Tariffs and cybersecurity issues at Trump budget meeting

Thunder Bay - Concerns about U.S. tariffs, cybersecurity, and the use of artificial intelligence technology were raised in the latest budget discussions at city council.

At Thursday's general committee meeting, council reviewed the first half of the proposed 2025 operating budget, which included corporate revenues and expenditures, the municipal manager's department, and the corporate services and community services departments.

No changes were proposed to the budget submissions for these departments, but questions were raised about the potential impact of U.S. tariffs on the budget, as well as

Fleet Services and Trump Tariffs

Councillor Andrew Foulds asked fleet services manager Doug Glena whether the city was prepared for U.S. President Donald Trump's 25% tariff on Canadian exports, set to take effect on February 1.

Glena said there isn't much information available right now about the potential impact of tariffs on the automotive parts supply chain.

He told council that fleet services has fixed-cost service agreements with contractors, but said parts that need to be ordered from the U.S. "are a real unknown."

Glena said fleet services always tries to "source parts in Canada first" before looking elsewhere.

Currently, the proposed budget for fleet services is $7.4 million, a decrease of $113,300, or 1.5%, from 2024.

According to the budget, parts and other supplies are up $270,600, but fuel costs are down $3,839,000.

Cybersecurity and AI

Foulds also asked corporate information technology manager Gene Safak whether his department has the budget and staff to protect people's private information.

The corporate IT department's proposed total budget is $7.5 million and employs 34 full-time staff dedicated to cybersecurity.

"We know that, like any other organization, being connected to the internet means there is risk. So implementing controls is very important to us, and we do this on a regular basis," Safak said.

"We are continuously evolving our cybersecurity program, and at the same time, we are also evolving our ability to recover from cyber attacks in case we unfortunately suffer a major loss."

"We do have a multi-layered security program, so we have multiple layers to protect systems from phishing attacks, ransomware attacks, viruses, and all kinds of malware, but we know it's important to keep these systems up to date. But at the same time, as the threat landscape changes, we need to improve this strategy."

Safak said he will present a detailed report in February on how his department plans to improve the city's cybersecurity.

In the proposed 2025 operating budget, Safak highlighted three priority areas: advancing projects related to the digital strategy, enhancing the city's cybersecurity controls and technology recovery capabilities, and reviewing opportunities for using artificial intelligence and developing an AI governance model.

Councillor Shelby Ch'ng asked how the government is currently using AI, and whether the city has allocated enough budget for AI technology.

Safak said his department has "no formal AI program or set of initiatives we are looking to implement."

He said his department is still in the learning phase with AI technology and is exploring the capabilities of using ChatGPT.

"We are being very cautious right now about the uses of AI," Safak said.

He noted that there is currently "no specific budget requirement" for AI technology, but his department is exploring more uses for AI, which could have implications for next year's budget.

Mayor John Klin noted that the city "may never be able to afford all the manpower needed to do everything a modern, growing city needs to do."

Therefore, he said, potential applications of AI technology would help improve efficiency and reduce costs without having to hire more staff.

"We are still taking a very slow approach. We are putting together a working group to start thinking about and researching the possibilities as we move forward, but that's where we are in the process right now. Once there is a budget requirement, we will bring it to council," Klin said.

Budget Deliberations

The city's budget deliberations will continue on February 3 and February 5, with approval of the 2025 operating budget scheduled for February 10.

The growth department, infrastructure and operations department, and all agencies, boards, and committees will answer questions from council.

The city has launched an online survey about the budget, which will remain open to the public until February 4.

Source: https://www.tbnewswatch.com/local-news/trump-tariffs-and-cybersecurity-concerns-at-budget-meeting-10163341