Urgent: Public opposition to 30 AI Sprint / People's Consultation on AI
by Marita Moll
Hello advisors. I just received this request to sign on to a letter
asking for more/longer/better consultation on AI. The consultation
proposed by ISED will only run 30 days. Looks like the deadline to sign
on to this letter is Oct. 30 so I will need a quick response. You can
read the letter in the link below. Individuals can sign on using the
form but I am seeking your permission to sign TC on as an organization.
I think it would also be great if we chose, as a group, to participate
in the consultation that is proposed as an alternative. This initiative
is spearheaded by Fenwick Mckelvey -- well know communications and info.
technology prof. at Concordia.
*rom:* acc-cca-L <acc-cca-l-bounces(a)mailman.ucalgary.ca> on behalf of
Fenwick Mckelvey <fenwick.mckelvey(a)concordia.ca>
*Sent:* Friday, October 24, 2025 2:12 PM
*To:* CCA Listserv <acc-cca-l(a)mailman.ucalgary.ca>
*Subject:* [acc-cca-l] Public opposition to 30 AI Sprint / People's
Consultation on AI
[△EXTERNAL]
Hi all
I'm writing to let you know about a Canada-wide civil society
initiative, spearheaded by several civil liberties and digital rights
organizations and individuals who were active on Bill 27's Artificial
Intelligence and Data Act (AIDA), to protest the federal government's
thirty-day "National Sprint" on AI, and ask if you or your organization
would be willing to sign a joint letter to that effect.
We explain in the letter, among other critiques, that thirty days is an
unreasonably short window of consultation given the far-reaching scope
and depth of AI's impacts on society; canvas the wide range of known
AI-related harms that are already evident today; and ask for a deadline
extension to February 2026. For me, the short timeline does not address
concerns raised in my own research around the lack of meaningful public
engagement on: https://www.amo-oma.ca/en/ai-policy-report/ and
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1007/s00146-024-01952-w
We are also setting up a parallel civil society process, the People's
Consultation on AI, so that those whose input should be considered but
do not have capacity to meet the government's rushed timeline, will
still have an opportunity to have their say.
The sign-on form and letter itself are available here:
https://cryptpad.fr/form/#/2/form/view/jYtfY12tSWH-oYCUGBv06BDpLm97LNcVEa...
Please note that signing the letter does not mean committing to
participating in the People's Consultation on AI, and that a French
translation will be available in the upcoming days.
If you could circulate this letter to other individuals and NGOs you
believe would be interested, in particular those who may not have been
previously involved in tech or AI issues but whose communities are or
would be impacted, that would be greatly appreciated.
Let me know if you have any questions, and thank you so much for
considering!
Be good,
Fenwick
Marita
4 months
WSIS+20 Canadian Gov. positions
by Marita Moll
Hello advisors. You may (or not) remember that, over the last year, we
have have been involved in discussions with ISED/GC re: Canadian
stakeholder positions on the WSIS+20 discussions. While all stakeholders
agreed to the importance of the multistakeholder model for internet
governance, the internet governance forum, more inclusive language,
etc., we did put forward some wording around community networks which
was accepted. But there is much more to these discussions. We now have
the official Canadian/Australian Governments' proposed amendments to the
proposed initial bargaining position on WSIS+20 known as the zero-draft
which you can look at here:
Canada and Australia_inputs to Zero Draft.pdf
<https://publicadministration.desa.un.org/sites/default/files/2021-04/2025...>
We can take some credit for the proposed changes to the following
paragraphs: (proposed deletions in red; additions/amendments in italics)
68.
We recognise the importance of digital skills and lifelong access to
digital learning opportunities, taking into account the specific
social, cultural and linguistic needs of each society and persons of
all ages and backgrounds, /and the work of communities, institutions
and individuals in developing digital skills aligned to local needs/.
76.
We recognise that development partners, including regional
development banks, and public funding have also played an important
role in financing information and communications networks and
services, particularly supporting their deployment in areas that
have been considered commercially unviable. Innovative mechanisms,
including universal access funds and community networks, have
contributed to extending connectivity in /remoter areas
//underserved, remote and rural areas./
Marita
4 months, 3 weeks
Fwd: Join us at CIGF 2025 – Canadian leadership through change on Nov. 13
by Marita Moll
This is in Ottawa but also hybrid. They are getting better at the hybrid
part. I will be attending in person. Love to see any of you there -- or
online, as needs be.
Marita
-------- Forwarded Message --------
Subject: Join us at CIGF 2025 – Canadian leadership through change on
Nov. 13
Date: Tue, 7 Oct 2025 12:07:22 -0400
From: Canadian IGF <info(a)canadianigf.ca>
Hello!
You’reinvited to the Canadian Internet Governance Forum (CIGF) 2025:
Canadian leadership through change.This free, hybrid event takes place
November 13 at the Collaboration Centre (150 Elgin St., 8th Floor) in
downtown Ottawa.
CIGF is Canada’s leading multistakeholder gathering on internet and
digital policy. This year, the program will highlight Canada’s role in
global digital governance and explore pressing topics like the future of
internet governance, digital sovereignty, cybersecurityand AI and more.
Program details:here <https://canadianigf.ca/event-details/>
Register here
<https://www.eventbrite.com/e/canadian-leadership-through-change-le-leader...>
This event is free and open to all so,please share this invitation with
folks in your network who may be interested. A French version is
appended below.
Event highlights:
* Hybrid and fully bilingual (simultaneous interpretation isavailable)
* Limited in-person capacity—early registration is encouraged
* Cocktail reception following the conference
If you have any questions, don’thesitate to reach out to me or
info(a)canadianigf.ca <mailto:nfo@canadianigf.ca>directly.
We hope to see you there!
Best regards,
CIGF Secretariate
----------
5 months
a final note re: election
by Marita Moll
Hello advisors. Just wanted to thank you all again for your support
during the CIRA election. It was quite a ride and I was happy to have
been able to strongly make my points about the need for CIRA to create
more routes for member engagement and the the need to take a strong
stance on Canadian sovereignty on the Internet. Earlier this week I sent
an open letter to the Board about the way the election unfolded for
member slate candidates, indicating just how unfair it was to everyone
who put time and energy into the process. And I urged them to finally
take some effective action against the soliciting of votes by using the
member list. Although they can't shut down the practice as it is allowed
under the Not for Profit Act, I indicated that, if this should happen
again, CIRA could use their resources to enable every candidate affected
to do a similiar one time mailing. That would erase the advantage
entirely, and I suggested CIRA would never actually have to do this once
it became a real possibility. I have suggested this before. The letter
is now in the hands of the chair. I would love to be a fly on the wall
when this is actually discussed and will keep an eye on the minutes to
see if anything was actually done about it.
Have a great Thanksgiving weekend.
Marita
5 months
Re: [Advisors] Election results
by Marita Moll
Don't worry Tracey. At this point in time, most candidates on that
member slate still have no idea the members list was used to drive
support. Most people probably rationalized it the same way you did. All
the more reason to keep fighting this practicE. I am working on my Open
Letter to the Board.
Marita
On 2025-10-02 10:40 p.m., Tracey Axelsson wrote:
> Hi Marita and everyone here.
>
> I was disappointed when I didn't see your name with the (elected)
> indicator next to it. Better Luck - next time?
> That said I am not happy that an incumbent had a boost from the
> organization. I honestly deleted the emails unread though.
>
> As a previous recipient of their grant and a person who participated
> in their social media campaign around their report on Canada's
> internet - I had thought he had merely taken advantage of My LinkedIN
> profile to build his list - maybe ChatGPT helped? Basically thought
> more about how exposed we are - well businesses largely would be to an
> AI directed scraping of the internet. I didn't think CIRA had handed
> out the emails.
>
> Crazy how easy these things can be now and our 'gutt' response to the
> invasion can simply be 'delete not opened'. Am I making sense?
>
>
> all the best, Tracey
> -----------------
> Tracey Axelsson
> Executive Director - *Vancouver Community Network (VCN)*
> 280 - 111 West Hastings Street, Vancouver, BC V6B 1H4
> t: 778.724.0241
>
> *Consider the environment before printing.*
>
> VCN offers great services to all for IT support and web development at
> very affordable rates.
> We deeply appreciate your referral of Tech|team
> <https://www.techteam.vcn.bc.ca/> & Web|team
> <https://www.webteam.vcn.bc.ca/> services.
>
> Our social enterprise work supports VCN's charitable efforts;
> providing free access to the Internet, email, and computer access to
> youth, seniors and vulnerable people in our community.
> --------------------
>
>
>
> On Thu, Oct 2, 2025 at 12:37 PM Marita Moll <mmoll(a)ca.inter.net> wrote:
>
> Well, CIRA results are out and the candidate who did the mass
> mailing won by a large margin.
>
> Matthew Gamble: 300; Marita Moll: 126; Sharon Miller: 96; Caleb
> Ogondele: 92; Keith Lawson: 86; Heather Maga: 83.
>
> I really want to thank all of you who took an active interest in
> this process. It is not a fair process, and I will, once again, be
> writing a letter to CIRA Board with suggestions on how they might
> fix this mass mailing problem within the legal parameters of the
> Not for Profit Act -- if they want to. I will share my letter and
> any other activities on this file with the list.
>
> Next CIRA activity is the Canadian Internet Governance Forum in
> November 13. It is in Ottawa and free or attend virtually. You
> don't have to be a CIRA member. The theme "Canadian Leadership
> Through Change" sounds pretty vague and uncontroversial. But quite
> a few people on the steering committee pushed for the emphasis to
> be on digital sovereignty and, if you look at the first panel
> description, you will see that coming through . I am hoping there
> will be some good exchanges on topic.
>
> Register here: Canadian Leadership Through Change | Le leadership
> canadien dans un mond Tickets, Thu, 13 Nov 2025 at 8:30 AM |
> Eventbrite
> <https://www.eventbrite.com/e/canadian-leadership-through-change-le-leader...>
>
> Marita
>
> _______________________________________________
> Advisors mailing list -- advisors(a)tc.ca
> To unsubscribe send an email to advisors-leave(a)tc.ca
>
5 months, 1 week
Election results
by Marita Moll
Well, CIRA results are out and the candidate who did the mass mailing
won by a large margin.
Matthew Gamble: 300; Marita Moll: 126; Sharon Miller: 96; Caleb
Ogondele: 92; Keith Lawson: 86; Heather Maga: 83.
I really want to thank all of you who took an active interest in this
process. It is not a fair process, and I will, once again, be writing a
letter to CIRA Board with suggestions on how they might fix this mass
mailing problem within the legal parameters of the Not for Profit Act --
if they want to. I will share my letter and any other activities on this
file with the list.
Next CIRA activity is the Canadian Internet Governance Forum in November
13. It is in Ottawa and free or attend virtually. You don't have to be a
CIRA member. The theme "Canadian Leadership Through Change" sounds
pretty vague and uncontroversial. But quite a few people on the steering
committee pushed for the emphasis to be on digital sovereignty and, if
you look at the first panel description, you will see that coming
through . I am hoping there will be some good exchanges on topic.
Register here: Canadian Leadership Through Change | Le leadership
canadien dans un mond Tickets, Thu, 13 Nov 2025 at 8:30 AM | Eventbrite
<https://www.eventbrite.com/e/canadian-leadership-through-change-le-leader...>
Marita
5 months, 1 week