Update from People's Consultation on AI
by Marita Moll
Hello advisors. All submissions to the People's Consultation are now
on-line and, as per *e-mail below,* notices with links have been sent to
numerous government departments and agencies whose mandates touch the
topics addressed. Our submission is among 12 identified as
micro-consultations. There is also a group of submissions identified as
coming from organizations as well as another group from individuals. I
took a quick browse through some of the submissions. Many expressed
similiar issues -- governance, regulation, environmental, privacy,
copyright. In the ones I checked, I didn't see any taking the discussion
to a higher level like ownership of digital simulations, developing
skills in dialogue with an AI agent, built in biases, etc. I think we
did a pretty good job on this one and presented some unique
perspectives. Thanks very much to all who participated. I qill get Ian
to upload this to our website.
See e-mail below for more info and links.
Marita
-------- Forwarded Message --------
Subject: Submissions from the People's Consultation on AI
Date: Mon, 30 Mar 2026 08:01:17 -0400
From: Cynthia Khoo <cynthia(a)citizenlab.ca>
To: pm(a)pm.gc.ca, mark.carney(a)parl.gc.ca, melanie.joly(a)ised-isde.gc.ca,
ministeraidi-ministreiain(a)ised-isde.gc.ca, ised-isde(a)ised-isde.gc.ca
CC: anita.anand(a)international.gc.ca, hon.marc.miller(a)pch.gc.ca,
mcu(a)justice.gc.ca, Samir.Chhabra(a)ised-isde.gc.ca, ridr(a)sen.parl.gc.ca,
trcm(a)sen.parl.gc.ca, ~Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics/Accès à
l'information, protection des renseignements personnels et éthique
<ETHI(a)parl.gc.ca>, INDU(a)parl.gc.ca, CHPC(a)parl.gc.ca,
ai-ia(a)tbs-sct.gc.ca, info(a)pco-bcp.gc.ca
To the *Right Hon Mark Carney*, Prime Minister of Canada; the *Hon
Mélanie Joly*, Minister of Industry; and the *Hon Evan Solomon*,
Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Innovation,
(cc: the *Hon Anita Anand*, Minister of Foreign Affairs; the *Hon Marc
Miller*, Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture; the *Hon Sean
Fraser*, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada; *Samir
Chhabra*, Director General, Marketplace Framework Policy Branch,
Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada; Clerks of the
Senate Standing Committees on Human Rights (*Caroline Woodward, HUMA*)
and Transport and Communications (*Andrea Mugny, TRCM*); Clerks of the
House of Commons Standing Committees on Access to Information, Privacy
and Ethics (*Nancy Vohl, ETHI*), Industry and Technology (*Miriam
Burke, INDU*), and Canadian Heritage (*Jean-François Pagé, CHPC*); the
*Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat's Responsible Data and AI team*;
and the *Privy Council Office*)
(bcc: Members of the PCAI Ad Hoc Working Group and Authors of
Submissions to the PCAI)
Following on the joint civil society and human rights open letter
<https://bccla.org/policy-submission/open-letter-to-the-minister-of-artifi...>
submitted to the National AI Strategy Consultation
<https://ised-isde.canada.ca/site/ised/en/public-consultations/next-chapte...>
in October 2025, we are forwarding to you, in multiple formats, a
package containing the submissions received by the People's Consultation
on AI <https://www.peoplesaiconsultation.ca/> (PCAI). The PCAI was
originally announced in the open letter, was launched in
<https://ccla.org/press-release/civil-society-innitiative-announces-public...>
January 2026 <https://iclmg.ca/ai-peoples-consultation-launch/>, and ran
<https://fipa.bc.ca/fipa-peoples-consultation-on-ai> until March 23,
2026. Please find the submissions linked below, as well as attached in
two .zip files (grouped into English and French).
These submissions provide informed and substantive comments and
recommendations regarding how the Canadian government should approach
artificial intelligence, from human rights and civil liberties experts
and advocates, AI and technology workers and researchers, key civil
society organizations and impacted communities, including historically
marginalized groups, and concerned constituents. Participants were
provided with resources
<https://www.peoplesaiconsultation.ca/resources/> and optional
consultation questions
<https://www.peoplesaiconsultation.ca/advanced-consultation-guide/>
tailored to varying levels
<https://www.peoplesaiconsultation.ca/how-to-participate/> of
familiarity with AI issues, and represent a range of interests, areas of
expertise, and perspectives across Canada.
Critically, the views of these stakeholders were _not_ part of the
"national sprint" held in October 2025, due to lack of capacity and out
of protest for the reasons stated in the open letter
<https://pencanada.ca/news/open-letter-to-the-minister-of-artificial-intel...> (now
at 275 signatories
<https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Som6U8ksbI7a0rlO3Boj9CioyF_0eIf0/edit...>).
We hope that these submissions—several resulting from locally
<https://luma.com/9b8a404r> facilitated
<https://www.forourkids.ca/ai_consultation> community
<https://openroboethics.org/community-roundtable-contributing-to-canadas-p...>
micro-consultations <https://luma.com/peoplesAI>—will be duly considered
and taken into account for any forthcoming or future legislation or
other law- or policy-making processes related to AI technologies.
*Submissions Posted on PCAI Website:*
https://www.peoplesaiconsultation.ca/submissions
*Submissions in Shared Folder:
*https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/j5ee0rx3k12ov251prbpy/AHsKZsCUC27ROv7URNiLjhk?rlkey=n1jtdvk8wt34s3crhtdxetily&st=z3a5i47a&dl=0
<https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/j5ee0rx3k12ov251prbpy/AHsKZsCUC27ROv7URNiL...>
*PCAI Consultation Guides:*
https://www.peoplesaiconsultation.ca/how-to-participate/
We would appreciate acknowledgement that these submissions have been
received, if possible, and thank you very much.
Best,
Cynthia Khoo / on behalf of the PCAI Ad Hoc Working Group /(members
listed on website homepage <https://www.peoplesaiconsultation.ca/>) /
PCAI_English Submissions_March 2026.zip
<https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pFo52H_JoelB6dhwf7yZNC7wrrRunnZ-/view?us...>
PCAI_French Submissions_March 2026.zip
<https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ZSlEJZwmjTsUvDFWda53Yf5fRS7MKjJd/view?us...>
--
*Cynthia Khoo*
*Senior Fellow | Citizen Lab*
cynthia(a)citizenlab.ca <mailto:cynthia@citizenlab.ca> | @cyn-k
<https://bsky.app/profile/cyn-k.bsky.social>
citizenlab.ca <http://citizenlab.ca>
Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy
University of Toronto
315 Bloor Street West, Toronto, ON M5S 0A7
5 months, 2 weeks
Re: [Advisors] Signal49 article: The Digital Dividend: The Economic Potential of Canada’s Data Sovereignty
by Garth Graham
Thanks Chris. That’s a reasonable take, and one more sign of a growing awareness of a problem that needs new perspectives. It does prompt me to make two comments:
1. In its focus on economic potential, the article assumes the key actors in the emergence of Canada’s data sovereignty strategy should be “firms.” Elsewhere, I’ve argued that the starting point, and real societal issue, is individual digital autonomy, not just data sovereignty as a matter of national economic development.
2. In paragraph 2, I note the phrase “purposeful innovation.” I believe that to be an oxymoron. There’s many ways of understanding organizational change. But there’s one description that seems meaningful to me. Change occurs because someone says “I can’t stand this anymore,” and acts to change it. It is individuals acting as catalysts in the context of self-organizing communities of practice that cause organizational change. Management’s purposefulness mostly seeks to control. All the more reason to ensure the digital autonomy of the individual.
GG
> On Mar 24, 2026, at 8:16 AM, Cope, Chris <Chris.Cope(a)ottawa.ca> wrote:
>
> Thought you might like to read another position taken on Digital Sovereignty: “Data is not the destination.”
> Cheers
>
> Chris Cope
5 months, 3 weeks
We become digital serfs, and it sucks.
by Garth Graham
Re: Vass Bedna. As U.S. state and Big Tech become one, we become digital serfs, and it sucks. The Globe and Mail, March 12, 2026
I ask myself, if “Canada” gained the national digital sovereignty outlined in the attached essay, and therefore had the same capacity for surveillance of Canadians as US corporations now do, what difference would it make to me? While I agree with the red flags raised in this article enough to contribute it to our discussions, I feel the need to outline what I expect remains a contrary and perhaps naïve opinion. To me, the real societal issue is individual digital autonomy, not just Canadian digital sovereignty as a matter of national security.
Beginning in 1992, as the Internet emerged and I became involved in community networking, I have frequently stated that the online simulation of me through data collection is an extension of myself. Therefore, it must belong to me, not to the agencies that collect the data that makes it possible. Data about me as their property makes me a consumer, not a person. In the early days of the Internet, there was a debate about this, under the awkward heading of user-centric digital identity. That debate faded from sight, largely because the corporations participating in it didn’t want it to succeed. As artificial intelligence magnifies the capacity to simulate my identity by many orders of magnitude, that debate, under the heading of individual digital autonomy, needs to re-emerge.
When technological advances cause major societal changes, the language used to anticipate the consequences is the one describing the existing technologies affecting the organization of society. A simple way to express this is how we referred to automobiles as horseless carriages, understanding them in terms of the existing transportation system, not the one about to extend the possibilities of transportation into entirely different phase spaces of land use and social organization. It is only now that we are leaving it that we have a vocabulary to describe the societal and environmental consequences of living in a car culture. To reframe our understanding of what is happening to us, we have to evolve a new vocabulary.
It seems to me that the context for applied imagination, origination, creation, invention, authorship, and even learning is rapidly changing. As a consequence, maybe we should consider that the assumptions behind the ideas of copyright, privacy and intellectual property are now becoming the equivalent of the horseless carriage? While I admit that I don’t have the capacity to frame the necessary new language to anticipate the changes on their own terms, I believe that insisting on individual digital autonomy in the ownership of the simulation of myself highlights those changes in a way that is useful in making a start.
Digital serfs of the world, arise! You have nothing to lose in a redefinition of the way your efforts are rewarded.
GG
6 months
AI recommendations
by Marita Moll
Hello all. Our AI paper is long but there is a recommendation section at
the end which I have reproduced below. Please take a look at what has
ended up there and let me know if this resonates with you or are there
things that need changing.
1.
/Do you have specific recommendations for lawmakers, policymakers,
or anyone else in a position of power (e.g., school boards,
employers, law enforcement, journalists) to implement when it comes
to any of the things you discussed above? If so, explain them here./
*
*Engage in multistakeholder collaboration to manage risks
internationally**: *Canada should take a leadership role in
advocating for multistakeholder governance and collaboration at the
international level in the development and use of this
transformative technology. What emerges must remain consistent with
agreed upon values. Government, private sector, civil society and
collaborative technical communities should agree on collectively
managing the risks and setting the rules and standards around AI.
*
*Reduce foreign dependency by focussing on Canadian innovation and
content: * The world of AI will increasingly feed upon itself. We
can't stop this but at least we could try to mitigate this by having
some models created in Canada. We would recommend an approach that
advocates for the leveraging of Canada's own considerable expertise
in AI with the need for digital sovereignty, attention to accuracy,
lower barriers to access, and the use of open source models to
maximize transparency. It could make access to AI models not
controlled by foreign bodies available to more people. Canada has
the resources to do this, but has not yet started work in this area.
This is all the more important as the growing call for more
regulation and rules around AI are well meaning but directed to
megacorporations based elsewhere over whom our power is extremely
limited.
*
*Support community-based digital infrastructure models: *In the face
of AI domination by foreign behemoths, Canada should encourage the
developmentof decentralized, localized AI models and infrastructures
that can be better managed and trained from trustworthy sources.
*
A*ctively support open access and open source projects: *Canada
should welcome the efforts of various actors in providing open
access and open source AI models, and indeed it should contribute to
this pool of knowledge, Just as the internet runs best (and maybe
could only run) on open source software such as Linux, AI needs more
openness and transparency as a matter of both public trust and
regulation enforceability.
*
*Support national education programs:***Invest in public AI literacy
and increased awareness. To strengthen informed participation in
democratic oversight and public ability to use AI tools in a safe
and effective manner, support national education programs and new
spaces for discussion of its long-term effects.
*
*Assess environmental impacts: *Require environmental impact
disclosures for large-scale AI infrastructure.
*
*Reimage intellectual property: *Support discussions, national and
international, to reestablish a mechanism for copyright recognition
in the world of large language models.
*
*Seek out and support community focussed AI users/groups: *As AI
evolves, there are people and groups (early adopters) who will
embrace AI’s nature on its own terms and use it imaginatively to
beneficially evolve themselves and their relationships with those
around them. All new communication technologies have passed through
such an early adaptor phase when communal benefits were emphasized.
This is where public broadcasting originated and community networks
focused on social action which emerged well before corporations saw
that demand for internet access was an economic opportunity.
Thanks
Marita
6 months, 1 week
CIRA engagement platform and member survey
by Marita Moll
Hi advisors. I wanted to remind everyone who is a CIRA member that there
is still time to communicate your thoughts to CIRA through the new
engagement platform -- *see share your views below*. There is also a
member satisfaction survey.
The member engagement survey is the most important of these two, if you
have to choose. Takes a bit of time but well worth it. I note that only
71 people have engaged with this so far and only 5-6 have actually made
comments. It takes a bit of time, but I have been through it several
times, sometimes modifying my answers and comments. I hope some more
people show up.
Marita
*
*
*Reminder: annual member satisfaction survey*
ICYMI – our annual member satisfaction survey runs until March 12. Don’t
miss your opportunity to have your voice heard.
Complete the survey
<https://cira.informz.net/z/cjUucD9taT0zNTY4ODM5JnA9MSZ1PTUxNTYzNzY4OCZsaT...>
------------------------------------------------------------------------
*Share and compare your thoughts on CIRA*
ICYMI - we’ve partnered with Cocoriko, a Canadian-based engagement
platform designed to encourage and capture a diversity of views. Share
your feelings on CIRA, our work and mission by March 14 and instantly
see how your opinion compares with other members of the community.
Share your views
<https://cira.informz.net/z/cjUucD9taT0zNTY4ODM5JnA9MSZ1PTUxNTYzNzY4OCZsaT...>
6 months, 1 week
Re: [Advisors] Draft doc. ftcor AI consultation - response from GG
by Marita Moll
Thanks Garth for giving the doc. a thorough read. I will work in your
suggestions. Yes, it took me quite a while to put that together. With so
many parts and similiar questions, it was easy to lose the thread. For
others who wish to comment, I will have to submit this next week. So
there is not a lot of time.
Marita
On 2026-03-04 9:45 p.m., Garth Graham wrote:
> On Mar 4, 2026, at 7:58 AM, Marita Moll <mmoll(a)ca.inter.net> wrote:
>> ...and I invite you to add comments, corrections, suggestions for additions so I can incorporate them.
> Whew! And a complex task well done.
>
> I’ve scanned through the document, flagging ideas I thought could lead to actions, and then comparing them with the section on recommendations. Here’s three possible additions to the recommendations section ….
>
> 1. Canada should take a leadership role in advocating for multistakeholder governance and collaboration at the international level in the development and use of this transformative technology. So that what emerges remains consistent with agreed upon values, government, private sector, civil society and any collaborative technical communities that come into view should agree on collectively managing the risks and setting the rules and standards around AI.
>
> 2. In the section on recommendations, it now says:
> Support national education programs: Invest in public AI literacy to strengthen informed participation in democratic oversight and public ability to use AI tools in a safe and effective manner.
>
> I’d suggest revising it as follows:
> Invest in public AI literacy and increased awareness. To strengthen informed participation in democratic oversight and public ability to use AI tools in a safe and effective manner, support national education programs and new spaces for discussion of its long-term effects.
>
> 3. Seek out change agents and create forums for them to share their experience. As AI evolves, there are people (early adopters) who will embrace AI’s nature on its own terms and use it imaginatively to beneficially evolve themselves and their relationships with those around them. Because they have reframed their perspectives more rapidly than others, they will tend to operate in spaces that are interstitial to existing socio-economic organizational structures. For example, in the early 1990s, community networks focused on social action emerged well before corporations saw that demand for Internet access was an economic opportunity But, this time out, any resulting action for change will need to anticipate resistance from existing socioeconomic organizational structures
>
> Under the heading of what next? – Perhaps TC should have our own discussion of the particular actions we might take?
> GG
>
6 months, 1 week
Draft doc. for AI consultation
by Marita Moll
Hello advisors. Please find attached a document reflecting our responses
compiled through e-mail and zoom, to the questions asked in the People's
Consultation on AI. Thanks to all of you who contributed so far and I
invite you to add comments, corrections, suggestions for additions so I
can incorporate them.
After our zoom meeting, Joel did run our discussions through an AI tool
that creates summaries. Not wanting to be influenced, I did not look at
the AI summary until I had finished summarizing the discussions myself
and incorporating them with what we had received in written comments. I
found the AI summary to be useful in that it offered some nicely worded
headings and a few phrasings which I thought expressed an idea more
succinctly. But the overall impact was small. This is still a document
which clearly reflects the fact that we were humans having real time
discussions about a topic we cared deeply about. It makes it longer and
much more descriptive. But we do have more to offer than clever bullet
points.
One thing that did impress me was the content (bullet points) the AI
text offered about who we are and why we care about this topic. It was
much more complete than the content we had originally discussed. It
looked like the AI process did a good job of analyzing the content on
our website to tell us who we are and what we care about. I did use that
portion of the AI text!!!
Marita
6 months, 1 week