Smith and Nenshi Clash Over Alberta’s Data Centre Future

Source: Postmedia

For years, Alberta politicians of nearly every stripe have talked about the need to diversify the provincial economy. Now that billions of dollars in technology investment are beginning to arrive, the political argument has shifted from whether Alberta should diversify to what that diversification should look like.

AI data centres have quickly become the latest dividing line

Premier Danielle Smith has embraced the industry as an opportunity to turn Alberta’s abundant natural gas, relatively cool climate and existing industrial expertise into an advantage in the global race for artificial intelligence. The Alberta NDP, meanwhile, has become increasingly skeptical of the government’s approach, accusing the UCP of moving too quickly and consulting Albertans too late.

That contrast was on full display this week when Smith released a detailed video making the government’s case directly to Albertans.

At the centre of her pitch is Meta’s $13-billion data centre development now under construction in Sturgeon County. Smith described AI facilities as “digital refineries,” arguing that Alberta can effectively upgrade its natural gas into a much more valuable export.

“Gas becomes electricity. Electricity becomes computing power and computing power becomes intelligence,” Smith said. The resulting product, she argued, can then leave Alberta through fibre-optic cables — “a digital pipeline that crosses borders without decades of regulatory battles and never sells at a discount.”

It is an argument tailor-made for Alberta.

Instead of trying to diversify away from the province’s traditional strengths, namely energy, resource development, and agriculture, the UCP wants to use those strengths to capture an emerging industry. In Smith’s telling, Alberta can become a computing powerhouse precisely because it is already an energy powerhouse.

The government is also keenly aware of the problems data centres have encountered elsewhere.

Smith acknowledged that other jurisdictions allowed facilities to strain electricity grids, consume large quantities of water, receive generous public subsidies or locate too close to residential communities. Her government’s promise is that Alberta has learned from those mistakes.

“These are 100 per cent private projects,” Smith said. “No subsidies, no grants, no discounted power, no taxpayer backstop.”

“If a project succeeds, Albertans share in the benefits. If it fails, the investors lose the money, not you.”

The numbers explain some of the government’s enthusiasm. According to Smith, construction of the Meta campus will employ more than 3,000 tradespeople at its peak and support approximately 300 permanent positions afterward. The government estimates the project will ultimately generate roughly $250 million annually through taxes, levies, royalties and fees.

Smith also made perhaps her most politically consequential promise on electricity: “In Alberta, data centres will pay their own way.”

The Meta development is expected to be accompanied by a privately financed $4.6-billion natural-gas power plant, while Smith says Meta will pay nearly $200 million annually in transmission fees. The government argues those payments could actually reduce the transmission portion of household electricity bills by as much as six per cent.

Those are significant promises, and the UCP will own them if reality proves more complicated.

That is where the NDP sees an opening.

Technology and Innovation critic Nathan Ip has accused the government of effectively deciding the matter before consulting the public. He described the province’s approach as a “concierge service for foreign billionaires” and argued Smith “has already decided that AI data centres are going ahead whether citizens want them or not.”

The NDP has begun its own consultation tour, saying approximately 200 people attended a recent St. Albert meeting, with further events planned in Red Deer and online. When the province subsequently announced its own series of public meetings, the Opposition dismissed them as “last-minute, disingenuous town halls.”

The government’s consultations include meetings in central Alberta, Sturgeon County and Grande Prairie, as well as a virtual session later this month.

There is a legitimate argument buried beneath the partisan rhetoric. These projects are enormous. Questions about water, electricity, agricultural land, noise and proximity to communities deserve answers before Alberta commits itself to hosting them at scale.

Smith herself appears to recognize that. Her video acknowledged concerns about large facilities near residential communities and said the province is developing consistent provincewide siting standards.

But the NDP also faces a political risk of its own.

It has spent years arguing Alberta needs economic diversification, greater investment in technology and industries capable of creating opportunities beyond conventional resource extraction. It will therefore need to be careful that reasonable demands for consultation do not evolve into the appearance of opposing precisely the kind of private-sector investment Alberta has spent decades trying to attract.

The Opposition’s rhetoric about “billionaire tech bros” may appeal to some activists, but it does little to answer the larger economic question: if companies are prepared to spend billions of private dollars building next-generation infrastructure somewhere in North America, why should Alberta not compete for it?

Public skepticism cannot simply be waved away. As Don Braid noted this week, an Angus Reid Institute poll from June found 68 per cent of Canadians would oppose a data centre being built near them. The unease extends well beyond traditional partisan lines and reflects broader anxieties about AI itself, alongside practical concerns about electricity, water and local development.

That makes this a more interesting political fight than another familiar UCP-NDP argument over oil and gas.

The NDP is betting that Albertans will become increasingly wary as the sheer scale of proposed developments becomes apparent. Smith is betting that concerns will diminish if her government can demonstrate that companies will pay their own costs while Alberta collects the jobs, investment and government revenue.

And Smith is making the bigger bet.

“The world is going to build these facilities somewhere,” she said. “The jobs, the revenue, and the opportunity will land somewhere. Why shouldn’t it be right here?”

For a province that has spent years complaining that major projects are too difficult to build, turning away companies prepared to spend billions would be a peculiar form of economic diversification.

The challenge for Smith is proving that Alberta can welcome that investment without repeating the mistakes made elsewhere. If her government succeeds, data centres could become another major customer for Alberta energy and a meaningful new pillar of the provincial economy.

If it fails, the NDP will have plenty of material for its next town hall.

What the Polling Says About Data Centres

The political challenge surrounding AI data centres extends well beyond Alberta. Angus Reid Institute polling from June suggests Canadians see value in building domestic AI capacity, but enthusiasm drops sharply when the infrastructure moves closer to home. While 46 per cent say Canada needs domestic AI infrastructure to keep digital services under Canadian control, 68 per cent would oppose a large AI data centre being built within a few blocks of where they live.

That resistance is particularly notable in Alberta. Just 13 per cent of Albertans surveyed would support a nearby data centre, compared with 71 per cent who would oppose one. Alberta’s opposition is slightly higher than the 68-per-cent national average and essentially matches British Columbia, where several projects have already generated controversy.

There is also a clear partisan dimension to attitudes toward AI more broadly. 86 per cent of 2025 NDP voters and 84 per cent of Liberal voters favour heavy government regulation of AI, compared with 52 per cent of Conservative voters. Conversely, 30 per cent of Conservative voters favour allowing technology companies to self-regulate, compared with just five per cent of Liberal and NDP voters. ‍

For Alberta policymakers, the numbers point to a difficult communications task: the economic and technological case for data centres may resonate in principle, but public acceptance cannot be assumed.