A Humans-First
AI Policy
The digital economy has transformed every aspect of Canadian life: how we work, how we communicate, how we access public services, and how we are governed. The terms of that transformation have been set almost entirely by a handful of elites whose interests are not the interests of working Canadians. Our data has been harvested without meaningful consent, our creative work scrapped to train AI systems that will compete with us for our livelihoods, and our public services are being gutted and handed to corporate chatbots while 40,000 federal jobs are cut.
The unchecked expansion of AI data centres is poisoning air, land, and water, consuming the farmland and water resources of communities across Canada, and building the infrastructure for mass surveillance and mass unemployment, all without a democratic mandate and all with the active encouragement of politicians who are simultaneously invested in the corporations driving it. New Democrats believe technology must serve working Canadians, and we are fighting to make sure it does.
A Humans-First AI Policy
Artificial Intelligence is not a single thing. Small-scale machine learning tools that help health researchers analyze data or assist farmers in monitoring crops are fundamentally different from the multi-billion-dollar generative AI products, such as the LLMs (large-language models) like ChatGPT and Claude, built on the theft of private data and creative work that are being deployed across our economy, our schools, and our government without debate or oversight. Your farmland and your water shouldn't be collateral damage in the scramble for control over AI processing power. New Democrats will fight to pause the expansion of AI data centres in Canada, centres whose massive energy demands are being met with more fossil fuel production, and whose unchecked build-out is creating the infrastructure for mass surveillance and mass unemployment. A pause gives our systems of government and regulation the chance to catch up with technology that has been unleashed without any democratic mandate whatsoever.
No AI Austerity, A Public Service Human Guarantee
Ottawa is cutting 40,000 public service jobs while simultaneously promoting the use of AI chatbots to replace the humans who deliver the services Canadians depend on. Imagine calling into a once reliable public service, such as the CRA, to ask about your taxes, a problem that can only be understood and resolved by a human, and instead, you’re only provided an AI chatbot that does not understand your request, that cannot help you. New Democrats are fighting to reverse those cuts and oppose any attempt to replace public servants with these AI systems. If you need to get a human on the phone to access a federal service, you will be able to. Public service excellence means dignified, professional, and human access to the services Canadians fund and have a right to use. New Democrats are also calling for no generative AI in government publications: federal government writing, photography, and graphic design will be done by and for humans, and for an end to AI conflicts of interest in the public sector, ensuring government officials are not invested in the AI industries they regulate.
Protect Canadian Data Sovereignty
Digital data has become one of the most valuable resources in the world, and most of Canada's data is currently stored, processed, and controlled by private, foreign elites who answer to foreign governments and foreign shareholders. Mission—Matsqui's New Democrats are calling for the establishment of national data centres and the implementation of data sovereignty laws, ensuring that all Canadian data is stored, protected, and managed by public entities under strict Canadian privacy laws. Canadian data belongs to Canadians, not to predatory multi-national corporations.
Protect Creators And Workers In The Digital Economy
Canadian artists, musicians, writers, journalists, and filmmakers are being exploited by trillion-dollar tech corporations that profit from their creative work while paying little or nothing for it. New Democrats will build a 21st-century Copyright Charter that guarantees fair compensation, enforces author rights, and modernizes licensing for digital platforms in Canada, ensuring creators retain control over derivative works, receive ongoing royalties for AI training and digital distribution they agree to, and have legal support to defend their rights. New Democrats are also fighting to rein in digital surveillance of workers, as AI-driven monitoring spreads from banking to farming to white-collar jobs; workers deserve clear legal protections governing what data employers can collect and how they can use it. Your employer should not be able to use an algorithm to undermine your wages, your job security, or your dignity.
AI Transparency
And Consent
Corporations are training AI systems on the creative work, private communications, and personal data of millions of Canadians without their knowledge or consent. New Democrats will require corporations to publicly disclose AI training datasets and obtain explicit, opt-in permission from all creators whose work is used, with non-consent prohibiting usage, independent audits verifying compliance, and meaningful penalties for violations. Employers will also not be permitted to claim that AI systems have the expertise held by licensed professionals, because patients, clients, and the public deserve to know when a decision affecting their lives is being made by an algorithm rather than a qualified human being.