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It鈥檚 a new, modern form of sovereignty: digital sovereignty. It鈥檚 the notion that states should exert control over parts of the rapidly expanding digital economy that increasingly forms a central part of Canadians鈥� lives, including computers and smartphones, the apps that run on them, and the data that they collect.听

This was a major concern in the wake of the 2019 Cambridge Analytica scandal, in which was harvested from Facebook without their consent. Now, it鈥檚 even more true in the age of AI, the technology which gets 鈥渢rained鈥� on existing information, and is thus always hungry for more data. Concerns have already been raised that Canadians鈥� health-care data stored on U.S.-owned servers could be used to AI algorithms.听

But Canada鈥檚 government appears content to allow our digital lives to be bought and sold by an unaccountable class of foreign tech overlords.

鈥淓mpires once built railways. Now they build algorithms,鈥� signatory Barry Appleton, co-director of the New York Law School鈥檚 Center for International Law, told the Globe and Mail.听

鈥淚f Canada cannot govern the code that governs Canadians, then we are no longer a sovereign democracy. We will be tenants in Trump鈥檚 regime.鈥�

Canada鈥檚 Minister of AI and Digital Innovation Evan Solomon, however, has other plans. So far Solomon has served as little more than an AI evangelist, the technology to the Protestant Reformation and the invention of the printing press.听

He boasted in a 惭补肠濒别补苍鈥檚 interview that he used Google鈥檚 NotebookLM to brief him on previous government legislation. When reporter David Reely at The Logic followed the same steps on the same law, he found that it got two out of three times.

Solomon has also dismissed criticisms of Canada鈥檚 rush to secure foreign AI investment, including from the U.S., as well as repressive theocracies such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, as a

As an example of the Canadian government鈥檚 commitment to supporting AI sovereignty, Solomon cited an to give upwards of $240 million to Toronto-based company Cohere to build a data centre in Cambridge, Ont. But it was that Cohere wasn鈥檛 in fact building the data centre. That would be done by New Jersey-based firm CoreWeave, which Cohere would pay to access its technology.听

To intellectual property lawyer Jim Hinton, this means the government鈥檚 $240-million investment would be 鈥�captured by a U.S. firm but paid for by Canadians.鈥�

In August, the feds doubled down on their commitment to Cohere by signing an with the company 鈥�to enhance operations within the public service and to build out Canada鈥檚 commercial capabilities in using and exporting AI.鈥�

This is all the more concerning given that Cohere is a partner of Palantir, a major U.S. military and intelligence contractor that is in the midst of an AI platform to assist immigration authorities in surveilling and deporting non-citizens.

According to at TechCrunch, Cohere鈥檚 AI models are already being accessed by unnamed Palantir customers.听

Cohere wouldn鈥檛 comment when asked by TechCrunch whether its models are being used for defence or intelligence purposes. But even if they aren鈥檛, the reality that Palantir clients can access Cohere鈥檚 AI models doesn鈥檛 bode well for Canadian digital sovereignty.听

Showering Canadian-owned tech companies with public cash isn鈥檛 enough. There needs to be a stronger regulatory framework to protect Canadians鈥� data from foreign exploitation.听

But in order to introduce one, the federal government will first have to abandon the acquiescence to the private sector that is driving its tech boosterism.听

The AI minister鈥檚 public comments suggest there鈥檚 no apparent appetite to change course.