‘Not acceptable’: Saint John mayor rips protest signs on uptown buildings

Saint John is dealing with stickers on heritage buildings in the uptown area.

The mayor of Saint John is calling out whoever stuck signs on heritage buildings in the city’s uptown, related to a proposed AI data centre in the city.

The signs say: “In New Brunswick, residents battle the government over a planned AI data centre” and includes a QR code linking to an article on The Narwhal with the same headline.

Donna Reardon says she received several messages from residents and businesses about the messages being stuck to uptown buildings and made her own post on social media about the incidents Sunday night.

“We appreciate everyone’s passion but placing stickers on heritage buildings, private property, or local businesses without permission is not acceptable,” says Reardon in the post. “Saint John’s historic streetscape belongs to all of us, and property owners should never be left cleaning up someone else’s activism.”

Reardon doesn’t blame any individual or group in her Facebook post, which has received hundreds of comments. In an interview, Reardon says the signs have been difficult to remove from historic buildings.

“It’s in the heritage area which is difficult because that brick is old,” she said. “You can’t replace it, it’s a different size. The mortar is different to hold that type of brick, the brick is more porous than new brick that is made today.”

The group Resist Data Centre NB says it denounces the act, adding it wasn’t organized by them or any other group working in opposition to the proposed AI data centre. Sarah Nelson, an organizer with Resist Data Centre NB, says Reardon’s social media post shouldn’t distract from the larger AI centre debate.

“We hope the mayor will also post about how the data center will require a 200 MW draw from NB Power, roughly equivalent to the electricity use of over 100,000 homes while our grid is strained,” says Nelson in an e-mail. “Apologies go out to the businesses who had to remove these. They do not represent us or the movement.”

The proposed data centre, pitched by VoltaGrid LLC, would be built on a 120-hectare parcel of land within an expanded Spruce Lake Industrial Park which received municipal zoning approval last year. The data centre is the first proposed project to be announced for the industrial park’s expansion.

If given final approval, it could be operational by 2028.

Opposition to the proposed project has included protests in Saint John and Fredericton, as well as a campaign to boycott this past weekend’s Moonlight Bazaar event which included VoltaGrid LLC as a sponsor.

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