Data centres are unpopular in Alberta, poll suggests.
uncertain
poll → suggest → Alberta
Only 7% of respondents show strong support for data-centre development
Rita Reich has hosted more than 100 of her neighbours at her farm in Ponoka County, Alta., over the last month to protest a data centre proposed just down the road.
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Reich → show → road
"I just don't want it in our agricultural community.
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I → want → community
I just don't think that this is the place to put it,” Reich, who farms grain and raises cattle, told CBC’s West of Centre.
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who → think → Centre
She says she’s worried about the potential noise, environmental impact and loss of farm land.
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she → say → land
Janet Brown Opinion Research found in polling commissioned by CBC News that many Albertans share her skepticism.
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Albertans → find → skepticism
Both the pollster and a second political expert say the province welcoming a data centre goldrush risks alienating Premier Danielle Smith's base.
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province → say → base
"I think this could be a real sleeper issue for Danielle Smith," Brown said in an interview.
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Brown → think → interview
"We've been so focused on other things, but AI is really heating up as a big issue, and most Albertans are concerned."
The polling found only seven per cent of respondents strongly support the development of AI data centres, and 31 per cent strongly oppose them.
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cent → heat → them
Some 26 per cent mostly oppose them, but believe some should be built.
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some → oppose → them
The resistance to data centres crosses geographical and partisan lines, the polling suggests.
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polling → cross → lines
Top concerns include possible impact on the environment and electricity costs, noise, loss of farmland, and the effect of AI on society.
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concerns → include → society
Opposition has emerged as the province becomes ground zero for new data-centre development in Canada, with cheap natural gas and a government actively trying to grow the sector, including taking trips to Silicon Valley to court big tech firms.
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province → emerge → firms
If all projects in the works go ahead, Alberta would be home to 90 per cent of the country’s data centres.
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Alberta → go → centres
At one of the local town halls held by the province on data centres, Reich said tensions ran high.
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tensions → hold → centres
“People … came there very unhappy and they didn't get their questions answered adequately.
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questions → come → ?
So they left even more unhappy,” she said.
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she → leave → ?
“So I think that the government needs to address this more straight on.”
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government → think → this
Eleni Iskierski, press secretary for Alberta’s Technology Minister Nate Glubish, said the government takes concerns seriously.
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government → say → concerns
Feedback from the town halls will be used to create province-wide standards on data centres, Iskierski says.
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Iskierski → use → centres
Voter’s remorse
Reich says she is a staunch conservative who still has hope the government will change course.
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government → say → course
But Trevor Harrison, a retired political sociologist at the University Lethbridge, says not all voters will be so forgiving.
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voters → say → Lethbridge
“It will take a lot to shake people loose from Danielle Smith, who seems to [be] kind of a Teflon political figure … but her support is in the rural areas,” Harrison said.
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Harrison → take → areas
“There's been no deliberation, they're just going for it.
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they → be → it
That poses real risks.
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That → pose → risks
If it goes south, the government can't blame anybody else.”
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government → go → anybody
Meta, the tech giant behind Facebook and Instagram, is building a massive one-gigawatt data centre.
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Meta → build → centre
For some, it’s enough to flip their vote.
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it → ’ → vote
“I did vote conservative, and I regret that decision now with this whole AI centre going in,” said Tammy Ranta, who’s lived in the county for 30 years and has an acreage about eight kilometres from the Meta site.
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who → vote → site
The $13 billion project is Meta’s first data centre in Canada and will be powered by a new natural gas plant that could eventually produce more electricity than what the City of Edmonton uses.
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City → power → Edmonton
Ranta said she’s worried about what the project’s impact will mean for her dogs, horses and llama.
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impact → say → dogs
And it doesn’t sit well with her that a big American tech company is setting up shop.
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company → sit → shop
“We moved out to the country so that we could have the fresh air and we can have peace and quiet,” she said.
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she → move → peace
“I'm hoping that it'll stay that way, but I'm not sure.”
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I → hop → ?
More backlash than COVID
The Meta project has attracted attention far beyond county lines.
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project → attract → lines
Sturgeon County’s Mayor Alanna Hnatiw said in the nine years she’s been in office, she hasn’t seen anything like it.
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she → say → it
“The pushback, the concern, the rhetoric, the threats far outweigh anything that we saw during COVID — so that is saying something,” Hanatiw said.
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Hanatiw → outweigh → something
Hnatiw stood alongside Smith and Glubish celebrating the Meta project when it was first announced.
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it → stand → project
Now despite the anger, Hnatiw is still supportive, pointing out the site is inside an established heavy industrial zone.
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site → point → zone
She said at a time when municipalities are cash-strapped, projects like this can help pay for the roads, water and emergency services residents rely on.
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residents → say → roads
…and 12 more, not listed.
The Aporia
