Ottawa –
The Assembly of First Nations warns it could take the Liberal government to court over its proposed privacy and artificial intelligence bill.
And former technology executive Jim Balsillie is telling MPs studying the bill that he considers the legislation “undemocratic”.
The government has already been criticized for not consulting widely enough on Bill C-27, which updates privacy laws and introduces the Data and Artificial Intelligence Act.
Balsillie, former co-CEO of BlackBerry pioneer Research In Motion, says the government did not hold public consultations and relied too much on feedback from industry rather than civil society.
Indigenous leaders said First Nations were not consulted at all.
“As a result, the minister did not listen to First Nations, he does not understand First Nations, and it shows in the legislation,” the Assembly of First Nations said in a report to the House of Commons industry committee. .
He said the bill infringes on First Nations rights, including data sovereignty, and that litigation is “likely” if the government fails to meet its obligations.
The committee also heard from Christelle Tessono, a technology policy researcher at the University of Toronto, who said the bill does not address the human rights risks that artificial intelligence systems can cause.
He said that, at a minimum, the bill’s preamble should “recognize the well-established disproportionate impact these systems have on historically marginalized groups,” such as Indigenous peoples, people of color, members of the LGBTQ2S+ community and economically disadvantaged people. disadvantaged.
During his testimony, Balsillie described some of what he called “countless” incidents of harm caused by artificial intelligence systems. She said that includes cases in which they facilitated housing discrimination, created racist associations, showed job offers to men but not women and recommended longer prison sentences for visible minorities.
The Assembly of First Nations also said it has concerns about AI, including racial discrimination.
“First Nations have been treated like criminals when attempting to open bank accounts and have been subjected to racial discrimination in the health sector, by police and government officials,” he said in his brief.
“Imagine the possibility that such abuses will continue or even worsen when biased and prejudiced individuals and organizations are building artificial intelligence systems that will implicate First Nations.”
The bill does little to reassure First Nations, he said.
Balsillie said the bill should be returned to the drawing board.
“Rushing through such seriously flawed legislation will only deepen citizens’ fears about AI because AIDA simply demonstrates that policymakers cannot effectively prevent current and emerging harms from emerging technologies.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 14, 2024.