{"id":"2026-11-04-nb-media-co-op-data-brainanta-visible-strong-consistent-persi","kind":"mention","date":"2026-11-04","title":"‘Visible, strong, consistent, persistent opposition’: Activists hold public discussion on AI data centre, while awaiting court’s decision","outlet":"NB Media Co-op / Data Brainanta","medium":"Reported feature","howFeatured":"Quoted extensively; photo at Saint John public discussion","canonicalUrl":"https://nbmediacoop.org/2026/11/04/visible-strong-consistent-persistent-opposition-activists-hold-public-discussion-on-ai-data-centre-while-awaiting-courts-decision/","verification":"Verified original","notes":"Independent coverage of October 17 meeting. NB Media Co-op and Unrigged are the same article.","text":{"status":"fetched","excerpt":"‘Visible, strong, consistent, persistent opposition’: Activists hold public discussion on AI data centre, while awaiting court’s decision – NB Media Co-op About Join the Co-op / Donate Contact Saturday, November 14, 2026 Subscribe No Result View All Result The Brief NB POD Events Share a story Articles en français New Brunswick Canada World Environment Indigenous Labour Gender Politics Culture Videos NB debrief Articles en français New Brunswick Canada World Environment Indigenous Labour…","bodyPlain":"‘Visible, strong, consistent, persistent opposition’: Activists hold public discussion on AI data centre, while awaiting court’s decision – NB Media Co-op About Join the Co-op / Donate Contact Saturday, November 14, 2026 Subscribe No Result View All Result The Brief NB POD Events Share a story Articles en français New Brunswick Canada World Environment Indigenous Labour Gender Politics Culture Videos NB debrief Articles en français New Brunswick Canada World Environment Indigenous Labour Gender Politics Culture Videos NB debrief No Result View All Result No Result View All Result Home Environment ‘Visible, strong, consistent, persistent opposition’: Activists hold public discussion on AI data centre, while awaiting court’s decision by Data Brainanta November 4, 2026 Reading Time: 3min read A public discussion took place at the Saint John Newcomers Centre on Oct. 17, 2026. Pictured at the event, from left to right, are Nick Tsergas, Lauren Smith, Jillian Szabo, Adam Wilkins, Jill Leblanc and Ashley Anthony. Photo by Data Brainanta. Volunteers from Save Lorneville recently held a public discussion at the Saint John Newcomers Centre, where activists called for sustained opposition to a controversial proposed AI data centre in the area. The event, which took place on Oct. 17, featured Hamilton, Ont.-based activist and researcher Nick Tsergas, who built the website stopthedatacentre.ca as well as Mike Balkwill from the Small Change Fund , a charity that describes itself as specializing in crowdfunding for grassroots organizations. The public meeting was organized almost entirely by women from the community. Tsergas said his investigation into the ill health effects of hyperscale AI data centres made him realize that there is no rule in Canada “to account for the implications attached to these facilities.” He called for a moratorium on the development of new data centres and expansions or retrofits of existing ones. That kind of moratorium would “give governments time to actually study the issue and see what they’re dealing with,” he said. According to Tsergas, demand for hyperscale data centres comes primarily from seven major U.S. tech companies that are “in an arms race with each other to develop the biggest, smartest, most powerful, most tremendous AI model that you’ve ever seen, because they believe that if they can be the first one to reach that point, they will be the monopolist.” READ MORE: Journalist links data centre push to gas plants and renewed interest in fracking He pointed out that a whole array of speculative developer companies, such as the Calgary-based Beacon AI, are involved in the plans for the proposed data centre in Lorneville, on the outskirts of Saint John. They build AI data centres to attract tech companies while expecting federal government subsidies under the Canadian Sovereign AI Compute Strategy , he said. He questioned the language of “sovereignty.” “Building data centres in Canada does not automatically make them sovereign,” he said. “We need to define sovereignty and part of that is understanding who the users are of these data centres.” He added that if developers are receiving public funds under the so-called Sovereign AI Compute Strategy, “there should be a rule that there are absolutely no U.S. companies allowed to use it.” The next speaker, Mike Balkwill from the Small Change Fund, discussed strategies to stop speculative data centre development across the province. “You have to scare off investors,” he said. One way is to show “visible, strong, consistent, persistent opposition,” because investors will go to the community where there is no opposition, Balkwill explained. To slow down the race caused by the “monopoly game” among tech companies, Balkwill also suggested putting pressures on politicians. “They’re not going to be talked to with facts into changing their mind. They’re going to be pressured, embarrassed and pushed into changing their mind,” he said. That can happen in formal ways, such as petitions, and informal ways such as speaking to politicians “in the grocery store and the church, in the curling clubs and wherever you meet these people,” he said. “There’s not enough profit to justify the investment of all that capital in those centres,” Balkwill said. Judicial review pending Chris Watson, Adam Wilkins and Shayne Galbraith (from left) are pictured outside the Saint John courthouse on Sept. 2, 2026. Photo by Data Brainanta Meanwhile, the public awaits Judge Kathryn Gregory’s decision after a three-day judicial review hearing in early September over Saint John’s decision to expand the industrial park. Lorneville residents Chris Watson, Adam Wilkins and Shayne Galbraith, who served as representatives for the community, put forth two grounds against the expansion. They said the project lacked procedural fairness, alleging that the project’s approval was a foregone conclusion among some city councillors, and that it didn’t reasonably apply certain constraints from the City of Saint John’s own municipal plan and policies. Lawyer Jonathan O’Kane, representing the city, argued that city council had responded to citizens’ opposition by engaging in an extensive public consultation process that showcased “consultative democracy in action.” Towards the end of the hearing, legal counsel for the City of Saint John disputed the Lorneville applicants’ argument that city council was restrained from expanding the development due to certain municipal policies. However, the city was in fact referencing language that was eventually deleted in a 2014 bylaw amendment, as the city’s lawyer acknowledged during the hearing. A week after the hearing, New Brunswick Minister of Post-Secondary Education, Training, and Labour Jean-Claude D’Amours said that Lorneville’s proposed data centre would likely have to wait until a data centre policy framework is ready. Meanwhile, Beacon AI and Texas-based power company VoltaGrid have organized an open house at the Lorneville Community Centre to present their proposed AI data centre and gas plant project. The event is taking place on Thursday, Nov. 5 at 5 p.m. Data Brainanta is a student in the online Master of Degrowth program with the Autonomous University of Barcelona and a volunteer reporter based in Saint John. Tags: Data Brainanta data centres Mike Balkwill Nick Tsergas Send Related Posts Acadie Francophone coalition opposed to shale gas fracking aims to shape public debate in New Brunswick November 13, 2026 A group of Acadians who oppose shale gas fracking held an impromptu rally outside the Shediac office of MP Dominic... Environment Volunteers organize community benefit concert to fight AI data centre November 5, 2026 On a recent sunny Saturday, the Lorneville Community Centre on the western outskirts of Saint John was teeming with people... Media Halifax reporters describe forcible removal from $10-billion data centre announcement October 27, 2026 About 120 people crowded into a university lecture hall in Halifax on Friday to hear the story of how two... Energy Journalist links data centre push to gas plants and renewed interest in fracking October 19, 2026 Journalist and activist Nick Tsergas says Canadian governments see the building of hyperscale, AI data centres as key to the... Load More Recommended ‘Thirteen in Gaza’ embodies intimacy and dignity 4 days ago Francophone coalition opposed to shale gas fracking aims to shape public debate in New Brunswick 1 day ago How is menstrual health an environmental issue? Menstrual Health Society talks periods and the planet 3 days ago Cornell, Gilead et la banalisation du pouvoir 2 days ago © 2019 NB Media Co-op. All rights reserved. Navigate Site About Join the Co-op / Donate Contact Share a Story Calendar Archives Follow Us No Result View All Result About Join the Co-op / Donate Contact Events Share a Story NB POD COVID-19 Videos New Brunswick Canada World Arts & Culture Environment Indigenous Labour Politics Rural © 2019 NB Media Co-op. All rights reserved. X Did you like this article? Support the NB Media Co-op! Vous avez aimé cet article ? Soutenez la Coop Média NB ! Join/Donate ×","fetchedAt":"2026-11-14T18:34:13.668Z","ladderTier":"api","attribution":"Excerpt hosted on nicktsergas.ca for search indexing; canonical article remains at the publisher link."}}