People’s Consultation on AI

Background  

On October 31, 2025, more than 160 academics, experts, advocates, civil society and human rights organizations across Canada submitted a joint letter they had signed, protesting a severely deficient consultation process to develop a “national AI strategy” led by Evan Solomon, the Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Innovation.

The letter highlighted several key concerns with the Minister’s “national sprint” consultation, including: an unrealistically short 30-day window for experts and impacted communities to provide informed and thoughtful feedback; an “AI Strategy Task Force” that was overwhelmingly weighted towards industry and was not representative of human rights nor civil society concerns; and biased and leading language and framing throughout consultation materials such as an associated survey, which implicitly built in a range of highly contested assumptions about AI as foregone conclusions. 

For an issue with such far-reaching ramifications across so many spheres of our lives, communities, and society, it is unacceptable that the government appeared committed to developing any national “AI strategy” based only on the narrow subset of voices. Moreover, it was the exact subset that stands to profit the most from an “all in” approach to AI, setting up an inherent conflict of interest at the expense of human rights and a just and equitable future for all. Especially notable was the fact that while historically marginalized communities disproportionately bear the brunt of AI-facilitated harms, and have developed the most on-the-ground expertise and community-informed policy and related responses to emerging AI issues, these are the groups who had the least or even no representation on the Task Force. 

In light of the above deficiencies, the letter—now re-opened and still accepting signatures—also announced that, instead of legitimizing Minister Solomon’s fatally flawed process, signatories would instead participate in a parallel and independent process, the People’s Consultation on AI. 

This is that consultation.

The People’s Consultation on AI is a collaborative civil society initiative meant to:

1. Help individuals and organizations share their insights, experiences, and comments to inform a “national strategy” on AI that is truly in the public interest;
2. Break free from the limited, industry-dominated frames of Minister Solomon’s consultation, broadening the scope of the consultation to be dramatically more expansive and a more accurate representation of the range of views and concerns about AI that are present across Canada; and
3. Provide organizations and individuals, representing a wider range of affected communities, with a genuine opportunity to have a voice in AI issues and policy.