(Written in 2019)
Is blockchain a Canadian thing yet or not? The first bitcoin ATM in the world was set up in Vancouver in 2013. Yet ‘blockchain’ doesn’t only translate into ‘bitcoin’ or ‘cryptocurrencies.’ And for most Canadians outside of financial institutions, distributed ledger technology still awaits their discovery.
One of the most prolific writers and speakers in the field of distributed ledger systems (a.k.a. ‘blockchains’), Canadian business leader Don Tapscott, tells of a ‘blockchain revolution’ that he believes we are on the cusp of entering. How much does the Government of Canada know about blockchain and are MPs discussing and considering policies needed for this emerging digital financial and social technology?
We can now find a brief record regarding blockchain and bitcoin in the Government of Canada. The first use of the term ‘bitcoin’ in Canadian Parliament was by MP Cheryl Gallant (CON) during a discussion about video game development on February 26, 2014. She noted: “In the news these days there has been quite a bit of ink devoted to this currency called ‘bitcoin’.” Then asked: “Do any of you accept that currency, or is it impacting upon your companies currently, or do you see a potential impact in the future?” The responses to her were negative, though a symbolic link was established with video gaming which has been among the earliest adopters of virtual currencies.
For those new to this topic or still seeking clarity, perhaps the best definition of ‘bitcoin’ provided so far in Parliament came over 4 years later from Jeremy Clark, Assistant Professor, Concordia Institute for Information Systems Engineering, Concordia University, as an Individual. He stated (Mar. 27, 2018):
“Bitcoin is an emerging digital currency that uses cryptography in a novel way to provide a secure cash-like system for creating new money, enabling transactions between participants, and recording transactions in a decentralized way on a ledger that we now call the blockchain.”
The term ‘blockchain’ was apparently first used seven months after bitcoin, not by an MP, but by an invited business representative, Stephen Brown, Managing Partner, Consumer and Industrial Products at Deloitte. He included ‘blockchain’ in answer to a question by Lloyd Longfield (LIB) about ‘Bitcoins’ that Longfield credited to Alex Nuttall. Brown replied (Sept. 26, 2016): “Deloitte helped spin off an entity that is working on enterprise- and commercial-grade blockchain infrastructure, which is something to keep an eye on.” Longfield then ended that conversation, saying, “As our committee [Industry] goes forward, blockchain is something we need to be considering in the next few years, and hopefully sooner.”
As it turns out, hopefully sooner is apparently still some time away, though already officially invited. Alex Benay, Chief Information Officer of the Government of Canada, Treasury Board Secretariat recently stated (Feb. 19, 2019):
“I would say that we are increasingly mature on the artificial intelligence path. We’re a little less mature on blockchain in the Government of Canada. It doesn’t mean that we don’t have places that are experimenting. … It is probably the next area that we need to look at. I would like to say we’re more mature in that space, but we’re actually not.”
MP Nathan Cullen (NDP) spoke of a general lack of knowledge about blockchain directly (Mar. 22, 2018):
“We’re in politics; people can say ‘blockchain,’ and I can nod, but I really have no idea of what we’re talking about. I can read it six times and still not fully understand what we’re talking about.”
Similarly, MP Francesco Sorbara (LIB) stated (May 24, 2018),
“We’ve obviously heard a lot on blockchain technology. I don’t really know what it is. I’ve heard a lot about it, but I haven’t been exposed to it.”
MP Pierre Poilievre (CON) acknowledged that (Feb. 26, 2018), “[w]e’re hearing a lot about blockchain technology.” Indeed, we may return to ask whether Parliament is hearing ‘a lot’ about blockchain or only ‘a little’ another time. Nevertheless, MP Majid Jowhari (LIB), likewise noted (Apr. 24, 2018): “I have a lot of different interest groups come to me and talk about blockchain as a new technology and how blockchain could help solve some of the government challenges or bigger challenges.” Those ‘bigger challenges’ for blockchain sound curious. MP Joe Peschisolido (LIB) admitted that (Mar. 21, 2018), “in the past few months, I’ve been trying to wrap my head around blockchain technology." What we see is Canadian parliamentarians trying to come to grips with what blockchain systems are and what disruption they will cause not only to business, but also to elected governance.
MP Dan Albas (CON) introduced a Private Member’s Bill Bill C-452, An Act to amend the Income Tax Act (gift in virtual currency), stating in a discussion of the Income Tax Act to the House on March 17, 2019:
“This bill would extend that exemption to the sale of virtual currencies, such as Bitcoin. Virtual currencies should not be treated differently from any other asset, and this bill would help address that divide. It would also allow the minister to declare a certain virtual currency ineligible from the exemption if there is a public interest in doing so.”
In general, the preferred term in Parliament seems to be now ‘virtual currencies,’ which MP Bill Morneau (LIB) mentioned in regard to Bill C-97 on May 31, 2019, to “allow the Governor in Council to make regulations defining 'virtual currency’ and 'dealing in virtual currencies’.” Bitcoin just happens to be more than five times larger than any other virtual currency currently on the market.
So, is blockchain a Canadian thing yet or not? Perhaps now having virtual currencies on the table in Parliament with open discussion proposed by multiple parties, attention to both virtual currencies and blockchains might pick up.