REGINA, Sask. ‐- The announcement that the Bell AI Data Centre project will be massively expanding south of Regina is receiving a cold reception from the opposition New Democrats.
In a statement, Opposition critic for Tech, Innovation & AI Brittney Senger slammed the announcement made in Toronto by Premier Scott Moe and by Bell Canada CEO Mirko Bibic that the data centre will expand beyond the original 300 megawatts of power from the provincial grid, and add up to 900 MW of expanded capacity with that additional power to be supplied by Bell itself. There is also word of a major expansion in jobs being created.
While the announcement was greeted with enthusiasm by Premier Moe and other leaders in Toronto, including Prime Minister Mark Carney, the tone was decidedly more somber from Senger who particularly slammed the government over a lack of consultation.
"Today, we saw yet another hyperscale data centre announcement from the Sask Party government, with another 30 proposals under review. The 1.2 gigawatt data centre came in spite of absolutely zero public consultation," Senger stated.
"As Premier Scott Moe aligns with CEOs and tech bros, he once again proves he has completely forgotten about the people of Saskatchewan. Saskatchewan people continue to have questions. Scott Moe and Jeremy Harrison continue to run from basic transparency while making closed door deals."
Among the questions Senger posed were the following:
"Where will the power for a 1.2 Gigawatt data centre come from? What will the environmental impact be of a project of this size? How much water will the project use? How many jobs will this create? Who will the jobs go to? What will the cost to taxpayers be? Who does this really data centre really benefit?"
"We will keep fighting for answers, and the Saskatchewan residents whom we are accountable to," Senger said. "It's time for a government that does the same."
