Maybe ChatGPT it? Ottawa unsure how to regulate AI chatbots following Tumbler Ridge report

After meeting with OpenAI to discuss the company’s failure to alert law enforcement of troubling behaviour on ChatGPT from Jesse Van Rootselaar, the shooter who killed eight people and herself earlier this month in Tumbler Ridge, B.C., Artificial Intelligence (AI) Minister Evan Solomon’s message was clear — action must be taken. He’s just not sure what exactly needs to be done, or who needs to take it. “We want to ensure this does not happen again,” Solomon (Toronto Centre, Ont.) told reporters ahead of a caucus meeting on Feb. 25. “We told we want to see some hard proposals…, we are also looking proposals that have to do with escalation thresholds.” A recent bombshell report from the Wall Street Journal revealed OpenAI internally flagged and banned Van Rootselaar’s profile on the startup’s chatbot, ChatGPT, months ago, but elected not to inform legal authorities in Canada. Following the shooting, which occurred on Feb. 10, the platform contacted the RCMP with relevant information, the police force confirmed in a statement to The Wire Report. Solomon asked for a conversation with safety officials from the U.S.-based company, whom he met with on Feb. 24, alongside Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree (Scarborough—Guildwood—Rouge Park, Ont.), Canadian Identity Minister Marc Miller (Ville-Marie—Le Sud-Ouest—Île-des-Sœurs, Que.), and other federal representatives. Artificial Intelligence Minister Evan Solomon, left, speaking to officials from OpenAI on Tuesday, Feb. 24. Photograph courtesy of Evan Solomon's office But Solomon said he was “disappointed” with the meeting, and suggested government intervention might be required to ensure AI companies prioritize the safety of Canadians. “Of course, a failure occurred here,” he said, noting that any future regulations would apply to all AI companies. But, he continued, a determination has yet to be made with regards to the most appropriate path forward, as he has repeatedly stated that “all options are on the table.” Does that mean new standalone legislation to regulate AI companies? Maybe. Additional meetings with private sector leaders to establish new industry standards? Perhaps. Is it possible the government could actually ban OpenAI from operating in Canada? Solomon wouldn’t rule it out. Meanwhile, Justice Minister Sean Fraser (Central Nova, N.S.) said it’s incumbent on the companies to demonstrate improvements, but, if they refuse to take swift action, “the government is going to be making changes.” “It’s clear that we want to be doing more to protect Canadians from a government point of view,” he said following the caucus discussion. A government source, who asked to remain anonymous in order to speak freely, said an internal decision has yet to be made and emphasized that the situation remains “unpredictable.” Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks with reporters before the Liberal party caucus meeting in West Block on Feb. 25, 2026. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade Prime Minister Mark Carney (Nepean, Ont.) contributed additional generalities when he told reporters that “anything that anyone could have done to prevent that tragedy or future tragedies must be done.” “We will fully explore to the full lengths of law and we’ll be very transparent about that process,” Carney said on Feb. 25. Conservative MP Michelle Rempel Garner (Calgary Nose Hill, Alta.) said the Official Opposition would support a policy response to the OpenAI/Tumbler Ridge reports, though the Liberal government has already demonstrated an unwillingness or inability to deal with these issues. “I am very concerned about the government’s capacity and willingness to address artificial intelligence policy writ large,” Rempel Garner said outside the House of Commons on Feb. 25. “I’m definitely calling upon the government to take this issue a little bit more seriously,” she later added. At the provincial level, B.C. Premier David Eby said his government would explore its tools for bringing forward a legislative remedy, which could include instigating a public inquiry to determine what exactly OpenAI knew prior to the shooting. “The expectation I have is pretty straightforward — the federal government needs a reporting threshold for all artificial intelligence companies that deliver services in Canada, where they must report to law enforcement,” said Eby during a recent press conference. “So, there’s no judgement calls in the backroom.” “That question about what OpenAI knew, when, and what decisions they made, in light of that information are questions we will answer in British Columbia through either a coroner’s inquest process, the police investigation, or, if necessary, through a public inquiry.” Many details regarding how OpenAI handled Van Rootselaar ChatGPT profile remain confidential, as the RCMP is still conducting an investigation into the matter. Online harms vs. privacy legislation It’s possible the government decides to include AI chatbots, like ChatGPT or Anthropic’s Claude, in its forthcoming online harms legislation, which, as first reported by The Wire Report, is expected to be tabled later this year. The government source said it’s unlikely that any federal response would necessitate standalone legislation for AI, while Mark Schaan, Solomon’s deputy in the civil service, told a Senate committee on Feb. 25 that the government is reviewing its suite of “existing measures.” “Oftentimes, we refer to AI as the great ungoverned or an unregulated space,” said Schaan, an associate deputy minister at Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada. “ artificial intelligence is subject to many domestic laws that actually have really important protections in place for Canadians.” “While we don’t yet have an AI-specific general application statute in Canada, we do have a number of effective controls.” Mark Schaan, associate deputy minister at Industry, Science and Economic Development Canada. Screenshot. In particular, Schaan identified the Criminal Code, as well as duty of care obligations related to digital harms, adding that Solomon’s office is working in tandem with the public safety and Canadian heritage departments to balance protecting Canadians from harm and safeguarding Canadian data from government overreach. Alongside the government’s AI strategy, which Solomon projects will be released later this quarter, Ottawa is also expected to introduce a new bill to modernize the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), Canada’s current privacy framework. In the context of AI chatbot regulation, maintaining privacy rights for Canadians remains top-of-mind for many stakeholders, including the field’s leading academics. “ places a greater emphasis on harms and AI regulation more generally,” said Michael Geist, a professor at the University of Ottawa and Canada Research Chair in internet and e-commerce law. “We should know what those standards are and thresholds that OpenAI or any other company adopts — but they should be high.” Michael Geist, Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-Commerce Law at the University of Ottawa, appears before the House of Commons Standing Committee on International Trade meeting in Ottawa on Feb. 19, 2020 (photo by Andrew Meade). “Of course, we want to prevent catastrophic incidents from occurring, but we also want to prevent false reports to police,” he told The Wire Report, adding that there’s a “risk to acting and a risk to not acting.” It’s unclear how often AI companies communicate potential threats to Canadian law enforcement agencies. The RCMP, Parliamentary Protective Service, and Canada Border Services Agency would not divulge whether they’ve previously been alerted to potential dangers by AI companies, citing confidentiality concerns. Elsewhere, the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary and Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) said in statements to The Wire Report that their organizations had never received tips from OpenAI or similar enterprises. “We have verified and have not identified any such incidents being reported to the OPP through AI companies at this time,” wrote the OPP’s Staff Sergeant Jonathan Bouchard. For Karen Eltis, a law professor at the University of Ottawa, the Tumbler Ridge shooting was “heartbreaking,” but it also prompts difficult-to-answer questions regarding the ability, legality, and morality of private AI corporations mass-monitoring consumer behaviour, as well as whether any regulatory response implicitly sanctions large-scale surveillance through chatbots. “These questions of privacy and autonomy are evolving,” she said in an interview. “Currently, these important questions of balancing fundamental rights are being decided by… individuals, presumably engineers or content moderators.” University of Ottawa law professor Karen Eltis. Handout photograph “So, we have these issues that we see affect our lives and affect our kids’ lives being decided outside of Canada.” As such, should the government place the burden of responsibility on companies, like OpenAI, is that an abdication of duty? “The point of having legislation is so there is a certain level of predictability,” said Eltis, whose research has previously been cited by the Supreme Court of Canada. “When we’re balancing values, there won’t always be a standard reply…, but, at the very minimum, we need to know what these protocols are.” Other experts, like the University of Calgary’s Emily Laidlaw, are more focused on the harm prevention element, as Laidlaw called for chatbots to be scoped into the government’s response to online harms. “Chatbots were on the radar before this tragedy,” said Laidlaw, the Canada Research Chair in cybersecurity law. “ this is an area that needs to be regulated.” “To my mind, it should be part of online harms because it should be the same regulator that has oversight .” However, Laidlaw noted, not all AI chatbots are alike, and the challenge will be limiting regulations to generative software like ChatGPT. “The goal is not to regulate the chatbot that Air Canada uses,” she said. “So, there’s a scoping challenge here, and the drafters are going to have to think really carefully about this.” Child protection advocates Sara Austin, the founder of Children First Canada, and Carol Todd, whose daughter Amanda committed suicide after dealing with cyberbullying and sextortion, also said there could be a role for new online harms legislation to help regulate chatbots. “As a parent…, I was really sad and quite angry to read the news that OpenAI had information that potentially could have prevented the tragedy in Tumbler Ridge,” Austin told The Wire Report. “It really brings to the forefront that… we need to be holding big tech accountable.” “Kids’ lives are in danger and there’s no greater example of that than the Tumbler Ridge tragedy.” Meanwhile, Todd said that risks involving AI chatbots have “always been an incoming problem.” Ottawa has not outlined a timeline for when it expects to formally introduce a revived online harms bill. dlegree@thewirereport.ca

Maybe ChatGPT it? Ottawa unsure how to regulate AI chatbots following Tumbler Ridge report

Regulatory |
By Davis Legree
|February 26, 2026

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Maybe ChatGPT it? Ottawa unsure how to regulate AI chatbots following Tumbler Ridge report

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