Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect that Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation and the Blackfoot Confederacy won the May court ruling, not Sturgeon Lake.
The Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation was in court once again, arguing again over the Alberta government’s duty to consult.
This time, it’s about the proposed Wonder Valley Data Centre data centre near the northern Alberta community.
The $70-billion project backed by celebrity investor Kevin O’Leary aims to become the world’s largest AI data center industrial park, according to the Alberta government.
It’s one of several artificial intelligence data centres proposed in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta, where cool temperatures eight months of the year and plenty of underground water to tap into make ideal to house massive processing systems, which need constant cooling to operate.
It’s only a concept, but the province has already waived an environmental impact assessment for Wonder Valley.
Companies pitching the data centres have sometimes been met with an icy reception, has has been the case with Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation in the Grande Prairie region.
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The First Nation said it has raised concerns with the federal government about the foreign ownership of the data centre, since O’Leary Ventures Inc. is in Miami and Kevin O’Leary has open ties to the Trump administration. It’s also asking for a federal impact assessment.
“This is a massive project with significant emissions, water use and, most alarming, create a heat island in an area already ravaged by wildfire, drought, and climate change,” Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation Chief Sheldon Sunshine said in a statement on June 4.
It’s the second time in recent months First Nations has been in court over similar issues.
Last month, an Alberta judge ruled in the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation and the Blackfoot Confederacy’s favour over the Stay Free Alberta separatist petition, saying the province had a duty to consult with First Nations, who argued their treaty rights would be violated by any attempt to separate from Canada.
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Premier Danielle Smith rejected the judge’s decision as incorrect in law and anti-democratic, pledging the province would appeal it — something she said could take months or years.
In the meantime, she added a question about separating to an existing referendum happening this upcoming October.
“After the Alberta government lost the First Nations’ separatist challenge, Premier Smith said the duty to consult applies only to major projects. This is completely false. Yet we have either not been consulted at all or have been given the lowest level of consultation on what the province itself describes as the world’s largest AI data centre,” Sunshine said.
“From experience, we know the province does not take the duty to consult seriously even when it comes to projects.”
Erik Bay tells explains in the video above what other concerns the First Nation has with the massive project.
— With files from Melissa Ridgen, Global News
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