Nearly 200 people gathered at the provincial legislature in Regina Saturday to protest Bell Canada’s planned AI data centre and the lack of community consultation for the project.
“If this is truly a wonderful opportunity for our area, then there’s nothing to lose by slowing things down,” said Regina Ward 8 Coun. Shanon Zachidniak.
Zachidniak said she attended the rally because it was her opportunity to share her concerns around the planned 300MW facility on the outskirts of Regina, in the rural municipality of Sherwood.
The development agreement for the project, which is set to be Canada’s largest AI data centre, will be considered by the RM of Sherwood’s seven-member council on Monday.
The majority of the council was appointed by the province on April 10, after the previous reeve and three councillors abruptly resigned in March, halting regular proceedings as quorum was lost.
Regina city councillor says RM of Sherwood is moving too fast on AI data centre
Zachidniak, like other attendees, said she was unable to register to speak at Monday’s council meeting.
She said she would like to see the AI data centre’s application tabled and people have the opportunity to provide feedback before moving forward.
“I’m not aware of any public consultation that has occurred,” she said, adding that was likely a driving force for the rally’s large attendance. “This is their opportunity to provide their feedback.”
“This is all moving ahead very quickly and, as a city councillor in Regina, I feel that I need more information to understand the implications of it,” Zachidniak said.
She said it would be more appropriate for a democratically-elected council to vote on the fate of the data centre and that the decision should wait until after the RM of Sherwood holds elections in November.
One of the rally organizers, Jay-Jay Bigsky, who has also organized letter-writing campaigns against the project, said the public is being left out of decision making.
“There’s a lot of information that is not being said that we want to hear more of,” Bigsky said.
He would like to see the project shutdown and hopes the council for the RM of Sherwood will not allow the data centre to be built.
Bell Canada has said the data centre will bring up to $12 billion to Saskatchewan.
While the province has touted that economic boost and the “more than 1,600 jobs” that will be associated with the site’s development, Bell Canada previously said the centre will create 800 temporary construction jobs and 80 full-time jobs at the facility once it starts operating in 2027.
Bigsky questioned how much local hiring will be done for those positions.
He also said extremely specialized equipment is being rented from American companies.
Bell Canada’s long-term tenancy agreements with American artificial intelligence companies Cerebras and CoreWeave and those companies’ partnerships with OpenAI also concern Bigsky.
Whether or not the community gets anything positive from the AI data centre, “it is just going to be a much larger negative overall,” he said.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday ahead of the rally, Premier Scott Moe addressed residents’ concerns saying, “If there are questions, I think there’s pretty straightforward answers to those questions as well.”
Moe said the number of jobs and careers associated with the data centre and data sovereignty – which the federal government defines as “Canada’s right to control access to and disclosure of its digital information subject only to Canadian laws” – needs to be considered as well.
He said while it’s fair to ask questions around the project, he hopes “everyone is able to engage in the answers as well.”
The data centre has an official partnership with the nearby George Gordon First Nation, which signed a memorandum of understanding with Bell Canada.
But Brenda Joyce, an elder from the First Nation who spoke at the rally, said most community members had no input on the decision to move forward with the plans.
“Our chief did not consult with any of us members about this,” Joyce said, “He just went ahead to start making plans with Bell.”
Janna Pratt, a Regina resident and a member of George Gordon First Nation, said there was only one AGM with George Gordon Developments, the business development company owned by the First Nation, before the partnership was announced.
“We have not been consulted and this project has huge Treaty implications,” Pratt said.
Protesters demonstrate against proposed Bell Canada AI data centre near Regina
“Bell is using George Gordon Developments to redefine what the duty to consult is,” she said.
Pratt said many in the First Nation are against the project. She said she had hoped to speak as a delegate on behalf of her community at Monday’s RM of Sherwood council meeting, but never heard back regarding her application.
She also said George Gordon First Nation is one the original signatories of Treaty Four, which covers Regina and the area of the AI data centre will be built in.
“We’re in the middle of Treaty Four.”
