SoVote

Context: House Hansard - 172 - Mar/23/23

Mr. Alistair MacGregor (Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, NDP)

Mar/23/23 4:46:10 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-26

Madam Speaker, I would like to encourage all members to look at the seventh report from the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security on Canada's security stance vis-à-vis Russia. A lot of that report covers why a bill like Bill C-26 is necessary. We can see agreement on the principle of the bill, but like my two colleagues from the Conservative Party and the Bloc, I am going to express some frustration that the Liberals did not anticipate that we in the opposition would have concerns with this first draft of the bill in terms of accountability, oversight and transparency. I wish the Liberals could have anticipated that before releasing this draft of the bill because now it looks like the committee has its work cut out for it to improve those measures. Could my hon. colleague express some comments on that particular part of this?

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Context: House Hansard - 172 - Mar/23/23

Mr. Alistair MacGregor (Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, NDP)

Mar/23/23 5:13:28 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-26

Madam Speaker, I am pleased to hear from my Liberal colleague that the Liberals are open to much-needed amendments to this bill to increase the oversight, transparency and accountability on the executive branch. I just want to read a quote from Jérémie Harris, who is the co-founder of Gladstone AI. He said, “ChatGPT is a harbinger of an era in which AI will be the single most important source of public safety risk facing Canada. As AI advances at a breakneck pace, the destructive footprint of malicious actors who use it will increase just as fast.” Does my hon. colleague have any comments on how fast this technology is advancing, and how important it is that we equip all of our agencies to keep those vital systems safe?

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Context: House Hansard - 172 - Mar/23/23

Mr. Alistair MacGregor (Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, NDP)

Mar/23/23 6:08:38 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-26

Mr. Speaker, I am glad to see there is general agreement in the House on the principle of this bill and on the fact that, obviously, work is needed. I know the member has a lot of experience in the agricultural field and brings that experience to Parliament. I want to ask him about the part of this bill that would allow the Governor in Council to designate any service or system as a vital service or vital system. I would ask him for his thoughts. Obviously, our transportation sector can be considered a vital service, especially our railway lines, but what does he think about our supply chains, especially involving our agricultural products, and how those might be targeted? As he knows very well, many of Canada's farmers, producers and processors are really starting to move into more digital ways of doing business, and much of their equipment is linked to computer systems. I would like to ask whether he has any thoughts to share on how those could be classified as vital systems and services.

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