I want to talk about data centres.
And why I won’t support them unless there’s a benefit to Prince George.On August 31, 2026, Councillor Skakun and I want to make sure the city is prepared for how to regulate new data centres coming to Prince George. We have got to get ahead of this because big tech is looking for locations now and with our clean energy, abundant land and great workforce, our city’s just too attractive to be overlooked for long.Ten years ago, a data centre meant investment, revenue and jobs.
Today they mean competition for electricity and higher BC Hydro rates. They mean US big tech and big data looking after their shareholders, not our interests. And let’s call it what it is: today’s data centres mean more AI. We know AI wipes out jobs, we know it promises new jobs, but when will those new jobs show up here?There is no doubt that AI is increasing. We see it in every industry. It can be used with benefits. But make no mistake we need to be careful, to safeguard our residents, our economy and our democracy.
When big tech comes knocking here we are going to challenge them.
Will they benefit our community?
Will they be local and keep our data local?
Will they generate jobs and invest back in Prince George?
Without that, the drawbacks from data centres outweigh the benefits. So if they plan to locate here, we’re going to be ready.
And they will need to be ready to show us what Prince George residents get out of it.
What you get out of it.
