What ‘digital trade alignment’ could cost Canadians
Vass Bednar, managing director of the Canadian Shield Institute, says she’s concerned the forthcoming trade deal could see Canada making concessions that leave the country more vulnerable to the whims of American Big Tech.
Bednar points to a social media post by the U.S. trade representative outlining the deal’s broad commitments, including what he calls “digital trade alignment.”
That “alignment,” she says, could mean a suppression of digital sovereignty. It’s a trend she says she’s already seeing when reading through submissions to the U.S. from Big Tech lobby groups.
Companies have asked for lax privacy laws, for example, or to prevent Canadians from mandating data residency, Bednar told CBC’s As It Happens. “We’ve grown extremely reliant on foreign actors to provide the digital infrastructures we use every day. We didn’t do that with roads and bridges, but we did it with digital infrastructures.”
Bednar says she worries the U.S. will try to “squelch or dampen” efforts Canada has already made to assert its digital independence and resilience.
“We’ve already given away the digital sales tax, we know the digital streaming levy is in the crosshairs, we know the Online News Act is in the crosshairs,” Bednar said.
“We can make amazing policy progress right now federally; we have a majority, but are we going to let this trade deal put the brakes on that progress?”
