Open Letter Urges Canadian Government to Reject Private Sector Carve-Out in Council of Europe AI Convention Negotiations
February 27, 2024
Civil society organizations, AI and human rights experts call on the Government of Canada to unequivocally commit to safeguarding human rights from AI risks and harms no matter the source. As the first binding international treaty on Artificial Intelligence (AI) - the Council of Europe Framework Convention on AI, Human Rights, Democracy and Rule of Law enters the final stages of negotiations, signatories urge Canada to ensure that the treaty does not include any private sector carve-out that will water down rights and limit the accountability of technology companies.
A full list of Government of Canada Recipients can be found below or by clicking here.
Canada & Council of Europe Negotiations
The Council of Europe is an international organization mandated to uphold human rights, democracy and the rule of law. Its Treaties are open for ratification by like-minded countries around the world. Canada has contributed to several Council of Europe treaties, including currently the Framework Convention on AI, Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law.
Unfortunately, as the Convention enters final phase negotiations, reliable news sources and the publicly available draft Convention indicate that the Canadian delegation to the Council of Europe is urging the Committee on AI to curtail the scope of the Convention by removing provisions that would establish safeguards for private-sector AI systems.
We strongly oppose this position.
Impact on the negotiations of Bill C-27
A hollowed-out Convention will provide little meaningful protection to individuals who are increasingly subject to powerful AI systems prone to bias, human manipulation, and the destabilization of democratic institutions.
The current position of Canada puts a question mark on its commitment to protect human rights, democracy and the rule of law domestically. It sends a very worrying signal with regard to the ongoing negotiations of Bill C-27 - An Act to enact the Consumer Privacy Protection Act, the Personal Information and Data Protection Tribunal Act and the Artificial Intelligence and Data Act and to make consequential and related amendments to other Acts.
Canada should lead efforts to safeguard fundamental rights, democratic values, and the rule of law in line with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada Principles for Responsible, Trustworthy and Privacy-protective generative AI Technologies. The OPC has particularly emphasized the dangers for vulnerable groups, including children and groups that have historically experienced discrimination. The Principles reflects the latest international consensus. They are based on both the G7 Hiroshima Principles and the Global Privacy Assembly Resolution on Generative AI.
Open Letter Recipients
Open Letter Urges Canadian Government to Reject Private Sector Carve-Out in Council of Europe AI Convention Negotiations
To:
The Honourable François-Philippe Champagne - M.P., Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry
The Honourable Dominic LeBlanc - M.P., Minister of Public Safety
The Honourable Arif Virani - M.P., Minister of Justice
The Honourable Anita Anand - M.P., President of Treasury Board
The Honourable Melanie Joly - M.P., Minister of Foreign Affairs
CC:
Dr Ailish Campbell - Canada’s Ambassador to the EU
Mr David Fairchild - First Secretary, Permanent Mission of Canada to the Office of the United Nations
Philippe Dufresne - Privacy Commissioner of Canada
Diane McLeod - Information and Privacy Commissioner of Alberta
Michael McEvoy - Information and Privacy Commissioner of British Columbia
Jill Perron - Ombudsman of Manitoba
Marie-France Pelletier - Ombudsman of New Brunswick
Michael Harvey - Information and Privacy Commissioner of Newfoundland and Labrador
Andrew Fox - Information and Privacy Commissioner of the Northwest Territories
Tricia Ralph - Information and Privacy Commissioner of Nova Scotia
Graham Steele - Information and Privacy Commissioner of Nunavut
Patricia Kosseim - Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario
Denise N. Doiron - Information and Privacy Commissioner of Prince Edward Island
Éric Caire - Minister of Cybersecurity and Digital Technology of Quebec
Me Rady Khuong - Présidente de la Commission d’accès à l’information du Québec
Ronald J. Kruzeniski - K.C., Saskatchewan Information and Privacy Commissioner
Jason Pedlar - Yukon Ombudsman
Joël Lightbound - Chair of the Standing Committee on Industry and Technology
Rick Perkins - Vice-Chair of the Standing Committee on Industry and Technology
Jean-Denis Garon - Vice-Chair of the Standing Committee on Industry and Technology
Ms Michelle Mann - General Counsel Justice Canada
Ms Allison O’Beirne - Director, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada
Mr Kendrick Lo - Counsel Justice Canada
Mr Aaryn Zhou - Deputy Director, Global Affairs Canada
Mr Benoit Deshaies - Director, Treasury Board Secretariat
Featured Signatories
Organizational Signatories
Subject Matter Expert & Other Individual Signatories
International AI rights treaty hangs by a thread. Gian Volpicelli. March 10 2024 - Link
Tug of war continues on international AI treaty as text gets softened further
Luca Bertuzzi, Euractiv, Feb. 15, 2024 - Link
EU prepares to push back on private sector carve-out from international AI treaty, Luca Bertuzzi, Euractiv, Jan. 12, 2024 - Link
EU’s AI ambitions at risk as US pushes to water down international treaty
Luca Bertuzzi, Euractiv, Jun 8, 2023 - Link
Council of Europe Treaty on AI, Council of Europe Committee on Artificial Intelligence, Council of Europe, Dec 18, 2023 - Link
European Commission Report. Report From The Commission To The European Parliament And The Council on the first review of the functioning of the adequacy decisions adopted pursuant to Article 25(6) of Directive 95/46/EC, European Commission, Jan 15 2024 - Link
Recommendation of the Council on Artificial Intelligence, OECD, May 21, 2019 - Link
GPAI Ministerial Declaration 2023. Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence. 5th Session of the Ministerial Council, GPAI, Dec 13, 2023 - Link
The Council of Europe and Canada: Together for Democracy, Government of Canada, Apr 17, 2021 - Link
G7 Hiroshima AI Process: G7 Digital & Tech Ministers' Statement, G7, Dec 1, 2023 - Link
Principles for responsible, trustworthy and privacy-protective generative AI technologies, Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, Dec 7, 2023 - Link