EDMONTON — Amid public concerns over Alberta's openness to AI data centres, the Alberta NDP are conducting a series of town halls to gauge public interest, but Premier Danielle Smith's chief of staff is asking why Alberta should shut out the "most important emerging industry in a generation." "As a province, we either lead the world in AI infrastructure and its applications and turn it into an economic sector that employs thousands of our children for a generation or we fall follow and fall behind," wrote Smith's chief of staff, Rob Anderson, in an X post on Thursday..Anderson's post came in response to a post from Alberta NDP leader Naheed Nenshi, who was sharing a video of Alberta NDP deputy leader Rakhi Pancholi and MLA Nathan Ip speaking at the party's town hall in St. Albert on Tuesday. In the video, the NDP officials said they were conducting the town hall to listen to Albertans and their concerns, which the NDP claim the UCP failed to do before opening the door for AI data centres. Nenshi's caption said Albertans are right to have concerns. Anderson is pushing back against Nenshi, and asking if the leader would turn down the investments. "Nenshi is an economic illiterate and political charlatan," Anderson wrote."He would reject tens of billions in new investment, tens of thousands of new jobs, a chance at diversifying our economy and becoming a world leader in the most important emerging industry in a generation all so he can score some cheap political points by manipulating people’s fears." .In a recent interview with the Western Standard, Minister of Technology and Innovation Nation Glubish said Albertans are justified in having concerns considering the negative projects in other North American regions, but he is confident that Alberta has done the work to safely welcome the projects. Glubish previously said there are 60 proponents currently looking to build a data centre in Alberta. "The fact is that it’s left-wing organizations and foreign authoritarian governments funding these anti-AI campaigns here in North America," Anderson wrote. "The reason is simple: they want us to lose the AI race and secure a massive strategic advantage over us.""And Nenshi is totally ok with that. Speaks volumes about his fitness to lead…or lack thereof."
