QUEEN’S PARK – MPP for Guelph Mike Schreiner released the following statement responding to the Ford government launching the first draft of its Data Centre Playbook.
“People want strong regulations that put people and communities, not tech billionaires, in charge of data centre development.
But the government playbook falls short of the regulations we need to keep communities safe. It’s going to take more than a slide deck to protect our communities from the potential harms of AI data centre development.
People are worried about the impact of data centres in their neighbourhoods. Why can’t the government see that?
Instead of stepping up with transparent assessments and strong regulations, he’d rather brush it off altogether. And while we wait for real regulations to come online, communities remain at risk from unregulated development.
It’s not enough to require projects to pay for their own power. We need to prevent corporations and the government from using this as an excuse to build more fossil gas plants–increasing climate and toxic air pollution in communities.
Data sovereignty is important. We need to prioritize Canadian ownership to prevent American interference – but that can’t be an excuse to steamroll environmental and community protections.
Any new data centres must benefit communities first, not raise electricity bills and threaten our land, air and water.
Serious concerns remain about the impact new AI data centres will have on our communities. I continue to call for a moratorium on building new AI data centres in Ontario until we have proper regulations in place to protect people and communities.”