Community reactions to the latest data centre campus open house remain divided.
More than 100 people attended a public meeting Wednesday night in Lower River to hear about EverWind’s proposed $10-billion AI data centre in Point Tupper.
The project was announced October 16, and since then it has attracted significant online backlash.
The meeting was more emotional than the previous evening’s session in D’Escousse, including an outburst at the beginning. In the video below, you can hear someone express their frustration with the project before being escorted out.
EverWind began the event by providing an overview of the development and later answered questions about its plans.
While most attendees shared their concerns and sought answers, others welcomed the possibility of investment and employment.
Building trades see local opportunity
Ernie Dalton, President of the Cape Breton Island Building Trades Council, spoke in support of the project, describing EverWind as a positive presence in the region.
Dalton represents approximately 3,500 trades professionals and said there has been considerable excitement among workers since the announcement.
“They’ve been a very good corporate citizen,” Dalton told the meeting.
He also argued that community benefits should include opportunities for people to work close to home, support local businesses and spend more time with their families, rather than travelling across the country for employment.
Dalton went on to say that the company has “a great safety culture, so we should trust them”.
Questions about Anthropic
EverWind has entered into a 20 year lease with US-based Anthropic, best known for creating Claude, for phase 1 of the data centre campus.
Richmond County resident, Ainslie McNamara challenged EverWind’s decision to enter into a lease with Anthropic, raising concerns about the company’s connections to the United States military.
“Are you, as a company, making the choice to lease to Anthropic as a company when we know that part of what they do is from the US military? They’re complicit in the funding of genocides we see across the Middle East,” McNamara asked.
EverWind officials were not able to respond directly to the concerns about Anthropic’s military-related activities or the lease decision at the meeting.
Newfoundland land-fee dispute raised
Questions were also directed to EverWind about its previous wind-hydrogen development plans in Newfoundland and Labrador, where the provincial government says it is pursuing outstanding Crown land reservation fees, totalling over $34 million.
Mark Stewart, EverWind’s Director of Engagement, disputed the company’s responsibility for those charges.
“We did not agree to the land allocated in Newfoundland. Never agreed to the payment structure and the payments that the Newfoundland government alleges that we owe,” Stewart said.
He argued that the land allocation included homes, lakes and rivers, and areas the company considered unsuitable for development.
Nova Scotia Opposition calls on the Houston government to act
Meanwhile, at a press conference in Halifax on Thursday, NDP Opposition Leader, Claudia Chender, says the Houston government needs to do more than offer assurances if it wants to address public concerns about the proposed Point Tupper AI data centres. She says residents need to see exactly how they will be protected before the project advances.
“The reality is, by the time we see that, it will be too late to demand protections if it’s already been built, if it’s already been signed. So before they sign it, they need our consent”, says Chender
Chender believes the province must establish enforceable protections for Nova Scotians, rather than relying on company promises.
