Candidates across Mississauga are lining up to oppose data centres during an election year.
A proposed data centre in Meadowvale is emerging as an early election campaign flashpoint. Several candidates say they are against the proposal and are using the controversy to collect voter information, define their campaigns, and grow their profiles.
At the forefront of the anti-data centre movement in Mississauga is Martin Reid, incumbent councillor and candidate for Ward 9, where the data centre would be located.
Reid was originally supportive of the idea “in principle” and “excited about having this in the Meadowvale Business Park,” when the Planning and Development Committee discussed the proposal back in March.
By late June, with several anti-data centre petitions circulating, and social media outrage growing, Reid began hosting Facebook Live discussions on the topic, eventually leading to a public town hall on June 25.
In early July, Reid posted on social media that: “As new information came forward and I listened to residents, my position changed.” He also said he would bring forward a motion to council to study data centres city-wide, require full resource impact assessments, consider a one year pause on new applications and explore a dedicated planning category for data centres.”
Also running for Councillor in Ward 9 is former journalist Anwar Knight. He pounced on the controversy, posting several videos on social media. One mimics an investigative news show, complete with foreboding music, blaming Reid for “personally” moving the motion to “advance the application,” not asking questions and “leaving residents out of the conversation.”
Incumbent Ward 10 Councillor and candidate Sue McFadden, Ward 7 Councillor and Mayoral candidate Dipika Damerla and Ward 2 councillor and Mayoral candidate Alvin Tedjo have also jumped on the anti-data centre train.
Tedjo has so far collected almost 750 signatures on his petition for a “moratorium on hyper scale AI data centres.” His petition is hosted by the Qomon App, which is a “supporter activation platform” commonly used during election campaigns. Petitions such as Tedjo’s are designed to identify supporters and gather their information in a central campaign database.
Damerla posted a video on Instagram also calling for a moratorium on “hyperscale” data centres in Mississauga. The video received 4702 likes and 703 comments, making it, by far, the most popular post on her Mayoral campaign Instagram account.
As some politicians in the United States have already discovered, the anti-data centre driven campaign can be a winner. A June Time Magazine article titled, “The Growing Political Power of Anti-Data Centre Activists,” referenced many local elections south of the border that were essentially referendums on whether or not to allow AI data centres in the community.
Whether Meadowvale’s proposed data centre will become the election question in Mississauga come October remains to be seen. In the meantime, Reid’s motion will be tabled when Council meets again in late July.
WHAT DO YOU THINK? HAVE YOUR SAY!
Should an AI data centre be constructed in Meadowvale? Should data centres be allowed in Mississauga in general? What are your views on them more broadly? We want to hear from you and may print your comments in an upcoming issue. Email us at info@mpulse.ca.
WAIT – THERE’S MORE!
Read the article here explaining the competing views on AI data centres across Canada.
