‘AI is here to serve Canadians for the better’: AI Minister Solomon
‘The principle is that AI is here to serve Canadians for the better,’ says Evan Solomon. /TWITTER PHOTO
Speaking at Toronto’s Empire Club on Sept. 26, AI and Digital Innovation Minister Evan Solomon said new technology and Canada's AI revolution must serve all Canadians.
"The principle is that AI is here to serve Canadians for the better. Quantum is here to serve Canadians for the better. That means the farmer in Saskatchewan boosting yields with smart farms powered by Canadian-built technology like Raven and Regina. That means the doctor working in North Bay where my wife grew up," he said. "That's right, detecting osteoporosis early through routine X-rays enhanced by AI from 16 Bit right here in Toronto, the offshore worker in Newfoundland and Labrador keeping platforms safer and cleaner with Digital Twins from Enaimco in St John's, the miner in northern Quebec, supplying the world with responsibly sourced critical minerals."
He recalled Bill Gates’ 1996 speech at the same podium, where Gates warned that “people will worry not only about the access issue, but about privacy. They’ll worry about being left behind. People will worry about rural areas that are not getting connected up.” Solomon said those anxieties remain just as relevant in the age of AI, but that the government will continue to address them.
The minister announced the launch of a 30-day national sprint led by a new 26-member AI Task Force, aimed at refreshing Canada’s national AI strategy by year’s end. He said the government will prioritize three pillars: “trust and security, capital, customers and compute.”
Framing this moment as a “Gutenberg moment,” Solomon argued that artificial intelligence and quantum computing are as vital to Canada’s sovereignty today as “railroads, highways and ports” once were. “Data is king. Whoever controls it, whoever uses it, whoever governs it, will determine our prosperity and our security and our values,” he told the audience.
Rejecting what he called a “branch plant nation” mentality, Solomon urged Canadian firms to keep their headquarters and intellectual property at home. “Canada’s no one’s farm team,” he said, calling this a “digital own the podium” moment for the country.
Do you have any stories about owning the digital podium in rural Canada? We’d love to highlight them in the next newsletter. Reach out to info@ruralprosperity.ca.