Halifax police credit special unit for ‘significant’ rise in reported hate crimes

TORONTO – Amazon Web Services’ director of global artificial intelligence is encouraging Canada not to go it alone when it comes to regulating the technology.

Canada should settle on AI legislation that is “interoperable” with guardrails other countries will wind up using or many burgeoning companies could wind up having trouble, Nicole Foster warned Tuesday.

“A lot of our startups are wonderfully ambitious and have ambitions to be able to sell and do business around the world, but having bespoke, unique rules for Canada is going to be an extremely limiting factor,” Foster said during a talk at the Elevate tech conference in Toronto.

Canada is working on an Artificial Intelligence and Data Act that is meant to design how the country will design, develop and deploy the technology.

The legislation is still winding its way through the House of Commons and isn’t expected to come into effect until at least next year but is being watched intensely in the technology sector and beyond.

Many worry the legislation could curtail innovation and push companies to flee for other countries that are more hospitable toward AI, but most agree that the technology industry cannot be left to decide on its own guardrails.

They reason the sector needs some parameters to protect people from systems perpetuating bias, spreading misinformation and causing violence or harm.

With the European Union, Canada, the U.S. and several other countries all charting their own paths toward guardrails, some in the tech community have called for collaboration.

Foster says there’s some “really promising signs” it could come to fruition based on what she’s seen from the G7 countries.

“Everybody is saying the right things. Everybody thinks interoperability is important,” she said.

“But saying it’s important and doing it are two different things.”

Canada’s industry minister François-Philippe Champagne is largely responsible for whatever approach the country takes to AI.

Last summer, he told attendees at another tech conference in Toronto, Collision, that he feels Canada is “ahead of the curve” with its approach to artificial intelligence, beating even the European Union.

“Canada is likely to be the first country in the world to have a digital charter where we’re going to have a chapter on responsible AI because we want AI to happen here,” he said.

His government has said it would ban “reckless and malicious” AI use, establish oversight by a commissioner and the industry minister and impose financial penalties.

Whatever Canada settles on, Foster said it has to be “conscious of the cost of regulation” because asking companies to undergo evaluations to ensure their software is safe can often be time-consuming and much of that work is already being done.

She feels the best regulatory model will identify high-risk AI systems and ensure there are steps in place to mitigate any harms they could cause but won’t regulate things that shouldn’t be regulated.

Among the AI systems she thinks can go without regulation are “mundane” systems like those that get baggage to travellers at an airport faster.

“I think (it’s about) being focused on the risks that we need to address and then really kind of not getting in the way of really valuable technology that’s going to make our lives better,” Foster said.

In a separate panel, Adobe’s head of global AI strategy Emily McReynolds also mentioned that there’s a role for companies to play in the conversation around regulation, too.

Adobe, she said, has committed to not mining the web for data it uses in its AI systems and instead opted to license information. She positioned the move as one that brings transparency to the company’s work but also ensure it is “really respecting creators,” who tend to use the company’s software.

She said Adobe had chosen to take a proactive approach to issues like data and told other businesses “it’s really important to understand that building AI responsibly is not something that comes after.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 2, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

FRIDAY HARBOR, Wash. – A census of endangered southern resident killer whales off the coast of British Columbia and Washington state shows the pods have lost three animals, bringing the population to 73, excluding a new calf born after the survey.

The Centre for Whale Research completed its 49th census as part of its Orca Survey program in July, finding the three pods had lost two adult males.

The population also lost a male calf, the only whale born within the census period.

The Washington-based centre says its researchers last saw one of the lost adult males in July 2023, and the animal appeared to be in “poor body condition” at the time.

It says the whale had not been seen since then, and the researchers had considered the animal to be at high risk after his mother died in 2017.

A statement from the centre on Wednesday says its research “clearly shows that survival rates are closely tied to Chinook salmon abundance,” and recovery of the endangered whales isn’t possible without an increase in their prey.

The other lost adult male was one of the oldest whales among the southern residents, born in 1991, and he appeared “somewhat thin” when he was last seen in August 2023.

The whale dubbed L85 had also lost his mother, though the centre says he had been “adopted” after her death by another member of his pod.

As for the calf that died, the centre says its short life was “strange and tumultuous.”

It says the calf called J60 was first confirmed in late December 2023, initially spotted travelling alongside a whale that had not been visibly pregnant last year.

Just one J-pod female could have given birth to the calf but they were never seen together, the centre says, and it’s unclear whether it was “a case of calf rejection, an inability of the mother to properly nurse the calf with other females attempting to help, or kidnapping.”

The pod was spotted travelling without the calf last January, leading researchers to conclude J60 likely died sometime earlier in the month.

The centre adds that it has submitted its census report to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 2, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

OTTAWA – Members of targeted diasporas in Canada are calling for greater awareness of the foreign threats they face as well as more robust protections that could save lives.

Representatives of various communities told a federal inquiry Wednesday of the numerous challenges of fighting foreign meddling and repression.

The commission of inquiry’s latest hearings are focusing on detecting, deterring and countering interference from abroad.

Katherine Leung, a policy adviser with Hong Kong Watch, said police duly take notes and extend thanks when someone reports being surveilled, threatened or harmed by a person acting on behalf of a foreign regime.

“But for some members of the Hong Kong community that I’ve spoken to, this is where the story ends. There’s no followup, no indication of progress and no sense of safety or closure,” Leung said.

“For these individuals, the silence that follows can be as unnerving as the initial threat. The lack of followup leaves them feeling vulnerable, uncertain if their case is being pursued and no safer than before they reached out for help.”

Regular communication would reassure victims that their cases are being taken seriously and help build confidence in law enforcement and encourage future reporting, she said.

Moninder Singh, an advocate for the Sikh community, said there’s been a failure by agencies to share information quickly and concisely when lives are at risk.

Singh said policies at the local, national and international levels should be aligned, with a clear protocol in responding to threats from foreign powers.

He also called for stronger cybersecurity measures to protect people.

“When we are given these warnings to our lives, we are often told that we can be tracked via our phone, GPS and other things,” Singh told the inquiry. “Yet, we have no education, no ability to actually protect ourselves. So education around cybersecurity for individuals that are facing these types of threats is paramount.”

There is a critical need to enhance the awareness of key institutions like the judiciary, RCMP and Canadian Security Intelligence Service about the activities of foreign agents linked to oppressive regimes, said Farzaneh Fard of the Iranian Justice Collective.

“Comprehensive education and specialized training are essential to equip these institutions to effectively identify and address threats,” she said.

Judges, prosecutors and immigration officials must be educated about tactics such as the use of false identities and forged documents, Fard said.

Dedicated teams should be set up within the RCMP and CSIS to focus on foreign meddling and threats, she added.

In addition, she advocated a national campaign to educate the public about risks including exploitation of Canada’s legal and immigration systems by hostile entities.

“At the moment, members of our community who are targets of foreign interference or are aware of the presence of Iranian regime officials in Canada struggle to convey this information to the appropriate authorities,” Fard said.

She said establishing a well-publicized method of contacting the authorities with relevant information can protect members and quickly alert security agencies.

Teresa Woo-Paw, who sat in the Alberta legislature from 2008 to 2015, told the inquiry that every Canadian should be concerned about foreign meddling in electoral processes and democratic institutions.

But she also said members of the Chinese community are putting aside thoughts of running in elections because they don’t want their loyalty publicly questioned.

Woo-Paw, chair of the Canadian Race Relations Foundation since 2018, said “quite a number of people” have told her of their aspirations to serve in public office.

“Almost all of them are saying, ‘But this is not the time.'”

She said these fears will have a generational impact with fewer Chinese Canadians elected to public office.

She said some also worry they will be accused of trying to interfere in an election if they donate to a nominee’s campaign, or that they might cause trouble for the candidate.

Woo-Paw was among members of the Chinese community who told the inquiry of unintended chilling effects from the current public controversy over foreign interference.

Anonymous leaks to the media of intelligence documents about alleged Chinese interference in Canadian electoral processes sparked calls for the federal inquiry that is now underway.

Montreal student Wawa Li told the inquiry there’s a fixation on foreign meddling fuelled by authorities and opportunistic politicians, leading to a sense of hysteria.

“I am against foreign interference, and I hope the government takes action if it exists, but not at the expense of the community,” she said.

The commission of inquiry also provided insights Wednesday into its broader consultation process.

In addition to the voices heard at public hearings, the inquiry has gathered over 145 written submissions from the public. It has also received more than 460 responses to date to a questionnaire.

The inquiry has also held 22 meetings with 105 members of the following diasporas: Chinese, Eritrean, Falun Gong practitioners, Hong Kong, Iranian, Russian, Sikh, Tamil, Tibetan, Tigrayan, Ukrainian and Uyghur. Summaries of these meetings will be published at a later time, with some information redacted to respect privacy.

Among the suggestions to date:

— Increase government transparency about foreign interference risks and responses;

— build collaborative relationships between diaspora communities and government, including law enforcement agencies;

— improve cultural knowledge and proficiency for government representatives interacting with victims of foreign interference and transnational repression;

— public education, awareness and supports related to foreign threats;

— media literacy resources and anti-racism education for the public;

— and better efforts to publicly fact-check information related to common disinformation topics.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 2, 2024.