STURGEON LAKE CREE NATION — As Canadian entrepreneur and television personality Kevin O’Leary takes to the United States to promote his proposed AI data centre, one First Nation says it has been left out of the conversation.
Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation (SLCN) Chief Sheldon Sunshine said he learned about the project through social media when the public found out, despite the project being proposed for the nation’s traditional lands.
“It seems like it was all worked on well before us, and then we’re an afterthought, and it should never be that way,” said Sunshine in an interview. “A little bit of respect goes a long way, and we feel completely disrespected with the development of this project.”
On Jan. 13, SLCN issued a to Alberta Premier Danielle Smith based on the lack of consultation with the nation.
Neither the Ministry of Indigenous Relations nor O’Leary’s company, O’Leary Ventures, responded to requests for comment.
Wonder Valley is advertised as being “the largest AI compute data centre park on earth.” The centre would be in the (GIG) south of Grande Prairie and west of SLCN. The total investment over the lifetime of Wonder Valley would be over $70 billion, with its first phase costing an estimated $2.8 billion.
According to the project’s concept plan, the facility would take up 35 million square metres in the GIG. The gateway is an industrial development in northwest Alberta in the Municipal District of Greenview that focuses on exploring and processing natural gas and oil. The GIG is 809 hectares and sits directly on the Montney natural gas deposit. The land was transferred from the province to Greenview in 2001.
The statement announcing the partnership between the municipal district and O’Leary Ventures said they plan to build an “off-grid natural gas and geothermal power infrastructure to support the largest AI data centre industrial park in the world.”
In a released in December, O’Leary said the centre will “generate and offer 7.5 GW of low-cost power to hyperscalers over the next five to 10 years,” with phase one of the project to produce 1.4 gigawatts in its first year and one gigawatt each following year.
The land is currently for oil refining as well as alternate uses, making it an ideal spot for Wonder Valley.
“Given existing permits, proximity to stranded sources of natural gas, pipeline infrastructure, water and a fibre optic network within just a few kilometres of the GIG, we will be in the ground and up and running sooner than any scale project of its kind,” said O’Leary in the statement.
The statement also said the GIG signed a letter of intent with O’Leary Ventures for the purchase and development of land within the gateway and south of it.
Sunshine said the First Nation opposed the original land transfer that led to the creation of the GIG.
“We never consented to cede our lands or our territories and the resources,” said Sunshine. “It actually starts to upset you because the government talks about the amount of resources they have, that they’re a rich province.… Come and take a look at my community. We might be in the province of the Alberta Advantage, but not here.”
“We have a treaty that was signed in 1899; to us, it is a sacred covenant,” said Sunshine. “When we see these types of developments and impacts, we take it seriously.
O’Leary Ventures CEO Paul Palandjian said in the December statement that one of the core values of the project is to engage with Indigenous communities “to create a mutually beneficial relationship that honours the people and the lands for many years to come.”
But O’Leary Ventures only reached out to the SLCN last month after the project was announced on Dec. 9, said Sunshine, adding they are planning to meet with executives sometime in January.
The Municipal District of Greenview also said it had met with the First Nation.
“In the creation of the Greenview Industrial Gateway, the MD of Greenview has followed all regulatory processes set out by the Province of Alberta, including meeting with the Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation," said a statement from Greenview spokesperson Wendy Auger. “It is our belief that early engagement by the developer has commenced well in advance of any requisite consultation in the future.”
Auger didn’t confirm the date of the meeting or provide further details on the conversation that took place with the First Nation, saying they were only able to provide the IJF with a statement.
When asked about the meeting, Sunshine said the First Nation was consulted on the GIG, but confirmed there weren’t any discussions about Wonder Valley with Greenview.
The chief added that they have hired lobbyist firm Sandstone Group to set up a meeting with the province and O’Leary Ventures. SLCN hired Sandstone in July 2024 to “assist the community in preparing to engage in a major energy project,” according to the registration.
Environmental concerns
While Sunshine is disappointed there was no consultation with his nation, he said he also worries about the impact a data centre could have on his community.
“We’re always concerned about water. All life for us revolves around water,” said Sunshine. “That’s the biggest thing that we have serious concerns about with these major projects.”
AI data centres use water to cool servers to dissipate heat. One from Cornell University estimates the global AI demand is projected to account for 4.2 to 6.6 billion cubic metres of water withdrawal in 2027. This is equivalent to half the annual water withdrawal of the United Kingdom.
If things go ahead with Wonder Valley, the data centre would be upstream from SLCN on Smoky River, the First Nation’s primary water source.
But AI expert David Rolnick at McGill University said excess water use isn’t the only thing to be worried about when it comes to these data centres.
“Data centres are being built because there is a lot of hype surrounding large generative AI algorithms,” said Rolnick in an interview. “Those particular AI algorithms use a vast amount of energy because they’re very large in the sense that they require a large number of mathematical computations.… Those algorithms are what’s used in ChatGPT, other large language models and other generative algorithms.”
Rolnick estimates that with the size of Wonder Valley and the amount of energy O’Leary Ventures said it would generate, the data centre could potentially account for five per cent of Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions.
“There has increasingly been a lot of demand for chatbots and other generative AI, and in many cases, with unclear benefits to society,” said Rolnick. “AI can be used in many ways that are helpful in fighting climate change, but that AI is almost exclusively not large language models or other generative AI.”
