An ambitious plan from celebrity investor Kevin O’Leary to build the “world’s largest” AI data centre in northern Alberta is facing opposition from a First Nation in the region.
In December, O’Leary Ventures announced plans to build Wonder Valley, a $70-billion data centre in the Municipal District of Greenview, near Grande Prairie.
The project has been widely praised, including by Alberta Premier Danielle Smith.
Its location would put it on traditional territory of the Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation.
“Our people have been working and living in this territory for a millennia, so it’s concerning when we have the government and Mr. O’Leary talking about big plans and there was no mention of First Nation consultation,” Chief Sheldon Sunshine told CBC News.
O’Leary has described the project as transformative for the local and provincial economy, with the potential to create thousands of jobs and make Alberta a global leader in AI infrastructure.
His company has emphasized Alberta’s advantages for such a large-scale operation, citing its proximity to a nearby city, abundant natural gas, cool temperatures, and available space for the infrastructure.
The data centre would be powered by a combination of off-grid natural gas and geothermal energy sources. The first phase of the development would cost $2 billion and generate 1.4 gigawatts of power, with additional phases planned to increase capacity.
For the Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation however, the development is seen as an infringement on treaty rights.
In an open letter to Premier Danielle Smith, Sunshine expressed “grave concern” with the proposal, and reminded the premier that the province is bound by its obligations under Treaty 8.
Sunshine accused the province of working with O’Leary “behind closed doors and to the exclusion of our Nation, for a massive development on our traditional territory.
“This co-ordination is even more troubling, given the premier’s and Mr. O’Leary’s favourable statements towards [president-elect Donald] Trump following his threats to annex Canada,” he said in the letter.
He said the First Nation’s opposition is focused on the environmental risks posed by the construction of such a large-scale data facility in an ecologically sensitive area.
First Nations members have traplines in the area, rely on water from the Smoky River and use the area “to exercise our way of life, which has been systemically eroded by unmitigated cumulative effects from the provincial government’s authorizations of industrial development in our territory,” Sunshine wrote.
In a statement, the Alberta government told CBC News it is committed to appropriate consultations with First Nations at later stages of the project. The statement cited the economic benefits Wonder Valley would bring to the area.
“Alberta’s government understands how important it is for Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation to exercise their Treaty rights and traditional uses now and into the future,” said Jonathan Gauthier, press secretary to Technology and Innovation Minister Nate Glubish.
“Environment and Protected Areas issued a preliminary certificate which will allow a Water Act licence to be issued in future, provided various mandatory conditions are met,” Gauthier said in the statement.
“These conditions include appropriate consultation with First Nations.”
The Alberta Utilities Commission said electricity generation aspects of the scale proposed for Wonder Valley would require AUC approval before the generation facilities could be built or operated. The commission has not received an application related to the proposed development, it said.
The Municipal District of Greenview told CBC that early engagement by the developer has commenced, well in advance of any requisite consultation in the future.
“The M.D. of Greenview looks forward to the results of any ongoing and future consultation and sincerely wishes all parties involved in the proposed development can come together for the benefit of all in the region,” it said in a statement.
Early days, energy economist says
Andrew Leach, an energy and environmental economist at the University of Alberta, said that while consultation with the Fist Nation would have been ideal, it isn’t expected at this stage since there’s still a long road ahead for a project of that magnitude.
“At this point, it certainly couldn’t be seen to have impacted any treaty rights that would trigger duty to consult,” Leach said in an interview.
“If they went ahead and gave a permit for construction or put major government funding behind its construction without consultation, that’s where you’re running afoul.”
Meanwhile, Sunshine said Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation wants more transparency from all parties involved.
“We’re not opposed to business,” he said.
“As long as it’s done in a sustainable way and our resources are not impacted. We want to be part of the solution, and I think First Nation people can be part of the solution.”
