Evan Solomon Wants Canada to Trust AI. Can We Trust Evan Solomon?

Christopher Katsarov, The Canadian Press / Ana Luisa O.J.

This story was originally published on thewalrus.ca

By Kate Lunau

Last September, nearly 6,500 people—including start-up founders, investors, and researchers—gathered at the Palais des congrès in Montreal for All In, Canada’s largest artificial intelligence event. After passing through a security checkpoint, they lounged on plush furniture and posed in front of a luminous “ALL IN” sign. Everyone wore a lanyard with a QR code that could be scanned to connect through an app, a sort of modern-day business card. Kiosks showcased AI companies; smooth jazz flowed and so did coffee.

Canada’s minister of artificial intelligence and digital innovation, Evan Solomon, was there, working the room. With a small entourage, he stopped by several of the kiosks, asking questions and shaking hands. He appeared at a funding announcement for INOVAIT, a national network focused on image-guided therapy and AI, and another with Telus as it revealed plans for a “sovereign AI factory” in Rimouski, Quebec, which is intended to deliver AI compute power to Canadian businesses and researchers. At All In, there was money and goodwill to go around: the mood was frothy with it, yet also undercut by a sense of urgency.

“This conference comes at a hinge moment,” Solomon said in his opening remarks from the main conference stage. “We’ve got a technological revolution colliding with a political realignment, and the choices that we make are going to shape our economy, our democracy, and our daily lives for decades to come.” What’s at stake? In other words, only everything.

Artificial intelligence is the branch of computer science in which machines are developed to simulate certain human functions, like learning and prediction. Its applications range from supply chain management to developing new products, like drugs. Canadians are probably most familiar with generative AI tools, which can produce text, video, and other content. These tools are often described as a sort of super assistant that can handle emails, scheduling, research, and other mundane tasks, freeing up time for more important jobs (or leisure) and ultimately making us more productive.

Canada is betting big on AI. The 2025 fall budget earmarked about $925 million over the next five years for “sovereign public AI infrastructure” to boost AI compute capacity, and announced the creation of an Office of Digital Transformation to lead AI adoption across the federal government, where these tools are already being