No AI Vancouver - protest march
from NO AI Vancouver Newsletter # 1, July 3, 2026
Save the Date: July 26
We're going to keep protesting against these data centres. We're organizing another protest for Sunday, July 26, starting once again at the Vancouver Art Gallery at 1:00 PM!
After that, we'll protest again on August 29, and then we're planning something a little special for September. Stay tuned!
What Can You Do?
Some of you have asked what you can do to fight back. Here are some starting tips.
✅ Sign the federal petition to regulate AI data centres and tech companies, and share it with your friends!
✅ Follow us on Instagram, Mastodon, and Bluesky to stay in touch and increase our reach!
✅ Give us a quote we can use on social media through this form!
✅ Mark our protest days July 26 and August 29 in your calendars, and bring friends!
✅ If you have any skills we need (further down), send us an email to volunteer with us!
✅ Share your knowledge and concern about data centres and AI friends, family members, and neighbours! This is one of the most powerful ways to raise awareness!
✅ Donate by e-transferring to no.ai.in.vancouver@gmail.com!
What do we need money for? We need to print posters and stickers advertise the next protest. We also want to rent or buy better megaphones and sound equipment, because many people said they had a hard time hearing chants and speakers at the last protest.
What skills do we need? More than we know, so if you have an idea, pitch us! Right now, we know we need more volunteers with these skills:
- Graphic design
- Science communication / Education
- Videography & video editing
- First aid
- Policy & legal analysis
- Environmental science
- Health science
- Computer science
- Community management
- Data management
- Creative writing
- Technical writing/editing
What Does Winning Look Like?
Speaking to people at the protests, and reading the results of the feedback survey we put out, we found unity in diversity. We met protesters with all kinds of backgrounds and opinions on AI and on data centres, all standing together. There were people in the crowd who have different visions for the future than you do - and that's great. That's how these movements grow.
We've also heard that many of you want to know what we can demand from our governments. What winning looks like.
As the volunteers think about that question, we're realizing it's not just these two projects you're upset about. Some of you are concerned with the effects of AI on school kids; or the impact of AI power consumption on energy grids and climate; or the job losses that AI companies threaten us with; or the power of billionaires (and trillionaires!) to control the world economy through AI wealth while Canadian income inequality is at an all time high; and more.
So stopping the data centres planned for 150 W. Geogia and 111 E. 5th is one win, but winning is much bigger than that.
People with different opinions showed up to protest together because we all feel something is deeply wrong with politics. Our governments roll out the red carpet for tech companies and investors at the expense of local communities, jobs, our health, our culture, and our environment. AI data centres are a perfect storm of everything wrong with politics, and we know that stopping these projects won't fix everything else that's wrong.
So as we grow, our volunteers are trying to listen to what you're all concerned about. We're researching the mechanisms of power in Canada, and figuring out how to help you apply pressure on the institutions and leaders who can fix things. This will mean demands on all three levels of government - municipal, provincial, and federal.
If you want to make sure the volunteers know what you think, and you haven't yet filled out a survey or talked to us, reply to this email with your thoughts and concerns.
Let's Do This!
The tech industry likes to say "AI is inevitable." They want us to think that because a technology has already been invented, there's nothing we can do about it.
History, though, tells us a different story. We have proof that once a technology exists, we can restrict, regulate, tax, or even ban it to prevent its costs from becoming too great. Just look at other technologies and consumer products like cars, asbestos insulation, nuclear weapons, and chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs).
AI companies want you to forget all about that. They want leaders and investors to think the only options are Yes or No, so they can convince the world the No side has already lost. They want you to forget that a truly democratic government that listens to its people can do things like tax, regulate, and ban harmful products or projects.
Other communities across Canada and standing up and pushing back! Grassroots activism has already led to the cancellation of a large AI data centre in Manitoba and the city of Hamilton, Ontario got their city council to issue a moratorium on a data centers. Together we can bring wins like these to Vancouver and other municipalities across the province.
Let's remind our governments to do their jobs!
Let's make sure AI companies never rest easy!
Let's do this!
