Simon Enoch

All of our collective knowledge on data centres compiled in one place just for you! www.policyalternatives.ca/news-researc...

“I’m not sure that corporate model of a large workforce and complicated management structure and all the rest is necessarily well adapted to agriculture,” Magnan says. thewalrus.ca/a-mega-farms...

The substance of the first five referendum questions allows for the sinister legacy of Trudeau to continue in the guise of newly arrived immigrants. Unable to conjure a sufficient external enemy in Ottawa, Smith seems intent on creating an internal one. www.policyalternatives.ca/news-researc...

However, he said promises from private companies are not the same as enforceable regulations. “Why not regulate to ensure that those best standards are in place not only for this data centre but for potentially any future data centres to come?” www.saltwire.com/nova-scotia/...

Educators describe watching AI erode the capacities schools exist to foster, “taking away the opportunity to think, process, analyze, and create,” warning that “we are training a generation of non-thinkers and everyone seems happy to go over that cliff.” www.policyalternatives.ca/news-researc...

“But once there’s one there, and once there’s kind of a framework and a path set up for these things to locate there, often you see more follow suit.” pressprogress.ca/why-are-muni...

This is lukewarm devotion at best, call me when you’re ready to ingest cyanide

Canada’s airports are publicly owned. Now, Ottawa wants to open them for private investment. “The biggest advocate for change is private industry,” writes Isaac Peltz. “For them, it’s win-win. But for Canadians, it’s lose-lose.” https://thewalrus.ca/carney-wants-to-privatize-airports/

“The fact that we have encampments is sort of emblematic of a policy failure at large,” said Simon Enoch, a senior analyst with the centre. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

Public auto insurance - like SGI in SK and ICBC in BC - act as "affordability buffers" - offering the lowest insurance premium increases year over year in Canada. www.policyalternatives.ca/news-researc...

“Regina’s houseless population quadrupled in the last 10 years, with a reported count of 1,156 individuals experiencing homelessness in some form and Saskatoon has 1,931 people experiencing homelessness—a nearly 30 per cent increase from 2024.” www.policyalternatives.ca/news-researc...

Datacentre fights are increasingly about more than datacentres canadiandimension.com/articles/vie...

2026 Stapleford Lecture with Dr. Mél Hogan - @melhogan.bsky.social - Data Refineries: How Data Centres Make the Politics of AI visible Wednesday – 18 November 2026 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM Education Auditorium University of Regina niche-canada.org/2026/10/05/e... #envstudies #AI #tech #envmedia

“I think it’s a valuable tool to index the minimum wage to the Consumer Price Index, (which) ensures low-wage workers are at least getting an annual bump to keep up with inflation.” The issue, Enoch said, is that minimum wage may be too low to begin with. leaderpost.com/news/saskatc...

If the AI data centre being built outside Regina ends up being as big as promised, it will use as much power as four Reginas. Simon Enoch from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives breaks it all down on the QCIB: youtu.be/O1u24Kg0LoI?... #yqrcc

Had a great time on the QCIB w/ Paul & Aidan talking about data and the centres that house them. queencityib.com/podcasts/202...

The chart explains AI hype more than any chart that's ever been charted.

If the benefits of AI were obvious—and the harms merely speculative—there would be no need to appeal to the tech’s future promise. Instead the opposite is true. The proliferation of AI is awash in immediate harms but the benefits remain elusive. My latest: www.policyalternatives.ca/news-researc...

Vancouver airport said privatization would be ‘irreversible mistake’ in 2016 letter: theijf.org/article/airp...

“A race to build AI data centers before the public can protest.” www.policyalternatives.ca/news-researc...

“Incrementally raising the minimum wage by a few cents every year while non-negotiable expenses like rent rise unchecked will only leave working families further and further behind.” www.thespec.com/opinion/cont...

On October 1, the minimum wage will go up in five provinces, but for low-wage workers, a few extra cents an hour won't close the growing affordability gap. #canlab @simonenoch.bsky.social @policyalternatives.ca kirklandlakevoice.ca/in-the-news/...

$1000 bucks it won’t be an SMR - 300 MW can barely run a third of a data centre these days. www.ckom.com/2026/09/29/s...

“Governments that are serious about addressing the crisis of affordability must confront the gap between what the current minimum wage delivers versus what families actually require.” saskvalleyvoice.ca/business/min...

Okay this does not inspire confidence. breachmedia.ca/at-canadas-l...

“The very first thing you need to do is ensure transparency,” said Enoch. “If communities say, ‘Look, you know what, we looked at this, we don’t want it,’ they need to respect that.” www.saltwire.com/nova-scotia/...

If we are following the Aussie model, they dropped their price cap after five years, with predictable results. Also if you impose price regulations you lower the sale value of the asset - why are we doing this again?

Google “Morgan Stanley, Chicago and parking meter concession.” www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Hard not to think this isn’t a deal sweetener for asset recycling investors. “a big push from federally regulated industries to provide more stability and predictability in places like ports, railways and air travel. All have seen work stoppages in the last few years.” www.ctvnews.ca/politics/art...

ICYMI: "So we're talking about almost a third of the electricity that Saskatchewan consumes as an entire province for a single facility," said @simonenoch.bsky.social #skpoli @policyalternatives.ca www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

Postal codes starting with S4V, S4N, S4S, S7L and S7M — will lose door-to-door delivery and transition to community mailboxes in 2027. www.ctvnews.ca/regina/artic...

“Which, you know, the premier actually stated, if we all remember. He said he’d take a mine over a data centre any day. And certainly from a jobs perspective, I would agree with the premier.” globalnews.ca/news/1206128...

I talk airport privatization and the potential consequences podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/d...

Ford showing his ignorance of how these long-term concession contracts work, the last thing private investors at Pearson would want is expanded competition from Billy Bishop - that’s why these contracts have non-compete clauses. Google “Chicago & Parking meters,” Doug. ca.yahoo.com/news/premier...

Extremely timely stuff from @vassb.bsky.social in The Walrus. How much foreign ownership is too much? How do we court investment that grows our economy, without just selling off critical capacity? It's possible, but we need a smart strategy. thewalrus.ca/canada-forei...

"There are a variety of ways a for-profit buyer can take today’s non-profit airport structure and turn them into a cash cow for themselves—none of which are going to be good for travellers." www.policyalternatives.ca/news-researc...

Another wrinkle, 900MW plant will demand a lot of natural gas, potentially driving up prices for residential customers (and what SKPower pays to run their plants), so no guarantee "bring-own-power" protects SK consumers from rate hikes