Hamilton Council Nears Vote on First Canadian Data Centre Moratorium
Council voted 10-6 against the pause, with legal concerns and exemptions for research projects cited as reasons for the rejection.
- On Wednesday, Hamilton city council rejected a proposed one-year moratorium on new data centres in a 10-6 vote, following a closed-door session with legal counsel about project exemptions.
- Inside the chamber lobby, more than 50 protesters voiced concerns about water and energy consumption, while Coun. Nrinder Nann argued the city needed to perform "due diligence" to establish local governance rules.
- Coun. Jeff Beattie and others warned the bylaw "won't stand up, it won't work," noting that one major McMaster University project would likely be exempt from any restrictions.
- Mayor Horwath voted against the ban, emphasizing Hamilton should "take hold of this opportunity" for jobs and research tied to the Digital Research Alliance's proposed Compute Facility at Steelport.
- Michael Schull, chief executive officer of the Digital Research Alliance, noted "currently we can only service about 20 per cent of the demand for supercomputer capacity in Canada," highlighting national infrastructure pressure.
46 Articles
46 Articles
Data centre development ban a no-go after Hamilton council votes down bylaw
The vote was split 10 against and six for what they were calling an interim control bylaw that would have paused development on data centres for one year, giving the city time to assess and develop further governance rules around such facilities.
Interim control bylaw on AI Data Centres shot down in divisive vote
Amid some catcalls from spectators, Hamilton City council reversed earlier committee votes and turned thumbs down (10-6) on a motion by Councillors Nann and Kroetsch to impose an interim control bylaw on two AI data centres being proposed for Hamilton. Only last week Planning committee had voted with only one dissenting (Clark) to draft the bylaw that would have put a one year moratorium on Data centres to allow time for the city to develop some…
Will Hamilton hit pause on data centres? Council set to vote on moratorium
Hamilton is expected to vote today on whether to become the first city in Canada to put a temporary pause on new data centres. The moratorium vote comes as local lawmakers across the country wrestle with the noise, energy and water concerns around a new wave of data centres powering the boom in arti...
Coverage Details
Bias Distribution
- 69% of the sources lean Left
Factuality
To view factuality data please Upgrade to Premium
