Madam Speaker, I will be splitting my time today with the member for Edmonton Northwest.
The budget speaks of a generational shift, but few Canadians would realize how deep this shift runs. For the first time, our nation's infrastructure is not just about steel, concrete and asphalt; it is about code, computation and data. Beneath that shiny language of innovation lies a quiet transformation, one that changes not only how we build, how we measure and how we account but also how we govern. The budget would link the Canada Infrastructure Bank to new investments in artificial intelligence, what is called in the budget a trusted “Canadian AI ecosystem.” Traditionally, the bank financed retrofit water systems, power grids, etc. Now it would finance data centres and AI infrastructure. The budget would give the failed Infrastructure Bank an additional $10 billion, for a total of $45 billion in taxpayer-funded dollars.
There is also a shift in accounting. In the budget, with a deficit of $78 billion, many people wonder how we would be able to pay for all of this. The reality is that the government would redefine the accounting system, primarily by changing the definition of a capital investment. The old system of assets and deficits would no longer exist because the government would move to a fully integrated digital accounting system. In this system, deficits would not matter and the carbon footprint in every transaction could be accounted for in a new transformational ledger. Under the new framework, intangible digital assets, algorithms, data sets and software systems would now be recorded as capital, just as bridges, hospitals and roads once were.
If everything digital can be reclassified as infrastructure, the government can borrow, spend and record it as an investment, even when no tangible assets exist that Canadians can see and use. As the system evolves, it could one day be connected directly to a digital ledger, perhaps even a blockchain, which is a kind of digital accounting system. This points to a future where we ourselves would be reduced to digital assets on a government ledger. In this system, every asset, expenditure and citizen interaction is recorded in real time. Mark my words: This will be how we calculate the GDP in the future.
The new system would also shift from human oversight to algorithmic control. With the budget, the government would essentially change how it keeps the nation's books. In the old system, capital spending meant building something we could see: a bridge and the day-to-day expenses that kept things running. If they spent more than they took in, there was a deficit, plain and simple. Now, more of the government spending could be called capital and put on the other side of the ledger, even when it is for such things as software, research and technology. The government would now be able to spread that cost over many years, so the deficit looks smaller. It is like buying a laptop and calling it an investment instead of a purchase; the numbers look better, but the money is still coming out of the bank.
The new accounting model would also change how we measure the country's wealth. Debt that was once a liability would now be treated as an investment. Intangible assets, such as AI systems, data holdings and even carbon credits would now be listed as capital. That makes the books look stronger and the GDP appear higher even if nothing has been physically built in our country. This shift would turn the economy from measuring what we produce to what we project. This means that when every deficit can be labelled as an asset, accountability is pushed to the future.
We are moving from a world of tangibles to intangibles, one that is traceable. In the tangible world, the ownership was clear and the tangibles were clear. People owned their land, their car and their work. In the traceable world, ownership would be replaced by access. People stream music, lease data and rent rights through a QR code. That is the real generational shift the budget refers to.
This new system, which is built to measure outcomes, will eventually measure us. Every promise of transparency can become a tool of surveillance if not guided by the principles of freedom that we cherish. If everything of value becomes data, then every aspect of our lives can become data to be recorded and monetized. This is why we must be on guard as we see this change towards a new public system, the digital ledger, which is funded to the tune of $1 billion. We need to have safeguards.
Digital infrastructure is not neutral. The same network that tracks investments can track individuals. The same AI that predicts the supply chain can predict personal behaviour. If these systems are not governed by strict privacy laws and democratic oversight, they will blur the line between accountability and control.
Canadians deserve an infrastructure they can trust. This means they deserve to know where the data is stored, who profits from its use and whether freely opting out of systems, including digital ID, will remain a right in the digital era, especially when it comes to accessing essential taxpayer-funded services. Without these answers, a trusted AI ecosystem becomes a polite euphemism for centralized control.
As artificial intelligence transforms our economy, the budget projects that governments and industries will soon do more with fewer people. They claim that efficiency will rise, but we know that the security of work will fall. Some in government are even speaking of the universal basic income as a solution and a way to keep people afloat when machines do the work for us. As we modernize, we must never allow people to be reduced to mere consumers at the end of a bar code or a QR code. Human beings are not data points to be managed; we are souls with a purpose, and the future we build must reflect that truth.
This Parliament has a sacred duty to guard the public ledger of our nation, not only its finances but also its direct impact on the rights and freedoms of Canadians. The generational shift this budget accelerates is real, and it is happening at lightning speed. We see it in Bill C-5, which centralizes national development and infrastructure decisions. We are witnessing the government redefining the Canadian dream of owning a home by telling gen Z to accept a future in which they will rent modular homes instead of owning property and building equity for their families. In the digital era, we must find new ways to hold government accountable. Traditional critiques of centralization no longer apply, because governments will not be acting alone.
In this technocratic system, the very agile nation model that the Liberal government has been studying over the past few years has become a reality, and citizens themselves become the inputs that help the state move faster. The budget addresses problems like inflation with solutions that may limit our freedom, such as digital IDs. As well, for example, there could be programmable money that can expire, designed with the goal of keeping money circulating by forcing us to spend it before it expires, and currencies that can dictate how and when Canadians spend. The digital infrastructure investment in the budget claims to be generationally transformative. However, history will judge us not by how efficiently we digitize the nation but by whether we preserve the soul of this democracy in the process.
For five years, I have been monitoring and speaking about how the digitization of the economy and our infrastructures will affect our identities, and now it is here. Now, all that remains is how we choose to respond. Our task is not to reject progress but to reclaim purpose. As parliamentarians, we must insist that technology serves Canadians rather than replacing them. Our duty is to fight with dignity, sovereignty and the soul of the people, who must never be reduced to a mere QR code.