Thank you for having me back.
I welcome this question because it speaks to the issues I just testified on, which deal with AI sovereignty—namely ownership, access and control of data. It identifies two parts. The first is the data independence that Canada needs to maintain. The second is one that maybe doesn't come to the fore when we talk about these issues. It is technological independence.
In terms of data independence, we need to ensure that Canadians hang on to what is Canadian. Data that is created and stored on Canadian soil needs to stay in Canada, unless there is a strict exception to do otherwise.
With regard to the CLOUD Act, we're not signatories to it yet; we are in negotiations. I would encourage the government to ensure that exceptions are clearly delineated. These would apply so far, it says, for law enforcement and criminal investigations, but they're all rules-based, so the workings are as good as the system they're in. If in the obtaining of a warrant and going to court there is not a solid and robust rule-of-law-based system, that would raise concerns in obtaining data.