The Environment

Question period turned to the environmental impact of data centres and artificial intelligence. The Bloc Québécois said data centres consume large amounts of water and energy, pointed to a planned Alberta centre’s projected waste-heat emissions, and argued that powering such projects with natural gas works against Canada’s climate targets. The government said it is focused on clean energy, plans to double the electricity grid’s capacity by 2050, and has put guidelines in place around artificial intelligence. A Liberal minister also replied by inviting the Bloc to support the Quebec high-speed rail project, which he said would reduce emissions and create jobs.Written by AI from the debate. Updated .

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4 statements

Mario Simard, Jonquière—Hébertville—Pays-des-Bleuets

Bloc Québécois
“Data centres use huge amounts of energy. While the rest of the world tries to protect the environment, Canada plans to build data centres powered by gas. The Liberals use everything as an excuse to sell more oil and gas.”
Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, the entire planet is wondering how to use AI while keeping the environment in mind, given that data centres consume huge quantities of water and energy. Well, it is not the entire planet. One country of die-hard polluters still holds out against the modern era. That country is Canada. Seeing the immense amount of energy that data centres need, Canada has decided that if it builds data centres in Alberta, it would be able to power them with gas. Imagine how much gas will be sold. Is there anything the Liberals do not view as an opportunity to sell more oil and gas?

Julie Dabrusin, Minister of the Environment, Climate Change and Nature

Liberal
“We are focusing on clean energy. We plan to double Canada's electricity grid by 2050. We also set rules for artificial intelligence to protect Canadians and keep control of our own technology.”
Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, when we talk about energy, we are talking about clean energy. What are we doing? We are making sure that we will continue to have a large electricity grid. We are going to double its capacity by 2050. When it comes to AI, it is fair to say that we have put guidelines in place to clearly explain how we are going to work hard to ensure that we can protect Canadians while maintaining AI sovereignty.

Mario Simard, Jonquière—Hébertville—Pays-des-Bleuets

Bloc Québécois
“A planned data centre in Alberta will produce huge amounts of waste heat. The government wants to power projects like this with gas. Doing that works against our climate targets.”
Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, seriously, a researcher at Utah State University calculated the potential emissions from a mammoth data centre in Grande Prairie, Alberta. That one centre would release the equivalent of 23 Hiroshima atom bombs of heat waste every day. It is not easy to reconcile that with the fight against climate change. The Liberals look at projects like that and their first thought is that they could power them with gas. Only a Liberal could come up with such a lousy idea. Are they deliberately trying to sabotage their climate targets?

Steven MacKinnon, Minister of Transport and Leader of the Government in the House of Commons

Liberal

Linked statement

“If the Bloc cares about the environment, it should support the high-speed rail project in Quebec. It cuts emissions, creates 51,000 jobs, and helps the province's economy.”
Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, if the Bloc Québécois cares about greenhouse gas emissions and their effects on the environment, I have good news for its members: They have an opportunity to support the most transformative emissions-reducing project of all, a project that would revolutionize mobility in Quebec while generating 51,000 jobs and several points of GDP, not to mention sales tax revenues for the province. I am talking about the high-speed rail project that will run from Quebec City to Trois‑Rivières, Laval, Montreal and Gatineau.

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