Yes, thank you.
You asked about any positive aspects of the bill, and we did emphasize, in our written submission, some aspects of the bill that we think are very commendable. Dealing with discriminatory bias is important. The recognition that psychological harm is an aspect of harm is important and commendable. Taking a regulatory approach to give clarity to how AI systems can be operated and what obligations and transparency requirements exist for companies using AI, I think, is all very important.
The companion document that accompanies the legislation contains a lot of very important points, as well, and perspectives that we don't see reflected in the draft legislation itself, which we noted, in our submission, is a missed opportunity. There's a discussion about collective rights in the companion document that is crucial when we're talking about AI systems because of the way these systems work on large quantities of data, drawing out inferences based on an assessment of a large group of people. The idea that harm can be actually materialized at the collective level, rather than solely at the personal level, is something that the law needs to acknowledge. This would be relatively new for our laws. It wouldn't be brand new because there are areas of law that recognize collective rights, of course. However, it's something that we're going to have to see recognized more and more, and I think that exists in the companion document. That should be integrated into this bill if it's going to go forward.
I would just say, very generally, that a lot of what we're talking about highlights that we actually need to step back when we think about AI regulation in Canada. The AIDA did not benefit from the consultation. I think that would have been useful in advance of its drafting. It could take a much more holistic approach. Mr. Sookman has highlighted some of this. Ms. Denham has highlighted some of this. There are many considerations that have to go into how we would establish a framework for regulating AI in Canada that we don't see here and that I think are going to be difficult to integrate, solely through textual amendments, into what we have in front of us.