A Seat at the Table

On October 2, 2026, Prime Minister Mark Carney launched the Prime Minister's National Council on Artificial Intelligence.

It has thirteen members, including two Montreal figures: AI pioneer Yoshua Bengio and Mila CEO Valérie Pisano.

The council will guide Ottawa on AI adoption, research, talent and sovereign infrastructure. The prime minister added that it will also help manage the risks.

Still, a question comes up: who advises, and who is consulted?

How was the federal "AI for All" strategy built? In October 2025, Ottawa held a 30-day consultation "sprint."

More than 11,300 people took part. Their answers were sorted with the help of AI models, then validated by humans.

In an open letter, more than 160 organizations and experts criticized two things. First, a task force that leaned heavily toward industry. Second, a timeline too short for the people most affected to take part.

Rather than only protesting, these groups acted. On January 21, 2026, they launched their own People's Consultation on AI, with tools for drafting submissions together.

A citizens' roundtable was scheduled in Montreal for February 25.

On March 30, 65 submissions were delivered to the prime minister and his ministers. They voiced fears of job losses and calls to assess public-sector AI through a human rights lens. They also called for more transparency in immigration and policing.

These groups did not wait to be offered a seat. They set their own table.

The new council brings together valuable expertise, especially in AI safety. The question is how it will hear those these tools affect first: delivery drivers, seniors, newcomers, students.

A technology and human rights lawyer, senior fellow at the Citizen Lab, put it this way:

A technology that changes everyone's life is better shaped with everyone. Every chair added to the circle makes our "us" a little more true.