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Artificial Intelligence

The debate focused on the government’s investment in artificial intelligence and the establishment of energy-intensive AI data centers. Bloc Québécois members criticized the government for allegedly favoring Alberta to sell natural gas through these centers, arguing that using fossil fuels to power AI infrastructure harms climate targets. Government representatives responded by detailing investments in the AI sector in Quebec, emphasizing that they are building on existing research ecosystems like Mila and utilizing clean energy projects to accelerate responsible AI development.Written by AI from the debate. Updated .

Official text

4 statements

Yves Perron

Bloc Québécois
“The government wants to build AI data centres in Alberta just to sell more natural gas. These centres pollute, and using Alberta gas to run them is bad for the climate. I want the government to explain how it can support this.”
Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, many were wondering why the federal government was favouring Alberta for the development of artificial intelligence and energy-intensive data centres. Radio-Canada confirmed it this morning: It is to sell gas. Internal documents, including some from the Prime Minister’s immediate entourage, confirm that it is Ottawa’s intention for these highly polluting data centres to be powered by Alberta natural gas. The development of artificial intelligence is a strategy for expanding the fossil fuel industry. This is the worst-case scenario from a climate perspective. How can the Liberals support this?

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Karim Bardeesy

Liberal
“Our government invests a lot in artificial intelligence in Quebec, especially in Montreal. We are working with top researchers to build AI safely and connect with Europe. This helps Canadians trust this technology.”

  • Government answer in Question Period

    Relevance 33 of 100

    None of this answer addressed the specific question that was asked.

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Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, on the contrary, we are very invested in the artificial intelligence sector in Quebec, especially in Montreal. We are working with the famous researcher, Yoshua Bengio to accelerate responsible AI. This is a very important initiative. It is something that connects us with Europe and it is something that will help Canadians and Quebeckers gain more confidence in artificial intelligence.

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Yves Perron

Bloc Québécois
“The government secretly plans to use fossil fuels to power new AI data centres. This hurts our climate targets. I want the government to pause this plan and study its impact.”
Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals have never informed Canadians that they intend to use the development of artificial intelligence data centres as a means of selling more fossil fuels. They have secretly decided to favour polluting fossil fuels to power these energy-guzzling data centres. This undermines efforts to meet our climate targets and turns pollution into a business model. Like Greenpeace, the Bloc Québécois is calling for a moratorium in order to take the time to properly assess the impact of this strategy. Will the government hit the pause button?

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Madeleine Chenette

Liberal
“Our government is doing great work on artificial intelligence. Quebec has strong AI research, global partners, and clean energy projects like Churchill Falls. This will help both Quebec and Canada.”

  • Government answer in Question Period

    Relevance 34 of 100

    None of this answer addressed the specific question that was asked.

    See full analysis
Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, I am truly astonished that the Bloc Québécois is downplaying the impact we are having in the field of AI. We have incredible resources in the field of artificial intelligence in Quebec, with Mila, plus an entire ecosystem that we are currently actively developing in partnership with other countries, including the European Union. We also have the major Churchill Falls project, which ensures that we are investing in clean energy. This will greatly improve things for Quebec and for Canada as a whole.

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