For most of this campaign, one story has dominated: Donald Trump.
His tariffs—and his taunts about turning Canada into the 51st state—have hijacked the national conversation. We’ve also heard about jobs, inflation, taxes, and crime. And rightly so. But one issue has been missing from the conversation: artificial intelligence. AI is the third rail of this election—vital to our future, but politically untouchable.
Why Does AI Matter?
Start with jobs. Just as robots transformed manufacturing, AI is already transforming the knowledge economy. Some roles are being augmented. Others are disappearing.
That same shift is happening in offices, hospitals, and even governments. From fraud detection to medical research, AI is changing how work gets done.
But it doesn’t stop there. AI is now embedded in everything from digital security to media platforms. It shapes what we see, what we trust, and how we act.
AI is a foundational technology—like electricity or the internet—whose reach now extends across every file that matters: jobs, security, media, and infrastructure.
And it’s not just changing what we do. It’s changing how we do it—and increasingly, why.
Why Are Leaders Avoiding It?
The absence isn’t accidental. Here are three key reasons:
- Partly, it’s tactical. AI raises deep, difficult questions—about surveillance, bias, job loss, and democratic resilience. Campaign strategists coach leaders to stay away from issues that can’t be reduced to talking points or might lead to a fumble on camera. If you can't script it, stay away from it.
- Partly, it’s complexity. AI isn’t a single issue—it’s a systemic force. It touches health, education, defense, labour markets, and civil rights. And because campaigns are built for messaging discipline, not open-ended explanation, AI resists the format. The public isn’t being given the tools—or time—to understand it.
- And partly, it’s fear. Addressing AI means acknowledging uncertainty and admitting that no party has a fully formed plan. Frankly, leaders are not sure what to make of AI or where it leads. That makes it easier to delay the conversation than to lead it.
The result is an unspoken agreement to look away. The complexity of the issues, the ethical dilemmas, and the perception that AI belongs in the future—not the present—make it seem easier to avoid than to confront.
What should be central to the debate gets left unsaid. No one wants to grab the third rail of this campaign—and so the most transformative force of our time stays sidelined.
But silence isn’t a plan.
What the Parties Are Saying
The parties know AI is out there—and rising. You can feel it in the way they circle the issue.
To their credit, the Liberal platform addresses AI head-on. In a dedicated section titled The Economy of the Future, the party argues that artificial intelligence is critical to Canada's economic competitiveness and to modernizing government itself.
They don’t offer a full roadmap, but they do stake out a vision: a tech-enabled economy, with AI infrastructure woven into service delivery and public-sector innovation. It’s cautious—but forward-looking.
The Conservative and NDP platforms don’t mention artificial intelligence at all—not even once. That’s more than silence. It’s a statement.
Still, outside the platforms, there are signs of awareness. NDP MPs have raised concerns about AI being used for rent price-fixing and have called for more oversight and regulation. The Conservatives, for their part, have tied AI to national security and economic revival, though without addressing questions of ethics, governance, or public accountability.
The Greens and Bloc Québécois have nodded to AI ethics and cultural protection, but don’t go deep.
What’s missing isn’t acknowledgment. It’s coherence. These scattered comments reveal a growing awareness of AI’s impact—but no shared understanding of what is already unfolding or where it leads.
And that points to a deeper problem.
The Real Question Is Trust
What Canadians need is someone they can trust. Someone to name the risks.
To start the conversation.
Canadians aren’t asking for detailed AI strategies. They don’t expect leaders to have it all figured out. What they want—what they deserve—is leadership they can trust in the face of uncertainty.
It’s confidence that someone, somewhere, is prepared to lead. And right now, they’re not seeing it.
We’ve already set out three reasons why leaders won’t talk about AI, but there’s a fourth—and it may be the most important of all. It’s not tactical. It’s not strategic. It’s existential.
People don’t really understand AI—but they sense its scale. They know it’s coming. They know it’s big. Some think it might transform society for the better. Others worry it could unravel everything.
Most Canadians are somewhere in between—uncertain what to think, unsure who to believe. That’s where the political need arises. And the opportunity.
What’s needed now isn’t a theory or a framework. It’s not mastery of the issue.
It’s the willingness to step forward with clarity, humility, and purpose.
What Canadians need is someone they can trust to lead the way forward.
This is not about grabbing a third rail. It’s about taking the bull by the horns.
Don Lenihan PhD is an expert in public engagement with a long-standing focus on how digital technologies are transforming societies, governments, and governance. This column appears weekly. To see earlier instalments in the series, click here.