David Legg: Why Meta chose Alberta for a $13-billion investment
'This is something that takes Alberta into the next century,' said Legg on Thursday's episode of The Ezra Levant Show.
This is a free episode of The Ezra Levant Show, which airs every week day @ 8 p.m. ET | 6 p.m. MT. To watch new feature-length, ad-free episodes, become a subscriber to RebelNews+. This episode originally aired July 9, 2026.
Article written by Rebel News staff
On Thursday's episode of The Ezra Levant Show, David Knight Legg joined the show to discuss Meta’s $13 billion Alberta project, the failure of crony capitalism and Alberta’s resurgence as a tech powerhouse.
Here’s something you haven’t seen in Canada for a long time, a colossal industrial investment that didn’t come with a government handout. Meta, the company formerly known as Facebook, is putting $13 billion into a new data centre in Sturgeon County, Alberta. Not in Ontario, not in Quebec and not with a single federal minister claiming credit. Private capital, real jobs and a bold new stake in the digital economy.
Contrast that with what’s become the norm in Canada. Under Justin Trudeau and Mark Carney, industrial projects have meant government projects, taxpayer-funded battery plants and wind farms, mostly in Ontario and Quebec, with politicians demanding their cut of the credit. Tens of billions shovelled into factories that only exist because governments paid them to. That’s called crony capitalism.
But Meta’s announcement flips that script. This isn’t a backroom deal cooked up in Ottawa. There’s no major project office smoothing the path, no prime ministerial intervention. Instead, what Alberta has built is a climate for investment, tax cuts, regulatory reform and a pro-business attitude that says if you want to build, build. And they have. Meta’s data centre will mean 3,000 construction jobs at the peak, more than 300 permanent roles and $60 million in local infrastructure upgrades. Not a cent of it was paid for by taxpayers. In fact, the money that governments are bragging about is tax revenue and salaries, not outflows but inflows.
David Knight Legg, who helped shape Alberta’s investment strategy, spells it out: Alberta’s approach is paying off. Private investors are coming back. Meta isn’t alone. Dow, Linde Corporation, and Air Products have all chosen Alberta recently, drawn by the same formula: low taxes, stable regulation and abundant energy. Alberta has done what the Irish Development Agency did for Ireland, turning the province into a magnet for global capital with policy, not handouts.
This is the clearest sign yet that Canada can compete when the government gets out of the way. Meta’s centre is a next-generation, AI-optimized hub, one gigawatt of power, fully matched by renewable energy and designed for zero operational water consumption. It’s the 33rd in Meta’s global fleet but the first in Canada and the largest outside the United States. This is exactly the kind of project politicians say they want: high-tech, green and future-focused. Only this time, they didn’t write the cheque.
What those advocates for government-led industrial policy won’t tell you is this: When you let the market work, when you set the right incentives and when you stop treating business as a cash cow, real investment follows. Alberta is proving it. And Meta’s $13 billion bet is just the start.
BECOME A MEMBER
Ezra Levant
Rebel Commander
Ezra Levant is the founder and owner of Rebel News and the host of The Ezra Levant Show. He is the author of multiple best-selling books, including Ethical Oil, The Libranos, China Virus, and most recently, Trudeau's Secret Plan.
Featured Stories
01:13
