5504a4abe4b07d289191844a/1466104592598-5WI3GA7SVDJ50L1ANOK6/tUURNER.jpg JUST SOCIETY REPORT https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5504a4abe4b07d289191844a/1466004088691-5QW26F8JG15CWEBZE1O5/image-asset.png JUST SOCIETY REPORT Click here to download our report [PDF] https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5504a4abe4b07d289191844a/1466003847547-14FBW5VFGWS90RHHX4W8/image-asset.png JUST SOCIETY REPORT https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5504a4abe4b07d289191844a/1466013851148-Z9COGD910VWRH6KYIDPN/image-asset.png JUST SOCIETY REPORT PRESS CONFERENCE. Watch our press conference at the Parliamentary Press Gallery. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5504a4abe4b07d289191844a/1550943032113-EGNU632VJN9SNHV5ETQZ/Legislative+Summary.png JUST SOCIETY REPORT READ ABOUT THE LEGISLATIVE ENACTMENT OF BILL C-66: AN ACT TO ESTABLISH A PROCEDURE FOR EXPUNGING HISTORICALLY UNJUST CONVICTION AND TO MAKE AMENDMENTS TO OTHER ACTS https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5504a4abe4b07d289191844a/1466009402384-UP47Q73XE4T72VI82V2V/image-asset.jpeg JUST SOCIETY REPORT AUTHOR. Maurice Tomlinson is an LGBT activist challenging anti-gay law in Jamaica. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5504a4abe4b07d289191844a/1466013367800-TOK4VZNZKDGS0B0D6G84/image-asset.jpeg JUST SOCIETY REPORT AUTHOR. R. Doug Elliott LSM is the Canadian constitutional lawyer who is responsible for same-sex marriage in Canada. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5504a4abe4b07d289191844a/73eb0beb-907d-499f-9a6c-808569ed13a6/Screen+Shot+2022-05-20+at+12.08.19+PM.png JUST SOCIETY REPORT - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5504a4abe4b07d289191844a/1466009890603-JP0ZWOY4QYX9XXZQTHSV/image-asset.jpeg JUST SOCIETY REPORT https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5504a4abe4b07d289191844a/1467042217105-84W11QWDRPVVJ64698NU/image-asset.jpeg JUST SOCIETY REPORT Prime Minister Justin Trudeau discussed the Egale report in an interview with Xtra [Links to YouTube]. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5504a4abe4b07d289191844a/1466013683276-EBE78AGN95LSSBWMXEIM/image-asset.png JUST SOCIETY REPORT AUTHOR. Michael Motala BA MSc JD('17) MA ('17) is a law student and freelance business journalist. https://www.michaelmotala.org/academicmaterials daily 0.75 2025-10-16 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5504a4abe4b07d289191844a/1466614180151-HYKINWWOEBZ7D912NRZY/image-asset.jpeg Academic Materials Canadian Tax https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5504a4abe4b07d289191844a/1478723360623-QYD1H70QXR7TT3TXPBUQ/image-asset.jpeg Academic Materials Figure 1: An icosahedral iterative scheme for solving the quintic. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5504a4abe4b07d289191844a/1466613512872-CG9X9MK9I9552EVPO0IM/SecuritiesCover Academic Materials Securities Regulation https://www.michaelmotala.org/courses daily 0.75 2022-10-08 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5504a4abe4b07d289191844a/1665246243979-EONP0E6965YCTXGJ5Y6C/unsplash-image-lUaaKCUANVI.jpg Courses - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5504a4abe4b07d289191844a/1596049729505-T11QW3KYTVYPYE7AQWM9/image-asset.jpeg Courses https://www.michaelmotala.org/schedule daily 0.75 2024-02-01