Tashi Farmilo
LJI Reporter

A coalition of Quebec organizations is urging the provincial government to reconsider it
reliance on foreign technology firms to host sensitive public data, calling instead for the creation
of publicly controlled, locally governed digital infrastructure.

Backing the campaign are Co-Savoir, FACiL – pour l’appropriation collective de l’informatique
libre, le Syndicat de la fonction publique et parapublique du Québec (SFPQ), le Syndicat de
professionnelles et professionnels du gouvernement du Québec (SPGQ), and the Ligue des
droits et libertés (LDL). They argue that critical information on residents, public services, and
infrastructure is currently hosted by US-based companies such as Amazon Web Services and
Microsoft Azure, leaving it vulnerable to foreign access.

At the centre of their concerns is US legislation, including the USA PATRIOT Act ( Uniting and
Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct
Terrorism Act ) and the CLOUD Act (Clarifying Lawful Overseas Use of Data Act) , which allow
American authorities to compel data disclosure from US companies even when the data is
stored in Canada. FACiL and Co-Savoir contend that this legal exposure undermines Quebec’s
ability to enforce its own privacy standards. For the SFPQ and SPGQ, outsourcing has not only
introduced legal risk but also weakened public-sector IT capacity and the province’s ability to
manage its systems independently.

According to the campaign, Quebec has awarded over $2 billion in CLOUD computing contracts
since 2011, much of it to Microsoft and Amazon. While these arrangements were billed as cost-
effective and modernizing, the SPGQ notes that expected gains have not materialized. Failures
such as the flawed rollout of the SAAQclic platform are cited as evidence that outsourcing has
introduced complexity without improving reliability.

The campaign calls for publicly owned infrastructure based on open-source software, which
FACiL sees as essential for transparency, democratic oversight, and long-term legal security.
Supporters also stress the importance of rebuilding technical expertise within government to
reduce dependency on external providers.

Digital sovereignty is becoming a national issue. Earlier this year, Prime Minister Mark Carney
ordered a review of a 25-year federal CLOUD contract awarded exclusively to US-based
companies, following criticism from civil liberties groups and privacy advocates.

Across Europe, several governments are implementing sovereign CLOUD frameworks to
ensure public data is governed under domestic law. Quebec’s campaign echoes these
developments, arguing that digital infrastructure is inherently political and that its governance
determines how public power is exercised in the digital age.​

The declaration is available for public endorsement at liguedesdroits.ca, and organizers plan to
present the signatories to members of the National Assembly in September.

Photo: A coalition of Quebec groups is calling for public control over digital infrastructure, with
organizations like Co-Savoir urging a move away from foreign CLOUD providers toward local,
open-source solutions. (TF) Photo: Courtesy of Co-Savoir’s Facebook page.