MacNaughton said he hasn’t “lobbied anybody as defined by the Act.” Palantir’s engagement, he added, has focused on the Public Health Agency of Canada and the Canadian Institute for Health Information.
And he still “absolutely” talks to people in the Prime Minister’s Office about broader public policy issues and politics.
“But have I gone and tried to sell Palantir to the PMO? No,” he said, insisting a decision will ultimately be made by the Public Health Agency of Canada anyway.
“Do I talk to Nav Bains and do I talk to [Finance] Minister [Bill] Morneau and everything? Sure I do. I talk to them about what … we think is going to happen in terms of Canada-U.S. relations.”
He stressed that their discussions have nothing to do with Palantir.
“I’m not going to stop talking to people about public policy issues, I’ve been doing that all my life. I’m not going to stop now,” MacNaughton said.
The company has done business with the Canadian government in the past. In March 2019, Palantir was awarded a C$997,000 contract with the Department of National Defence to develop software.
MacNaughton has close ties to Justin Trudeau and served as co-chairman of the prime minister’s campaign efforts in Ontario in 2015.
As ambassador, he was a central figure for Canada during the tumultuous USMCA negotiations. When he announced his departure, Trudeau called MacNaughton Canada’s „point person … in the most difficult and uncertain trade negotiations this country has ever faced.“
Angus said he has concerns about MacNaughton’s influence in Ottawa as well as the company he now works for.
“We have an ambassador to the United States — who plays a staggeringly important role and has numerous contacts — who steps down and then goes to work for a company that I think has a very questionable reputation in terms of their commitment to democracy,” Angus said.
Angus said he would also like to see Palantir called to testify before the House of Commons ethics committee on the impacts of facial recognition on privacy and civic rights.
MacNaughton said it’s “entirely legitimate for people to have privacy concerns,” adding he welcomed questions from MPs of any political party.
He also shared some details on Palantir’s pitch to Canada.
MacNaughton argued Palantir’s roots in the defense and security fields means it has robust data protection and privacy built into the software. He insisted the company doesn’t own the data, nor will it sell the information to anyone else.
The company has been emphasizing its work to help governments around the world obtain better data on which they can make decisions.
For Canada, Palantir insists it will keep Canadians safer, help governments deliver better services for less money and make industry more productive and more competitive
Palantir is also prepared to do the work „pro bono,“ he said.
Source: politico.com
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