Digital Sovereignty: Why Control, Continuity, and Lawful Authority Matter for Canada's Data Future

In this episode of CGE Radio , host J. Richard Jones sits down with Craig McLellan , Founder & CEO of ThinkOn , one of Canada's leading voices in secure cloud infrastructure, sovereign data protection, and resilient digital systems. As organizations increasingly rely on global cloud platforms, AI tools, and cross-border data services, a critical question emerges: Who truly controls your data? Craig explains why data sovereignty has become a strategic business issue—not just for governments, but for every Canadian organization that depends on digital infrastructure. Drawing on more than 25 years of experience in technology innovation and security, Craig breaks down the growing importance of maintaining lawful authority, operational continuity, and strategic independence over data, systems, and digital assets. He also explores the broader concept of digital sovereignty , including how infrastructure, software, networks, storage, algorithms, metadata, tokens, and encryption keys all play a role in protecting national and organizational interests. Listeners will gain practical insights into how businesses can balance innovation with control, leverage cloud technology responsibly, and ask the right questions before handing critical information to vendors or third-party platforms. About the Guest: Craig McLellan is the Founder and CEO of ThinkOn, a Canadian-owned cloud services provider recognized for leadership in sovereign cloud infrastructure and secure data protection. Under his leadership, ThinkOn has been named one of Canada's fastest-growing companies by Deloitte's Technology Fast 50™ and The Globe and Mail's Report on Business, and was recognized by Broadcom as Sovereign Cloud Provider for the Americas. In This Episode, We Explore: What data sovereignty really means for everyday business owners Why Canada's digital independence matters now more than ever The hidden risks of storing data with hyperscalers like AWS and Azure AI sovereignty risks when proprietary data enters third-party models Why metadata, tokens, and encryption keys matter as much as the data itself How to balance sovereignty with the benefits of global cloud infrastructure What to ask vendors before signing SaaS or cloud contracts How different national approaches to digital sovereignty impact global business

You can listen to Digital Sovereignty: Why Control, Continuity, and Lawful Authority Matter for Canada's Data Future online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Digital Sovereignty: Why Control, Continuity, and Lawful Authority Matter for Canada's Data Future is an episode from Canadian Government Executive Radio by Laskey Hart.

This episode is 24:34 long.

This episode was published on Apr 29, 2026.

Yes. Use the heart button on the episode page to add it to your favorite episodes list.

Yes. This page shows related episodes from Canadian Government Executive Radio when more episodes are available from the podcast feed.