Evidence of meeting #141 for Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was waterfront.
A video is available from Parliament.
April 2nd, 2019 / 3:35 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Bob Zimmer
I call to order meeting 141 of the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics. Pursuant to Standing Order 108(3)(h)(vii), we are resuming our study of the privacy of digital government services.
Today, from Sidewalk Labs, we have with us Dan Doctoroff, chief executive officer; Micah Lasher, head of policy and communications; and John Brodhead, director of policy and strategy.
Before we get going, though, we have a motion from one of our members.
Mr. Angus, go ahead.
3:35 p.m.
NDP
Charlie Angus NDP Timmins—James Bay, ON
Thank you, Chair.
I don't want to take any time from this important meeting, but I will be bringing forward a motion for debate on Thursday:That, pursuant to Standing Order 108(3)(h)(vi) and given the testimony provided by the former Attorney General of Canada, public office holders Katie Telford, Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister, and Ben Chin, Chief of Staff to the Minister of Finance, be invited before the Committee to answer questions related to their conduct in inappropriately pressuring the former Attorney General and members of her staff in order to secure a deferred prosecution agreement for SNC-Lavalin.
3:35 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Bob Zimmer
Thank you, Mr. Angus.
Is there any discussion to that effect?
Our time is limited, but go ahead, Mr. Kent.
3:35 p.m.
Conservative
Peter Kent Conservative Thornhill, ON
Thank you, Chair. We would support that motion. It is entirely relevant at this point in the year and in the midst of the continuing corruption scandal.
3:35 p.m.
Liberal
Nathaniel Erskine-Smith Liberal Beaches—East York, ON
We're not in committee business. We need notice of motion—
3:35 p.m.
Liberal
Nathaniel Erskine-Smith Liberal Beaches—East York, ON
Have we received any notice of this? At what point?
3:35 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Bob Zimmer
Mr. Angus, I'm told by the clerk that we can't vote on it today. Notice has to be given, so we are—
3:35 p.m.
The Clerk of the Committee Mr. Michael MacPherson
Doing it orally just signifies that you're giving notice of motion, rather than submitting it by email and having it distributed by the clerk. Notice has been given now.
3:35 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Bob Zimmer
Thank you, Mr. Angus.
I will note too that we started a little bit late and this group does have to catch a plane. They have to leave here by 5, so our time is somewhat limited.
We'll get going right away. I believe we're starting with Mr. Doctoroff.
Go ahead.
3:35 p.m.
Dan Doctoroff Chief Executive Officer, Sidewalk Labs
Good afternoon. Bonjour. Thank you to the members of the committee for having us here today.
I am Dan Doctoroff, CEO of Sidewalk Labs. I am joined by Micah Lasher, our head of policy and communications, and John Brodhead, our director of policy and strategy.
Sidewalk Labs was founded in 2016 to look at new approaches to challenges facing cities around the world. We are a subsidiary of Alphabet, the holding company that also owns Google. Our focus is on combining people-centred urban design with cutting-edge technology to achieve new standards of sustainability, housing affordability, mobility and economic opportunity.
On March 17, 2017, Waterfront Toronto issued an RFP seeking an innovation and funding partner to “help create and fund a globally-significant community that will showcase advanced technologies, building materials, sustainable practices and innovative business models that demonstrate pragmatic solutions toward climate positive urban development.”
The RFP centred on Quayside, a roughly 12 acre site at the foot of Parliament Street, while also noting that the selected partner would “contribute appropriate financial resources and/or solution components to support building and district level solutions for the eastern waterfront” and “assist in developing a viable and implementable model of sustainable transit along the eastern waterfront into the Port Lands that can be supported by a combination of government and private sector funding.”
Upon reviewing the RFP we saw an extraordinary opportunity to make Toronto the home of our marquee project, and we operated on the assumption that it would take everything we had to win. We were fortunate to have the support of our parent company as we decided to devote more or less the full resources of Sidewalk Labs toward our response. Had we been a more traditional business, we would have been unable to do this. We had also assembled a team with deep expertise in urban innovation, and our willingness to spend $50 million U.S. on a planning process, entirely at our own risk, was, I imagine, unique. All of this made us unusually well positioned to compete in a rigorous and fair process.
I would encourage you to read the RFP submission we voluntarily published and to seek the release of other submissions to have the fullest possible picture of what led to our selection by Waterfront Toronto seven months after the issuance of the RFP, in what Waterfront Toronto has said was the second-longest procurement in its history.
I want to pause to make clear what rights we did and did not obtain from that procurement. What we won was the right to make a plan, at our expense, for consideration by Waterfront Toronto and the three orders of government. We did not win any development rights, no land was transferred, and the entire process upon which we have embarked and which we funded came with no guarantees. In the end, Waterfront Toronto's board may simply decide not to implement the plan we put forward.
In late October 2017 we began the work of creating what we and Waterfront Toronto call the Master Innovation and Development Plan. We built an outstanding Toronto team, and I am so proud that John Brodhead is part of it. Our very first interactions with John came well after the public announcement of our selection by Waterfront Toronto, and John accepted an offer of employment from us only after review and clearance from the Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner.
Over the last year, we have engaged in a public consultation process whose scope, I believe, is unprecedented. Even more noteworthy is that it has all occurred before we have even tabled a proposal. Unusually for a private company, we making our plans in real time and in the public eye.
We've hosted four major public round tables, convened six advisory groups comprising more than 70 experts, consulted extensively with a citizens reference panel, participated in ongoing dialogue with Waterfront Toronto's digital strategy advisory panel, and invited all interested Torontonians to visit our headquarters down on the waterfront and engage with members of our team. To date, we have had in-person substantive engagement about this project with more than 20,000 Torontonians.
I would also like to highlight our approach to privacy and data governance, given the important work of this committee. Canada has a strong foundation of privacy laws around personal information and recognizes privacy as a fundamental human right. Consistent with Canadian laws and values on privacy, we made early commitments with regard to responsible data use, including to the principles of privacy by design, to de-identification and data minimization and to not selling personal data from this project or using it for advertising purposes.
During our consultations, we heard concerns about the collection of data in the physical environment by cameras and sensors—what we call “urban data.” This is proliferating in cities today in a way that is largely unregulated and non-transparent. We see this project as an opportunity to build on, and in no way replace or supplant, existing Canadian privacy laws and to put into place the most robust governance framework for urban data that exists anywhere.
With that in mind, we have proposed the establishment of an independent organization to oversee the collection and use of urban data and to do so in a way that protects the public interest while encouraging innovation. We believe this could make Quayside a globally noteworthy place, not because urban data is collected there, as it is in so many other places, but because of how well urban data collection is governed.
I should note that we offer these ideas with enormous deference to privacy regulators, with whom we have consulted extensively, and to Waterfront Toronto's digital strategy advisory panel, this committee and those policy-makers and government officials who we recognize are the ones responsible for deliberating and making decisions about the rules of the road at Quayside, by which we will abide.
Today, after our immersion in dialogue with the people of Toronto and talented city-builders in and out of government, I am more convinced than ever that this project can meet the ambitious objectives Waterfront Toronto articulated in its RFP.
Our comprehensive plans for sustainable development will mean that this neighbourhood produces seven times less CO2 than other Toronto neighbourhoods. Our innovative approach to tall timber design and construction at a scale never before attempted will catalyze a new industry and end-to-end supply chain in Ontario and will help to achieve new levels of affordability that will stand in positive contrast to the luxury condominium towers that have proliferated along the waterfront.
Our housing program will help to create a truly inclusive community, with 40% of units delivered below market price: half meeting traditional definitions of “affordable housing” and the other half targeted at middle-income Torontonians who are getting priced out of the city's core. Our mobility plan will support light-rail expansion, provide exceptional bike and pedestrian infrastructure, reduce traffic congestion and improve pedestrian safety.
In every instance, technology will be used in the service of these goals, never as an end unto itself, and always subject to the robust data governance regime I discussed earlier.
Taken together, our plans will create tens of thousands of jobs in Ontario. They will create a dynamic “people first” community, to which other neighbourhoods in Toronto and, we hope, cities around Canada and the world can look for ideas about how to tackle critical challenges.
It has been a privilege to be able do this work—which you can probably tell I feel so passionately about—in Toronto. I'm glad to be here with you today and I welcome your questions.
Thank you.
3:45 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Bob Zimmer
Thank you, Mr. Doctoroff. I believe you are the only one speaking to this, so we'll go right to questions.
First up for seven minutes is Mr. Vaughan.
3:45 p.m.
Liberal
Adam Vaughan Liberal Spadina—Fort York, ON
First of all, this committee is looking at the issue of data governance, privacy laws and the need to examine how to protect people and society from big data. Having looked at the Canadian environment, what's your conclusion as to whether or not there's a policy vacuum in this area?
3:45 p.m.
Chief Executive Officer, Sidewalk Labs
I think there is a policy vacuum not just in Canada but literally virtually everywhere in the entire world. What we are suggesting—and it really is just a suggestion and proposal—is a way to deal with urban data that is more comprehensive than anyone has ever done before, building on, I should point out, the strong foundation under Canadian law.
3:50 p.m.
Liberal
Adam Vaughan Liberal Spadina—Fort York, ON
If this committee, the House of Commons, the Province of Ontario or the City of Toronto come up with new measures to protect identity and privacy and to govern the collection, distribution and commodification of data, you will abide by those laws?
3:50 p.m.
Liberal
Adam Vaughan Liberal Spadina—Fort York, ON
On the approval process, just to be clear as well, because this may veer into land use planning if past lines of questions are any indication, there is no proposal yet that has been presented to Waterfront Toronto.
3:50 p.m.
Liberal
Adam Vaughan Liberal Spadina—Fort York, ON
There is no commercial transaction of land that has happened yet. That is still subject to approval by Waterfront Toronto.