Thank you for the question.
There are two key forces at play here. The first force is that any time you regulate companies and start-ups, especially small businesses, they're going to require lawyers in order to do business. That's going to slow down what they're able to do. That's on the one side. On the other side, if there is no legislation in place, then potential customers of those companies aren't going to trust the companies. Even though the need to get legal advice—apologies to the lawyers in the room—is a real barrier for small businesses and start-ups, you do need legislation so that people can trust the companies they interact with.
In my view, this bill balances those two very well, with some minor exceptions that I've mentioned. It protects against the most severe privacy harms, so that we'll have more trust in what organizations do with data. That will, in turn.... On the set of regulations as described, yes, it is a bill that runs dozens and dozens of pages—you'll need expertise—but it is not so onerous that I would expect that the small businesses and start-ups that have a big opportunity with AI will have to shut it down.
In my view, on balance, this will position Canada well going forward for our ability to commercialize AI.