For years, it remained an inconspicuous building in Scarborough Southwest, attracting little more than a few furrowed eyebrows from passersby.
asserted
it → remain → passersby
“We’ve seen that building forever,” local resident Ron Parkinson said about the site that formerly housed Ely Lilly Canada at the corner of Danforth Avenue and Birchmount Road.
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that → see → Avenue
“And then we see they’re working on it.
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they → see → it
But there was no communication about what it was.
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it → be → ?
And when people asked, nobody knew.”
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nobody → ask → ?
The data centre operated at a relatively low capacity, drawing an unalarming amount of power.
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centre → operate → power
In the middle of this year, the site became the centre of mounting public discourse after the developer filed plans to expand the relatively small facility from eight megawatts to 56.
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developer → become → 56
Now — as explosive AI data centre construction is sparking an international debate over the consumption of land, water and electricity — Scarborough Southwest has become part of the political battleground.
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Southwest → spark → battleground
“(The project) won’t be stopped,” Parkinson said.
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Parkinson → stop → ?
“But many people will vote based on how they think the councillor is going to manage the development.”
Local politicians worry that little consideration has been given to environmental impact and demands on infrastructure such as water and electricity.
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consideration → vote → water
Local politicians worry that little consideration has been given to environmental impact and demands on infrastructure such as water and electricity.
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consideration → worry → water
With the top candidates neck-and-neck in the Ward 20 race, opposition to the data centre has become a key issue, with candidates parading their disdain for the project to court community members seeking someone to blame for the mega development sneaking into their backyard.
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development → become → backyard
All those things,” Parkinson wondered.
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Parkinson → wonder → ?
“Nobody has come to announce that.”
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Nobody → come → that
The Star asked STACK in an email to respond to the residents’ concerns, but did not receive a response.
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Star → ask → response
In a letter to city council, STACK argues that the expansion “plays a key role in advancing Canada’s data sovereignty objectives by ensuring that data is stored, processed and protected on Canadian soil.”
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data → argue → soil
(Residents, like Parkinson, question if data sovereignty is feasible considering it is an American company.)
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it → question → Parkinson
While some now blame Coun. Parthi Kandavel, who succeeded former councillor Gary Crawford in 2023, for the project’s progression, Parkinson says he empathizes with local councillors, who are often also kept in the dark about these projects.
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who → blame → projects
“All the councillors in Scarborough would probably say the same thing … ‘I don’t know what it is because I wasn’t privy to the information.’”
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I → say → information
In a conversation with the Star, Kandavel said just that.
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Kandavel → say → that
The incumbent highlighted that the project, like many other data centres popping up across the city, is “as-of-right,” meaning that developers can construct housing or infrastructure without requiring special municipal approvals or zoning amendments, provided the building plans comply with existing local rules.
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plans → highlight → rules
“As a result, there’s no need for any sort of communication … much less consultation,” Kandavel explained.
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Kandavel → ’ → communication
Kandavel said his office became aware of the project in June and worked with city staff to understand the implications and approach “especially around environmental impacts.”
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office → say → impacts
“We attempted to work with the applicant,” he said.
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he → attempt → applicant
In July, after STACK “reneged on an agreed public meeting,” Kandavel says he took a “more adversarial approach,” introducing a motion at council aimed at aligning staff’s site review of the 3650 Danforth Avenue data centre expansion with the city’s broader citywide policy review of major digital infrastructure and AI data centres, which is due in 2027.
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which → renege → 2027
“That way we’re not putting the cart before the horse,” Kandavel said.
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Kandavel → put → horse
“We need that policy to guide the approval process for this case.”
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We → need → case
While this, Kandavel argues, serves as a pause to the development, he admits that staff have to “work with the applicants as their legal obligation is as part of the planning act.”
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obligation → argue → act
This means STACK’s expansion could still “potentially” move forward before the policy is ready, allowing the project to proceed under the city’s existing rules rather than the upcoming guidelines.
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project → mean → rules
Kandavel says that’s the extent to which he could delay the project.
uncertain
he → say → project
According to the incumbent, after surveying his colleagues, he found that there was “no appetite” for an interim control bylaw — a temporary measure that would have paused the project until staff had developed such a framework.
“I’m not in the business of doing performative gestures,” he said, adding that he then opted for a less forceful measure — his motion — after lacking sufficient council support for a bylaw.
uncertain
he → accord → bylaw
Kandavel’s fiercest rival, Kevin Rupasinghe, argues that the sitting councillor missed an opportunity to take control of the development’s progress.
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councillor → argue → progress
“Once we understood how dire this project was, and once everybody agreed that we needed to update the rules, the choice was very clear … update the rules while you pause the project,” Rupasinghe said.
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Rupasinghe → understand → project
He believes Kandavel’s actions came a step too late.
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actions → believe → ?
A lot of frustration is because residents “haven’t seen leaders actually act quickly enough to deal with a very quickly changing technology,” he said.
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he → see → technology
“They’re in a position to be getting briefed and have support from several full-time staff.
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They → ’re → staff
This is the job … to pay attention to the changes that are being proposed.”
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that → pay → changes
Rupasinghe, who up until “around May or June” worked at WSP Global Inc. — the engineering firm that authored reports validating the data centre’s environmental and noise footprints — has become one of the project’s most vocal adversaries.
uncertain
that → work → adversaries
While he worked under the WSP logo, he explained, his day-to-day work was siloed in a division separated from the teams responsible for the data centre project.
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work → work → project
“I have never worked on any data centre projects,” he told the Star.
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he → work → Star
…and 7 more, not listed.
The Aporia
