Good afternoon honourable committee members.
Thank you for committing to listen, learn and consider how blockchain and digital asset technology is being used today and can be used in the future to best support Canadians and their capacity to confidently engage in the digital economy.
My name is Tanya Woods. I'm the CEO of Futurity Partners, a strategic advisory firm working globally with future forward public and private organizations innovating with blockchain, AI, quantum and Web3 technologies to achieve positive public impact objectives.
I join you today as a legally trained subject matter expert with nearly 20 years of experience working on decentralized and digital technologies and related global legal and policy issues.
Some of my relevant contributions include writing the first academic paper on smart contracts for music rights for Web3 in 2008 and catalyzing the payout of $50 million in unpaid royalties to Canadian musicians. I've innovated world-leading copyright enforcement provisions targeting bad actors in peer-to-peer ecosystems and participated as a member of Canada’s trade negotiating team, advancing global and digital enforcement agendas.
I founded Canada’s first blockchain and digital asset trade association, the Chamber of Digital Commerce Canada, where we created the first-ever blockchain policy strategy for Canada and designed the first-ever economic study, measuring the economic contributions of the industry.
I've designed and built the first decentralized in-kind donation platform that enables in-kind donations to flow easily, quickly and accountably to charities and not-for-profits in real time.
I'm here today to support your work, because Canada's blockchain innovation ecosystem has the capacity to punch well above its weight globally if provided with the right conditions for success. While not a panacea, today we are discussing an incredibly transformative technology vertical that has the power to correct and improve outdated systems and processes, as well as people’s lives.
I would like to share two short use cases that demonstrate the public importance of this technology we are discussing today.
The first use case relates to cybercrime and human exploitation. Today, more than 40 million people are estimated to live in modern slavery, being trafficked and exploited, including here in Canada. Most cross-border trafficking happens using falsified identity documents. Blockchain innovators are working today to advance digital identity technology, so that every person has incorruptible identification credentials. The benefits of digital identity go beyond human exploitation and include enhancements to fight against money laundering, terrorist financing and other areas of organized crime.
In 2019 it was a blockchain cybersecurity start-up that enabled the U.S. department of justice and global law enforcement officials to take down the world’s largest child pornography ring. The ring and its cast of characters was as global and decentralized as the Bitcoin they used to purchase access to clips of child sexual abuse. What foiled the ring was the fact that the Bitcoin transfers were traceable on public Bitcoin blockchain ledgers.
The immutable, verifiable nature of blockchain-based transactions continues to enable law enforcement officials to work together to uncover the dark web and decentralized crime rings that exploit vulnerable people. The jurisdiction of digital assets and custody solutions are key to swift and effective enforcement measures. While incredible progress is being made, a general lack of broad blockchain and digital asset policy consideration, combined with outdated legislation and insufficient funding resources, continues to impede law enforcement’s capacity here in Canada.
My second use case is about climate innovation. Today it remains unclear when a digital asset token would be considered a security or a mere digital token to enable some other form of useful purpose to its owner, like a utility token.
Public companies in Canada and globally have been told they must prepare for mandatory ESG disclosures imminently. One way these companies are taking positive steps on climate change is by purchasing carbon credits. The carbon credit market is complex and challenged by a lack of transparency and traceability, and authenticity issues regarding the credits sold and the projects related to the credits.
One group of Canadians has positioned itself to become the global leading carbon utility token issuer and trading platform, leveraging digital asset technology to represent verified carbon credits, and providing a blockchain accounting ledger to track credit purchase and retirement.
Because Canada has not provided clarity regarding utility tokens, the team has had to establish a company outside of Canada and seek regulatory approval in another jurisdiction to ensure that it can move this much-needed innovation forward in step with public company demand and need.
In a world of greenwashing and ever-urgent climate and social impact priorities, Canada should be an obvious jurisdiction for social and environmental innovation that promotes transparency, accountability and impact, and it is not.
I encourage the government to continue this dialogue and to establish a working group of experts to advise on beneficial public blockchain innovation. A lack of knowledge or familiarity with the subject matter must not be used to justify delaying the adoption of positive public and socially beneficial innovation. This is not a moment to politicize this technology. Now is the time for government to move swiftly and holistically to ensure that blockchain and digital-asset innovation evolves and serves the best interests of all Canadians.
Thank you for your time. I look forward to answering any questions you may have.