REGINA, Sask. — While the Opposition NDP urged the Saskatchewan Party government Tuesday to pull the plug on “hyperscale” artificial intelligence data centres, Monday’s announcement that Bell Canada plans to quadruple the capacity of its AI hub south of Regina rang like music to the ears of Saskatchewan Building Trades Council executive director John Sweet.
Sweet’s group represents more than 7,000 unionized and otherwise organized construction workers in the province, in part through advocacy, education and training.
The province and Bell announced Monday a non-binding memorandum of understanding that would see the under-construction data centre retain its previously agreed-to 300 megawatts of electricity from the provincial grid, while phasing in up to 900 megawatts of additional self-procured power.
That expansion, Bell said, would bring its total investment in the project to more than $50 billion at full buildout while supporting 800 to 1,200 construction, engineering and technical jobs along the way.
“One of the problems that we see in that feast and famine cycle is that apprenticeship and skilled trades is a great job but it's not necessarily a great career depending on certain factors because if you're working a lot for two years straight, but then you're not working at all for six or seven months, financial security becomes a problem and people will drop out of their apprenticeships and drop out of the trades even if they have a journeyperson's or Red Seal because they need that job security,” said Sweet.
“And so … by lengthening these projects, what we're seeing, what we will see, what we have seen, is people staying in the trades longer.”
Beyond construction, the province and Bell added in their respective announcements Monday that the expansion could result in 3,500 to 3,600 new permanent jobs in operations, power generation, security, logistics and maintenance.
'More regulations to set up a lemonade stand'
For NDP leader Carla Beck, though, important questions persist, particularly around the impact of the Bell project on taxpayers’ power bills, environmental impact and appropriate protocol for approving such projects.
The Saskatchewan Party acknowledged in August that it did not complete an environmental assessment on what it is now touting as the largest single private-sector capital investment in Canadian history.
Additionally, four councillors in the RM of Sherwood — where the centre is to be located — abruptly resigned in March, forcing the province to appoint interim councillors ahead of elections and byelections that are scheduled for Nov. 9.
“The way to get around some of these processes is just to plough ahead and get the shovels in the ground before the process is kept up, or the processes can keep up, is not what I think most people in this province expect,” Beck told reporters Tuesday at the provincial legislature. “This is a province where people take seriously their stewardship over the land, where they expect to have answers, basic answers, to the questions that they have.
“Again, this looks like a government after 20 years that doesn't seem to think that they're accountable to the people that elected them, on small issues and on big issues. And you don't get much bigger than a 1,200-megawatt project that is going ahead without the most basic provisions in place.
“Look, there's more regulations to set up a lemonade stand in this province right now than it seems to be to build an AI data centre. I don't think that passes the smell test for most people.”
With that in mind, Beck and the NDP called Tuesday for a complete halt to any further development or approval of large AI developments until “proper” processes for assessments and public consultations are put in place.
An emailed statement attributed to Beck on Tuesday further critiqued an alleged lack of consultation on proposed AI projects in or around Moose Jaw and Saskatoon.
“The government has a mandate to govern. They don’t have carte blanche to do whatever it is that they want to do, especially when we're talking about projects as large as this and as impactful,” said Beck.
“These decisions are going to outlast all of us here in this room, I'm sorry to say, and certainly past the mandate of this government. We'd like to see them answer the questions that exist right now to build a framework, and until then, we're calling for a moratorium.”
In a written statement Tuesday, Beck added that “municipal governments are required to hold public consultation before they construct a parking lot on an empty field. Surely we can hold ourselves to the same standard on projects that will have a major impact on our power grid, our water supply and our broader environment.”
