OTTAWA — Prime Minister Mark Carney has appointed his former principal secretary and longtime Liberal campaign strategist Thomas Pitfield to a new national artificial intelligence council tasked with providing the government with “independent” advice on AI policy.Carney announced the Prime Minister’s National Council on Artificial Intelligence on Friday as part of his government’s AI for All strategy.The 13-member council will advise the government on AI adoption, national infrastructure, economic competitiveness, safety and the use of artificial intelligence within government.Pitfield, who was appointed to the Senate by Carney this summer, previously served as the prime minister’s principal secretary, advising him on artificial intelligence, innovation, productivity and the digital economy.Before joining Carney’s government, Pitfield spent years working in Liberal politics.He served as chief digital strategist for Justin Trudeau’s successful 2015 federal election campaign and his earlier campaign for the Liberal leadership.Pitfield founded Data Sciences, a data analytics and campaign strategy company that has worked extensively with the Liberal Party..The company itself says its early political work included helping “elect a new leader to the Liberal Party of Canada.”Data Sciences also worked on the Liberals’ 2021 federal campaign. Federal election advertising records identified “Thomas Pitfield, Data Sciences” as the authorizing agent for Liberal Party advertisements.The company attracted scrutiny on Parliament Hill that same year over payments it received from Liberal MPs’ parliamentary budgets.Conservative and NDP MPs raised concerns at the House ethics committee about the relationship between Data Sciences’ work for Liberal MPs and its involvement with the party’s Liberalist voter database.The Liberals rejected suggestions that parliamentary money was being used for partisan purposes, saying the services paid for by MPs were used to manage constituency casework and provide technical support.Pitfield is not the only council member with ties to Carney or the Liberal government.Patrick Pichette, who will sit on the council, was previously appointed by Carney last month to lead Digital Transformation Canada, the government’s new organization tasked with overhauling federal digital services..Conservatives criticized that appointment at the time, saying Pichette made the maximum allowable donation to Carney’s Liberal leadership campaign in 2025.The council also includes former Trudeau national security and intelligence adviser Jody Thomas, alongside several prominent figures from Canada’s technology and artificial intelligence sectors.AI researcher Yoshua Bengio, University of Toronto professor Ajay Agrawal, Cohere co-founder and former CEO Valérie Pisano and Cloudflare co-founder Michelle Zatlyn are among those appointed.Other members include Sanja Fidler, John Graham, Gillian Hadfield, Jordan Jacobs, Eric Lamarre and Louis Vachon.Carney said the council will help Ottawa determine how artificial intelligence can be deployed most effectively.“Prosperity and sovereignty in the age of AI belong to nations that can build, adopt, and govern AI on their own terms,” Carney said.“The new National Council on Artificial Intelligence will inform and advise the government on how to most effectively deploy AI in Canada — how to manage the risks, seize the opportunities, and ensure AI is used to improve the lives of all Canadians.”The council will be supported by a small team within the Privy Council Office, although ministers and federal departments will remain responsible for policy decisions.Ottawa says its AI for All strategy aims to generate an additional $200 billion in economic growth and create 250,000 AI-related jobs over the next five years.The government also wants to increase AI adoption in Canada from just over 12% today to 60% by 2034.Carney launched the strategy in June and followed it in September with Digital Transformation Canada, which is intended to modernize federal services while using government purchasing power to help Canadian technology companies grow.The government says the new council will provide “independent, practical, and timely expert advice” as those policies are implemented.
