REGINA, Sask. – The opposition New Democrats made known they were unimpressed with the provincial government's AI data centre framework that was announced Thursday.
Minister for Crown Investments Corporation Jeremy Harrison announced the six point plan Thursday at the Bell AI Data Centre project southeast of Regina. Among their key priorities was Canadian ownership and a requirement that the project must contribute to Canadian data and AI sovereignty.
In a statement Thursday afternoon following the announcement, Opposition critic for tech innovation and AI Brittney Senger characterized it as an opportunity for the Sask Party to "rebuild the trust they broke with their refusal to consult or engage honestly with communities."
"Instead, what Saskatchewan people got was a six-point infographic and more lies from a Minister who has demonstrated time and time again that he can't be trusted."
Senger particularly took aim at Harrison's contention that the government had been "operating under these guidelines for months."
"If this were actually true, where was the transparency and accountability during the development of the Bell AI data centre project? Why not answer some basic questions? Why not share this policy? Did the Moose Jaw data centre somehow violate this six-point infographic?"
Senger also pointed to the comments of Ray Orb, appointed Reeve for the RM of Sherwood, who had said it was "clear the general public was not aware of what was going on."
"Transparency cannot be an afterthought. It's foundational to any major project being planned, communicated, and approved," Senger stated. "Details around this framework remain nonexistent, and questions remain unanswered. We will continue to push the Sask. Party and Jeremy Harrison to be honest with the public and treat Saskatchewan people with the respect they deserve when it comes to these projects."
Government says consultations have taken place
The issue of whether the government has been transparent enough or done enough consultations on the AI data centre issue is something that has come up from critics of those projects over the past number of months.
At the government's announcement of their plans for AI data centres Thursday, Minister Harrison was pressed about the sense that public consultation was not something the government was focused on with respect to the new framework.
Harrison responded "we've heard feedback from the public, and I would say that that has been taken into account. But I would say this — I think there's broad support for the direction that we're moving in."
"We did work really closely with Chambers of Commerce, for example, with municipal governments, with SARM and SUMA. You know, there have been a lot of representative organizations that have been involved in the formulation of what you've seen today."
Speakers spoke of the consultations with landowners that were done with respect to the Bell AI Data Centre project in particular. Bell Canada Group President John Watson said that for the Bell AI data centre project, he thought "we've engaged the community significantly." He spoke of the measures put in place at the site in response to the feedback.
"There's a 12-foot berm around this, and there's an eight-foot fence going on top of that to manage any type of interference that flows from this," Watson said.
"We really care. We're not here to build a centre and go. We've been in Canada since 1880. We're Canada first. We're here to last. And this matters. And our brand matters. When we get together with someone like Minister Harrison here, it's not for a short-term thing. It's to build something great together that we're both proud of. And that's not going to change going forward."
White City – Qu'Appelle MLA Brad Crassweller, whose riding includes the Bell AI Data Centre, spoke about the consultations that took place with those landowners in the area.
"I've met with a number of the farmers and landowners in the area, as recently as last week. And one of them came to me and just said, you know what, we've just been so impressed with Bell. Anything we've talked about, anything we've needed information on, they've just been fantastic to work with. And they're right just the other side of this berm, pretty much. And so they're just absolutely impressed with how well Bell is handling it. So I want to thank you for that, for hearing their concerns and addressing those things, and just being a great partner to work with our local farmers."
