Digital policy — privacy, cybersecurity, AI, social media — was absent from Canada’s federal electoral conversation and barely mentioned in any of the party platforms. The newly elected Liberal government cannot make the same mistake and will needs to put digital issues at the centre of its cabinet.
With Canada’s economy and sovereignty under threat, this election stood out as a once-in-a-generation moment focusing on the border, trade and jobs — making technology regulation appear relatively esoteric (and secondary) by comparison. Yet, whatever existential threat our country faces, technology is at the centre of it. It will also be at the centre of the next CUSMA negotiations.
Our communications and news consumption mostly happen on foreign-owned platforms according to their prioritization rules. Our data and most of the federal government infrastructure is stored by Amazon, Microsoft and Google. Online ads and shopping are mostly operated by U.S. platforms. And week after week, we learn about privacy breaches, new surveillance tools, and collaboration of this platforms with the Trump administration’s agenda — and vice-versa.
When Canada, the United States and Mexico renegotiated our trade agreement, for the first time technology was on the bargaining table. The agreement covers a wide range of technology matters, from social media liability to cybersecurity and data protection.
For example, if a Canadian government wishes to protect health data by requiring that it is stored in Canada, this type of data localization requirement is restricted under current trade law, to the benefit of the U.S. companies and to the detriment of Canadians privacy.
We only need to look to the U.K. to see what is coming. The U.S. government is leveraging technology policy in its current trade negotiations with the U.K., threatening that the U.K. must scale back its Online Safety Act, which regulates social media platforms, in order to secure a trade deal. This reaches far beyond trade negotiations and interferes with the sovereignty of the U.K. to protect the rights and safety of its people based on British laws and values, effectively forcing U.S. free speech standards onto other countries.
The need of Canadian digital leadership goes beyond the U.S.-Canada trade war. The current reconfiguration of the geopolitical landscape is threatening the future of the internet as we know it. In upcoming negotiations, Canada needs to stand strong in the face of autocratic governments — and partner with like-minded countries to protect an open and free internet.
We urge Prime Minister Mark Carney to take on two priorities in setting up his new government.
First, at the top of the mandate letters should be the strengthening of domestic law to support the innovation economy and keep us secure. Canada currently faces a double whammy because most technology companies are foreign owned and our current laws are either out of date or non-existent to address current and future threats. This is not something that can be solved by industry self-governance or litigation. Courts are not policymakers and companies are not tasked with acting in the public interest — especially foreign actors.
When Parliament was prorogued, a suite of bills died on the Order Paper, from privacy (C-27), AI (C-27), online harms (C-63), cybersecurity and critical infrastructure (C-26), to elections (C-65). While imperfect, these bills aimed at bringing Canadian law to the 21st century and started a much-needed conversation.
The new government must urgently prioritize law and policy-making in this space, because current law is ill-equipped to protect our economy or our people. In addition, the current state of affairs put our own companies at a disadvantage. With a clear and fair play book and modern framework that allow them to innovate, our entrepreneurs could thrive in the digital economy. In the meantime, the lack of rules allows foreign companies to control the digital economy, without any of the scrutiny that Canadian innovators maybe subject to.
Second, a strong Canadian digital policy also requires a coherent whole-of-government approach. Without conversations across government agencies, proposed bills operated nonsensically — sometime appearing to overlap or in contradiction — and missed some of the bigger issues in technology law.
For instance, the ethical regulation of algorithms is frequently highlighted as a major concern. Current law and proposed reform cuts across competition, privacy, AI and online harms. They each address part of the problem, such as privacy or content moderation, but none actually take on the main issue of algorithmic accountability. This may make sense legally, but the siloed approach from a policy perspective means key threats fall through the cracks.
The next cabinet should have a digital portfolio, or at least a clear cabinet-level co-ordination mechanism to connect the various ministries leading on technology policy-making — including on the foreign policy front.
We live in a data-driven economy where technology drives both innovation and opportunity, while simultaneously posing risks to our security and fundamental rights. It’s time for our government to step up and safeguard Canadians and our economy.
We urge the Prime Minister Mark Carney to make digital policy a central pillar of its government, and a top priority in the mandate letters.
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