Last October, I accepted an invitation to contribute to Canada's AI Strategy consultation.

I had spent more than three years building a framework that I believed could help governments understand whether artificial intelligence is actually improving coordination inside public institutions. I submitted that work because I believed public consultations should be places where new ideas are seriously considered.

Two senior federal officials replied almost immediately. They told me the work was closely connected to what they were already thinking about, and they said it would be shared internally. Meetings were discussed.

Then the story I was being told began to change.

Meetings that had been discussed never happened. The explanations I received became difficult to reconcile. In January, I received a letter stating that the matter had been closed.

Eventually, I stopped trying to understand the emails and started asking for the government's own records instead.

Four months later, those records showed something I hadn't expected. They didn't match the explanation I'd been given.

I could have accepted the closure letter and moved on.

I didn't.

At that point it wasn't about whether anyone agreed with me. It was about understanding what had actually happened.

I didn't expect what came next. One access-to-information request became another. Hundreds of pages became thousands. One article became five. A simple submission became a documentary archive. Over time, it became a court proceeding.

Somewhere along the way, this stopped feeling like a project. I felt responsible for seeing it through.

There were many moments where it would have been easier to stop.

Instead, I kept following the record.

I'm still the same founder who submitted that work last October. Since then, I've continued carrying the work myself. The documentary archive, the investigation, and now the court proceeding all exist because I chose to keep following the record.

One thing this experience taught me is that documentation matters. Before anyone can decide whether something was right or wrong, someone has to assemble the record. I felt responsible for doing that.

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Why the proceeding matters

The proceeding I've brought — Nadia Pulcova v. His Majesty the King in Right of Canada — asks the Ontario Superior Court to determine what legal obligations arose from that engagement, and whether the later reversal of the representations made to me was consistent with those obligations.

As a founder, I wanted to understand what obligations exist when public institutions invite innovators to contribute proprietary work, and later change what they say about how that work was handled. I also wanted future founders to have a clearer understanding of what happens when they choose to work with public institutions.

I brought the proceeding self-represented after spending months building the documentary record. To carry it forward responsibly, and to keep doing the surrounding work the record now requires, I need help.

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What happens next

The work is now entering a different stage.

The documentary record continues to grow.

New records are still being released.

The legal proceeding now has to move through the Court.

The framework itself still requires international patent protection.

None of those things can continue on their own.

That's why I'm asking for your support.

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What this campaign supports

Everything this campaign supports grew out of that decision not to stop following the record.

Your support helps ensure that:

• the legal proceeding can continue;

• the framework remains protected through international patent filings; and

• the documentary record remains publicly available.

Depending on the needs of each milestone, funds may be applied to advancing the legal proceeding, maintaining international patent protection for the framework that forms the subject matter of the proceeding, and preserving and publishing the documentary record.

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Current milestone

Goal: CAD $35,000

This milestone supports the most immediate work required to continue the proceeding and the work directly connected to it.

As significant milestones are reached, I'll continue publishing the documentary record and providing updates on how the work is progressing.

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I don't know how the proceeding will end.

I do know I'm glad I didn't stop asking questions when the story stopped making sense.

Last October, I thought I was contributing to a public consultation.

I never imagined it would become a documentary archive, a court proceeding, and a year of my life.

If you believe this work should continue, I'd be grateful for your support.

— Nadia Pulcova

Read the documentary record: https://www.tlnt.fund/public-record

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