Welcome to TfD Weekly

TfD Weekly is the newsletter of Technologists for Democracy (TfD), a Toronto-based civic tech organisation working at the intersection of technology, privacy, and democratic accountability. Each week we recap what's happening at Civic Tech Toronto, share updates on our campaigns, and keep an eye on legislation that affects Canadians' digital rights.

Our active campaigns:

• Stop Cineplex from Facial Detection
• People's Consultation on AI
• Waymo in Canada (open letter coming soon)

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Civic Tech Toronto: From Tariffs to Transparency

This week's talk was by Sasha Ivanov, the creator of Maple Scan. When the 2025 tariffs triggered a nationwide Buy Canadian movement, Canadians needed a way to tell which products were actually Canadian. Sasha's weekend project answered that demand, climbing to #4 on the App Store and scanning over 700,000 products to date. His talk traced how community feedback and volunteer contributions turned a small side project into a viral civic-tech app, and what it took to keep up with the surge.

Sasha is an entrepreneur and computer science researcher working on next-generation AI and XR technologies. He previously taught entrepreneurial app development at the University of Calgary and built immersive prototypes at Meta Reality Labs.

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TfD Film Club: Last Call

Last call! Our first-ever film club screening is this Friday, May 29th. We're watching The End of the Internet at the Revue Cinema, with a pre-show installation and a Q&A with director Dylan Reibling after the film.

The event itself is free to attend, but you'll need a cinema ticket ($17.50) to watch the film. We recommend grabbing your ticket before marking your attendance, as seats are subject to availability. If you have signed up but are now unavailable to attend, please update us on Luma so that we can ensure we have space for all who are able to join in.

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Waymo: Open Letter Coming Soon

Our legal advisors have given us the all-clear on the Waymo open letter. We'll be publishing it soon, and we'd love your help spreading the word once it's live. Stay tuned and be ready to share it far and wide.

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Bill C-22: Where We Stand

The federal government is on the verge of passing Bill C-22 which experts claim stands to weaken privacy guardrails and put an end to encrypted communications. An open letter from Canadian legal scholars expresses concern that the bill will make metadata retention mandatory and require digital backdoors to electronic platforms. TfD is troubled by the implications of the bill and we ask members of parliament to vote against it. Bill C-22 is not the first attempt by Mark Carney's government to change the federal privacy landscape. Bill C-4, which passed last March, grants "federal political parties immunity from privacy laws retroactively to the year 2000," according to a report from the National Observer.

We are concerned with the privacy backsliding that is occurring under this government. We believe that we do not need more access points into our lives. It is possible to keep users and platforms accountable while preserving the privacy of everyday Canadians.

Read our full statement on Bill C-22.

Sign the OpenMedia petition to reach out to your MP and voice your opposition towards Bill C-22.

You can also read our LinkedIn statement and share it with your network.

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Monthly Volunteer Meeting

Our next monthly volunteer meeting takes place on June 10th. Whether you're a long-time member or new to TfD, this is a great chance to find out what we're working on and how to get involved.

RSVP on Luma

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Find Us Online

Follow TfD on Mastodon:

Technologists for Democracy (@techfordemocracy@thecanadian.social) - TheCanadian.Social

7 Posts, 24 Following, 72 Followers · We are Canadians keeping tech accountable. Canadians using technology towards better democracy for all

Follow TfD on LinkedIn: Technologists for Democracy

Follow TfD on Instagram: techfordemocracy

Follow TfD on Bluesky: techfordemocracy.bsky.social

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Until next time, The TfD Team