By Dave Branco

UNBC professor says Canada is falling behind on AI safety after the Tumbler Ridge shooting

Feb 25, 2026 | 2:46 PM

PRINCE GEORGE – A local professor has weighed in on efforts to regulate artificial intelligence amid concerns over OpenAI’s failure to alert police about troubling posts made by the person responsible for the 

On February 10th, nine lives were lost in a mass shooting in Tumbler Ridge. Since that time, we’ve learned that months before the incident, OpenAI had banned the killer Jessie Van Rootselaar from its ChatGPT platform due to concerning behaviour. We’ve also learned the company did not notify the proper authorities about that behaviour. 

This lack of communication is now facing intense scrutiny from governments at all levels. Evan Solomon, Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Innovation,  says he wants to know the details about their escalation thresholds. I want them to give us details on their protocols, specifically those in Canada. 

Following a meeting with OpenAI this week, Solomon said federal officials expressed their disappointment to the company and said there are options for regulation in Canada. 

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David Eby, Premier of BC, also had a message for OpenAI, and that is if there is an opportunity for them to provide information to us, to understand how this could have happened. 

Experts say Canada is already falling behind on AI oversight. UNBC Computer Science professor Dr. Shahadat Hossain points to Europe as the benchmark. He says the European Union is developing comprehensive guidelines and regulatory procedures, so it is a little ahead of us. 

The Tumbler Ridge tragedy has prompted a national reflection, revealing significant shortcomings in Canada’s AI safety regulations. It has sparked pressing concerns about the reliability of tech companies to self-regulate when human lives are on the line.