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VICTORIA — The Tumbler Ridge and Prince George chambers of commerce in B.C. are urging Ottawa and the provincial government to ban children under 16 from using AI tools and social media.
Jerrilyn Kirk, executive director of the Tumbler Ridge chamber, said last month’s shootings in the community underscore that everybody is “vulnerable to the impacts of online harms.”
She said a growing body of research shows that giving children unregulated access to powerful digital applications contributes to “social instability, mental health pressures and public safety risks.”
Kirk added in an interview that the chambers were building their case on research that Australia used to ban social media for children under 16 last year.
A 2023 peer-reviewed study by researchers at the University of Ottawa found that heavy social media use is associated with higher levels of psychological distress, with younger adolescents being the most vulnerable.
Jesse Van Rootselaar, who shot dead eight people on Feb. 10 before killing herself, had been banned by OpenAI last June after violating its policies on the use of its ChatGPT chatbot.
But the company only told police after her name became public following the shooting.
Neil Godbout, executive director of the Prince George Chamber of Commerce, said healthy communities are “foundational to economic stability and growth.”
The two chambers say in a statement that their joint resolution on the proposed ban now goes to the BC Chamber of Commerce for debate.
If adopted, it will become part of the policies that the provincial chamber will submit to the B.C. government for consideration, they say.
B.C. Attorney General Niki Sharma said she was aware of the resolution from the business groups, adding that improving online safety is a top priority as online tools evolve.
“We should not be allowing social media and AI chatbot platforms to experiment, in an unregulated fashion, on the minds of young people,” she said.
Sharma said the federal government must create “meaningful regulations” that strengthen safeguards for youth online.
The two business groups issued their joint resolution before Thursday’s virtual meeting between B.C. Premier David Eby, Tumbler Ridge Mayor Darryl Krakowka, and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.
The Canadian Press obtained the statement and resolution after the meeting, where Eby says Altman agreed to publicly apologize for his company’s actions.
Eby also said OpenAI would also work with the province to come up with recommendations for federal regulatory standards on artificial intelligence and reporting of problematic interactions with users.
British Columbia’s Chief Coroner Dr. Jatinder Baidwan announced this week that an inquest into the shootings will consider the role of artificial intelligence.
Staff Sgt. Kris Clark, Senior Media Relations Officer at RCMP’s E-Division, said in a statement that the investigation into the shootings “remains active and ongoing” and will only conclude once “all investigative avenues have been exhausted.”
“It’s impossible to provide a specific or detailed timeline, as it is subject to the gathering of all digital and physical evidence and any analysis,” he said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 6, 2026.
Wolfgang Depner, The Canadian Press
