Advocates demand proper consideration for AI regulation

Canadians deserve to be protected from AI overreach, but Bill C-27’s Artificial Intelligence and Data Act is not up to the task

SEPTEMBER 25, 2023 — Today 45 leading civil society organisations, experts and academics released an open letter to Industry, Science, and Economic Development (ISED) Minister François-Philippe Champagne outlining key concerns with the current draft of the Artificial Intelligence and Data Act (AIDA), currently wrapped into the government’s proposed privacy bill, Bill C-27. The House of Commons Industry and Technology Committee will begin its study of the legislation tomorrow, Tuesday, Sept. 26.

The signatories are gravely concerned that shoehorning AI regulation into Privacy Bill C-27 will not allow for adequate consideration of AIDA, and will take necessary committee time and attention away from improving the privacy provisions of the bill. While advocating for separating AIDA into its own process, the signatories also provided Minister Champagne with bare minimum bottom-line recommendations for changes to AIDA.

Key recommendations of the letter include:

1. Recognizing privacy as a fundamental human right;
2. Removing AI regulation from ISED’s sole jurisdiction, given ISED’s mandate to bolster the AI industry conflicts with the public interest in regulating the potential dangers of AI;
3. Addressing poorly defined language in AIDA that create loopholes and a lack of enforceable rules;
4. Committing to far more active consultation with stakeholders beyond industry insiders; to ensure AIDA and subsequent AI rules are well balanced and rights-protecting; and
5. Expanding AI regulation to apply to both the public and private sector, including government security agencies.

We know people in Canada are concerned: in the past two years, more than 10,000 signatures and letters were sent to government officials calling for strong action to address the impacts of AI and facial recognition. Since November 2021, more than 29,500 signatures have been collected by OpenMedia petitions calling for new privacy laws in Canada, and more than 17,800 messages have been sent to the government calling for enhanced personal privacy protections.

Quotes

“Excluding private sector AI tech developed for government intelligence, defence and national security purposes from any form of regulation means a free pass for some of the most potentially harmful AI tools. If the government is serious about protecting the rights of people in Canada, AIDA isn’t up to task.”
–Tim McSorley, National Coordinator at the International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group

“By combining consideration of C-27’s privacy regulation with AI regulation, Minister Champagne is doing a disservice to both. Today we join our peers in calling on the government to take the time and space needed to ensure Canada’s AI rules comprehensively respect our human rights.”
–Matt Hatfield, Campaigns Director at OpenMedia

“The Artificial Intelligence and Data Act (AIDA) fails to capture the complexity of the harms and risks that AI can bring to bear on individuals, communities, and their fundamental rights. These rights and freedoms should be protected in our quick-shifting technological landscape, and AIDA is not fit to do so—AIDA is at risk of lagging behind the times before it can meet the present.”
–Daniel Konikoff, Interim Director of the Privacy, Technology & Surveillance program at the Canadian Civil Liberties Association

“AI regulation under AIDA lacks independent oversight, relies heavily on industry discretion and self-regulation, and fails to meaningfully consider systemic harms and human rights. In its current form, AIDA is far too underdeveloped to be a serious piece of AI legislation worthy of committee study.”
–Yuka Sai, Staff Lawyer at the Public Interest Advocacy Centre

“Canadians deserve AI legislation that prioritises human rights over economic development. AIDA fails to meet this standard. The power that AI technology has to enable mass surveillance, and the risk of mass rights violations created by unregulated government use of these tools, is too great to be brushed aside and left for later consideration.”
–Aislin Jackson, Policy Staff Counsel at the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association

“The Artificial Intelligence and Data Act (AIDA) is ill-considered and un-democratic. It has been driven by AI industry interests and not the public interest. Canadians deserve a genuine consultative process before such legislation can be passed.”
–Andrew Clement, Professor Emeritus, University of Toronto (affiliation only)

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Contact

Tim McSorley
National Coordinator, ICLMG
613-241-5298
nationalcoordination@iclmg.ca

Rosa Addario
Communications Manager, OpenMedia
1 (888) 441-2640 ext. 0
rosa@openmedia.org

Alex Nanoff
CCLA
media@ccla.org

Andrew Clement
Professor Emeritus, University of Toronto (affiliation only)
1 (250) 536-3029
andrew.clement@utoronto.ca

Since you’re here… … we have a small favour to ask. Here at ICLMG, we are working very hard to protect and promote human rights and civil liberties in the context of the so-called “war on terror” in Canada. We do not receive any financial support from any federal, provincial or municipal governments or political parties. You can become our patron on Patreon and get rewards in exchange for your support. You can give as little as $1/month (that’s only $12/year!) and you can unsubscribe at any time. Any donations will go a long way to support our work.You can also make a one-time donation or donate monthly via Paypal by clicking on the button below. On the fence about giving? Check out our Achievements and Gains since we were created in 2002. Thank you for your generosity!

Watch ICLMG’s National Coordinator Tim McSorley’s award acceptance speech at the MAC 2023 Convention. Thank you to MAC for this honour and for all their important work!

“It was such an honour to join the Muslim Association of Canada at their convention. I am humbled to receive their “Friend of the Community” award for my work and the work of the ICLMG against Islamophobia and fighting for justice. And thank you Abdul Nakua for such a kind and moving introduction!” – Tim McSorley

Visit macnet.ca to learn more about MAC’s important work.

To support ICLMG’s work, please visit iclmg.ca/donate. Thank you!

Today, September 11, 2023, marks 22 years since the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, as well as the beginning of the so-called “War on Terror.”

Many of the laws and tools swiftly created or expanded afterwards continue to violate human rights and civil liberties today. Furthermore, Canada, along with other states, has shown over the last two decades how it can adapt the concepts of terrorism, anti-terrorism and national security to capture more and more areas of expression, association and dissent, engage in systemic discrimination and racial, religious and political profiling, as well as intrude in our lives through more and more surveillance, undermining encryption and privacy protections.

For these reasons, over the past two decades the ICLMG coalition has steadfastly worked to address the following issues, among many others:

• The continuing expansion of anti-terror and national security laws and powers
• Security Certificates, which undermine the rights of non-Canadians, including the case of Mohamed Harkat
• Extradition and problems of due process, including the case of Hassan Diab
• The criminalization of dissent
• The use of secret evidence in courts, intelligence used as evidence, the growing discretionary powers granted to national security agencies, and CSIS misleading the courts
• Surveillance, facial recognition and artificial intelligence
• The impact of anti-terror laws on the provision of humanitarian aid and other forms of international assistance
• The No-Fly List and the terrorist entities list
• Canadian complicity in indefinite detention and torture abroad, including Canadians detained in northeast Syria and the lack of redress in the cases of Abdullah Almalki, Ahmad El Maati, Muayyed Nureddin, Omar Khadr, Abousfian Abdelrazik & Mohamedou Ould Slahi
• Canada’s planned armed drones purchase
• Systemic Islamophobia, including the CRA’s prejudiced audits against Muslim charities and dubious counter-radicalization programs

For more details on each of these issues, check out our 2023 submission to the United Nations for its 4th Universal Periodic Review of Canada.

This fall, we will be specifically working on the following issues:

• Bill C-20, which would (finally!) create an independent watchdog for the CBSA and modify the current RCMP watchdog, but which needs to be significantly strengthened
• Bill C-27, which aims to create the new Artificial Intelligence and Data Act (AIDA) but is fundamentally flawed, failing to address basic human rights concerns and explicitly exempting national security AI tools from any regulation whatsoever, among other concerns
• Monitoring and responding to the implementation of Bill C-41, which is meant to facilitate the provision of international development assistance and humanitarian aid in regions controlled by ill-defined “terrorist groups” but which raises significant concerns around the securitization of aid, surveillance and respect for international humanitarian law
• The repatriation of all Canadians as well as non-Canadian mothers of Canadian children detained in Northeastern Syria
• Ensuring that the proposed Bill C-26, which aims to increase cybersecurity, includes independent oversight and does not lead to the expansion of government surveillance
• Justice for both Hassan Diab and Mohamed Harkat
• Advocating for reform of Canada’s counter terrorist financing regime, including eliminating the systemic discrimination of Muslim-led organizations
• Ensuring that forthcoming “online harms” legislation does not violate fundamental freedoms, expand online surveillance or exacerbate the silencing of racialized and marginalized voices
• The regulation, including outright prohibition, of surveillance tools such as facial recognition technology
• Working with the Civil Society Coalition on Human Rights and Counter-terrorism at the international level
• and more!

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