Ministers raise prospect of new AI safety regulations as shooting questions mount

OTTAWA — Two federal ministers signalled Wednesday that Ottawa could act to improve online safety related to artificial intelligence as questions mount concerning OpenAI’s decision not to warn police about Tumbler Ridge shooter Jesse Van Rootselaar.

The company’s handling of the issue has been under scrutiny since the Wall Street Journal reported that Van Rootselaar’s OpenAI account was shut down over troubling posts, including some that described scenarios of gun violence.

The shooter was banned by OpenAI from its ChatGPT platform at least seven months ago, but OpenAI did not inform police about her problematic behaviour until after the Feb. 10 killings in Tumbler Ridge, B.C.

Van Rootselaar shot eight people to death before turning a gun on herself.

The company said her online activities didn’t meet the threshold for informing law enforcement because they didn’t identify credible or imminent planning at the time.

Artificial Intelligence Minister Evan Solomon called OpenAI representatives to Ottawa for a meeting Tuesday to explain its safety procedures and decision-making processes. Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree, Justice Minister Sean Fraser and Culture Minister Marc Miller also attended.

Solomon said in a statement late Tuesday that federal officials expressed their “disappointment” to the company about its decision not to warn law enforcement.

Government officials had expected the company to come to the table with “concrete solutions” so Canadians could feel comfortable that this kind of tragedy would not recur, Solomon said Wednesday.

While that did not happen, the OpenAI representatives said they would return with proposals, he added.

“We told this company we want to see some hard proposals, some concrete action,” Solomon said.

He added that “all options are on the table” as the government develops a “suite of measures” to address online harms and other digital policy issues.

Trust needs to be earned, Fraser said Wednesday when asked about the meeting.

“The message that we delivered in no uncertain terms was that we have an expectation that there are going to be changes implemented and if they’re not forthcoming very quickly, the government is going to be making changes,” he said.

The Liberals want to do more to protect Canadians, Fraser said.

“There are families who have lost children that they will never get back,” he said.

“Can we honestly look somebody in the face who has been through a tragedy like this and tell them with certainty that we’re doing absolutely everything we can to make sure that this kind of a tragedy will never happen again?”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 25, 2026.

— With files from Sarah Ritchie, David Baxter, Craig Lord and Ashley Joannou

Jim Bronskill, The Canadian Press