(Bloomberg) -- Canada’s industry minister says ongoing challenges to adopt an artificial intelligence framework do not look good for the country. The law may never even see the light of day if Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s minority government falls sooner than expected.
The government tabled an act that aims to regulate AI about two years ago. The legislation known as Bill C-27 is in limbo after opposition parties started a filibuster to delay its adoption, according to the minister.
“It’s a bit embarrassing,” said Francois-Philippe Champagne, as Canada has world-class leaders in AI research and yet is unable to adopt a regulatory framework because of political wrangling.
Champagne was speaking alongside European Union’s antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager at an event in Montreal on Wednesday. In March, the European Parliament passed the world’s first AI Act, which will come into full force in 2027.
“If we want to move from fear to opportunity, you need to build trust,” said Champagne over concerns regarding AI’s potential to cause harm to society. “The way to build trust is through regulation.”
The core of the proposed Canadian framework is focused on the use of high-impact AI systems, such as screening systems dedicated to employment or systems that can influence human behavior at scale, which could produce discriminatory outcomes or impact people’s safety.
Businesses would be required to implement measures to mitigate such risks and non-compliance could result in monetary penalties, prosecution of regulatory offenses and criminal offenses.
The bill has been stuck since April 2023 in a parliamentary committee, where lawmakers have held extensive hearings. The problem is that the AI framework is only one part of Bill C-27, which also includes changes to consumer privacy protection and the creation of a new personal information and data protection tribunal. Over a hundred amendments have been submitted, slowing down the whole process.
The opposition Conservatives have accused the Liberal government of seeking to censor the internet with the law. In an emailed statement, Deputy Leader Melissa Lantsman said the Liberals have no one to blame for the delay but themselves.
“The Liberals are playing games, delaying their own broken draconian bill and blaming others for taking the needed time to fix it,” she said. “Common Sense Conservatives will continue to stand up for Canadians’ privacy rights.”
Some had already speculated the legislation may not pass before a scheduled October 2025 election, but a recent decision by the New Democratic Party to pull out of a power-sharing deal with Trudeau’s Liberals means a national vote will likely happen sooner — adding more urgency.
AI pioneer and scientific director of Mila-Quebec AI Institute Yoshua Bengio said in an emailed statement that Canadian politicians must “grasp the urgent need for an adaptive national regulatory framework as soon as possible.”
Giant technology firms such as Amazon has engaged in intense back-door lobbying against the bill, according to people familiar with the matter who asked not to be named to discuss private conversations.
The company pointed out by email that it has testified publicly on the bill and its meetings with officials are recorded on the lobbyist registry.
Amazon Web Services’ director of global artificial intelligence and Canada public policy, Nicole Foster, told a parliamentary committee meeting earlier this year the definition of high-impact was “still too ambiguous.”
“Trying to regulate all applications with the same approach is very impractical and can inadvertently stifle innovation,” she said.
Champagne’s comments come as Trudeau and French President Emmanuel Macron hold a working lunch on artificial intelligence in Montreal on Thursday, potentially casting a brighter international spotlight on the sluggish pace of Canada’s legislation.
Despite political adversity and protest from big technology companies, EU’s representative Vestager said in an interview that she hopes Canada will pass a bill soon to start building a worldwide network “that will make us all so much stronger.”
Vestager added that these AI frameworks should not aim to have big tech on board, “because when big tech ask for regulation, it’s never the regulation that we come up with.”
(Adds comments from Conservatives, Amazon starting in paragraph nine.)
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