Canada's AI Strategy Arrived Late and Skipped the Governance Part

Canada's national AI strategy is optimistic, overdue, and built on a premise Vass Bednar says is materially incorrect: that low public trust in AI is a literacy problem that more access will fix.

Bednar argues trust is low because the product came to market too early, makes promises it cannot keep, and operates without the kind of regulation that makes people trust an airplane without needing a physics degree. Meanwhile, Starbucks and Pizza Pizza have already pulled back algorithmic management of their supply chains because of errors. Canadian firms are reporting the productivity gains were not delivered.

The strategy also foreshadows something significant: Prime Minister Carney named surveillance pricing from the podium, an acknowledgement that algorithmic systems are being used to charge individuals different prices based on data collected about them. That conversation is just beginning.

Topics: Canada AI strategy, AI public trust, surveillance pricing, data centers Canada, AI sovereignty

GUEST: Vass Bednar | http://cigionline.org/people/vasiliki-vass-bednar

RUNDOWN: Originally aired on2026-06-05