BC Greens say public must have a say whether AI data centres get built

The Greens said earlier this month that they would halt both construction and operation of AI data centres until a “detailed public-interest audit” is developed and a regulatory regime implemented.

They say they would work with the federal government to create an “independent AI oversight commission,” adding that even AI companies now say things are moving too fast.

Lowan, who is standing in the Oct. 24 election as a candidate for Saanich North and the Islands, said late Saturday that Eby’s “new water rules will tell communities how much water a data centre uses after it’s built but won’t say if they can say no to a data centre before it’s approved.”

In May, Telus and federal AI Minister Evan Solomon announced a cluster of three AI data centres in B.C.

Eby had said in his role as premier that month that AI companies were shopping around for support from governments, and federal and provincial funding “helps them to be able to expand and keeps them located here in British Columbia.”

He said he was an optimist about the technology having seen both the “opportunity and the threat” it presented.

Telus said previously that two data centres planned for Vancouver and one in Kamloops would draw 150 megawatts of power by 2032.

That is equivalent to about 12 to 14 per cent of the output of the newly built Site C dam in northeast B.C.

In January, the B.C. Conservatives criticized the NDP for “rationing electricity,” saying that limiting access to power would delay or cancel data centre construction.

It said the “root problem” was that B.C. “does not have enough firm, affordable power to meet growing demand.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 11, 2026.

The Canadian Press

by The Canadian Press

BC Greens say public must have a say whether AI data centres get built

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