Melissa Lantsman, Deputy Leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, released the following statement responding to the Liberals’ announced AI strategy:
“Canadians could be forgiven for having Deja Vu. In 2017, Canada became the first country to publish a strategy on Artificial Intelligence; nine years later, that plan hasn’t delivered any results and is now being replaced by another rhetorically ambitious illusion that lacks details on everything.
“As Carney acknowledged, privacy, safety and security are key concerns in the development of AI. Unfortunately, this strategy does nothing to address concerns about the increased invasions into Canadians’ privacy we’ve seen from the Liberals. Already, civil society and experts have come out against C-22 for its intrusions into individuals’ privacy, and the government’s legislation is now virtually unsupportable by many tech companies.
“This has been a common occurrence for the Liberals with widespread opposition to their digital regulation legislation, including Bills C-8 (Cybersecurity), C-9 (Combatting Hate Act), C-11 (An Act to amend the Broadcasting Act) and C-18 (Online News Act). So far, there are no details on what the latest legislation will look like, but if it’s anything like the last online harms legislation, it will do nothing but put Canadians’ privacy at risk.
“Another area where the Liberal strategy is big on promises but light on details is jobs. Their strategy claims they will create 90,000 jobs, yet their record in the first four months of the year is 112,000 jobs lost. For Canadian youth, it’s even worse, with 445,700 lacking a job and youth unemployment reaching 14.3 per cent.
“Canadian youth are at the biggest risk of job displacement, and they deserve a strategy that delivers adoption in a responsible way. AI should be a tool for youth entering the workforce that enhances productivity and supports jobs, not a replacement for workers.
“While the strategy claims there will be numerous programs to aid AI adoption, it once again leaves out any details. The Liberals are planning to spend $2.4 billion but can’t tell Canadians how many jobs, businesses or productivity gains this money will produce. If it’s anything like previous plans, the results will be Liberal insiders getting rich without delivering results.
“All of this should be done with a focus on making Canada more sovereign. Conservatives have long supported keeping Canadian technology in Canadian hands by expanding sovereign computing, and we believe intellectual property developed in our country should stay here. But the strategy again fails to provide details on how the Liberals will get us there, who will have legal access and what happens when things go wrong.
“Sovereignty will also require new infrastructure, including data centres, that will impose additional energy needs. Getting it built requires attracting investment, yet Liberals have failed to put forward a plan that will bring investment, other than pointing to their Sovereign Debt Fund, which also lacks any details.
“Liberals are also making it harder to invest in meeting the energy needs for AI by keeping in place the anti-development laws that block projects from being built. Canada has the ability to displace energy from hostile, authoritarian regimes, but only if we get out of our own way.
“Canadians are looking for real answers on how the future of AI will affect their safety, security, privacy and jobs. Today’s rushed announcement sadly fails to provide concrete details on how the government will protect them and their kids.
