To the Right Honourable Mark Carney, Prime Minister of Canada,
The recent announcement of the "Sovereign AI Factory" cluster in British Columbia — a billion-dollar partnership between the Government of Canada and Telus — represents a significant commitment of public resources and public trust. It also raises urgent questions that have not yet been asked publicly, let alone answered.
While the framing of "sovereignty" is compelling, we must ask: sovereignty for whom? The plan involves three major facilities in densely populated areas of Vancouver and Kamloops, consuming over 150 megawatts of power by 2032. This is power drawn from a grid that BC residents rely on for heating, transit, and basic services.
The projected economic benefits — $9 billion and 1,000 construction jobs — are real, and they matter. But they do not account for the long-term questions that have been left unanswered: Who governs the compute? Who decides which organisations have access to it? What are the energy trade-offs for BC residents over the next decade? What happens if the commercial terms change?
Canadian AI infrastructure policy should be made for the Canadian public, not for GPU sales targets. Announcing it as a fait accompli is not the way a democratic government should handle decisions of this consequence.
We, the undersigned, call for:
- Immediate and genuine public consultation in the affected Vancouver and Kamloops neighbourhoods before construction proceeds.
- An independent social and environmental impact assessment, completed before federal funding is committed.
- Clear public policy conditions ensuring that "sovereign compute" prioritises access for public institutions — schools, hospitals, community researchers — not just commercial AI development.
- Transparency regarding the governance, ownership, and data practices of the facilities — accessible to any Canadian who asks for it.
This is not opposition to AI infrastructure. It is a request to do it properly. We urge you to pause the allocation of funds until these conditions are met and the public has had a genuine say.
Sincerely,
The Alternative Tech Community