The Globe and Mail reports in its Monday edition that critics of the federal government's bill to regulate artificial intelligence and mitigate its potential harms say Ottawa's consultations have been heavily skewed toward businesses and industry groups. The Globe's Joe Castaldo writes that Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) held 216 consultations with businesses and industry representatives between June, 2022, and September, 2023, on Bill C-27, which contains the Artificial Intelligence and Data Act (AIDA). The numbers were obtained and analyzed by Andrew Clement, an emeritus computer science professor at the University of Toronto. "Given that AIDA is specifically aimed at protecting Canadians against a wide range of potentially harmful AI impacts, it is concerning that the representatives of those who might be affected, and especially those at risk, are so under-represented," he wrote in a letter to the standing House committee studying Bill C-27. Officials met with OpenAI investor Microsoft 15 times. The Canadian Bankers Association and the Canadian Marketing Association met with officials 12 times, while Google and Toronto AI player Cohere participated in at least five meetings each.