SHEILA GUNN REID | Robbie Picard wants Liberals to let First Nations benefit from oil and gas
Episode Stats
Words per Minute
175.0698
Summary
The Liberals are promising to phase out jobs in Canada s Indigenous communities. Oh but don t worry because the Liberals are also pitching in $1.4 billion in mental health supports because you probably do need counselling when the government unemploys you.
Transcript
00:00:00.000
Oh hey Rebels, it's me Sheila Gunn-Reed and you're listening to a free audio-only recording
00:00:03.940
of my weekly Wednesday night show aptly called The Gun Show.
00:00:06.980
However, you know what, this is the internet so watch or listen whenever you feel like
00:00:11.560
that is the beauty but also the liberty of not being tethered to terrestrial radio or TV.
00:00:18.220
Now tonight my guest is Robbie Picard, my friend from Oil Sand Strong and we are discussing
00:00:25.560
the municipal election, the useless federal election and why fossil fuels and oil and
00:00:33.340
gas are not at the forefront of this election but also Justin Trudeau's empty promises to
00:00:41.820
Canada's Indigenous people, he just promised $2 billion for housing and mental health supports
00:00:47.180
when we are still waiting on his 2015 promise to end boil water advisories on reserves to
00:00:55.960
Now if you like listening to the show then I promise you're going to love watching it
00:00:58.600
but in order to watch you need to be a subscriber to Rebel News Plus, that's what we call our
00:01:07.400
Our subscribers get access to my show which I think is pretty great but you also get access
00:01:11.820
to Ezra's nightly fully produced Ezra LeVant show, David Menzies' fun Friday night show Rebel
00:01:19.320
Now it's normally $8 a month to subscribe which is like about a coffee a week but during the
00:01:29.180
election campaign you can use the coupon code ELECTION to take a peek behind our paywall
00:01:35.960
until the election campaign is over and you can see all four of the paywall shows there
00:01:42.060
You just use the coupon code ELECTION when you subscribe and when the election is over
00:01:47.560
you can decide if you want to go steady with us because you know what?
00:01:58.140
Just go to rebelnewsplus.com to use your special coupon code there.
00:02:05.180
And now please enjoy this free audio only version of my show.
00:02:12.060
The Liberals are promising to phase out jobs in Canada's Indigenous communities.
00:02:27.680
Oh but don't worry because the Liberals are also pitching in $1.4 billion in mental health
00:02:33.620
supports because you probably do need counselling when the government un-employs you.
00:02:38.500
I'm Sheila Gunn-Reed and you're watching The Gunn Show.
00:02:58.460
You know the Liberal election campaign must really be floundering because Justin Trudeau
00:03:04.580
is reaching right into the bottom of his grab bag of empty promises.
00:03:09.680
Here's the headline from Monday but really friends it could be a headline from
00:03:13.980
any Liberal election campaign over the past 15 or 16 years.
00:03:19.480
The party unveiled a plan to spend $2 billion over four years on housing on First Nations,
00:03:26.740
Inuit and Métis communities with more than half flowing in time for the upcoming summer
00:03:33.240
construction season as Liberal leader Justin Trudeau greeted supporters at a campaign rally in
00:03:43.300
The Liberals have also promised an additional $1.4 billion over five years for mental health
00:03:50.620
and wellness strategies to be developed with First Nations, Inuit and Métis Nation.
00:03:56.960
This would be on top of previously announced funding of more than $597 million.
00:04:06.240
Now friends, remember back in 2014-2015 then prospective Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
00:04:12.540
promised to eliminate boil water advisories that are the result of the often third world conditions
00:04:19.980
that exist shamefully on Canadian Indigenous reserves.
00:04:23.420
Well, if you check, around 50 boil water advisories are on Indigenous reserves remaining
00:04:35.420
But those empty promises, they sounded good during the campaign back then, didn't they?
00:04:41.660
So I thought I would have an advocate for Indigenous prosperity on the show today.
00:04:47.220
Not handouts, but prosperity, long-time prosperity.
00:04:50.500
My friend Robbie Picard is Métis himself and through his work at Oil Sand Strong and his
00:04:55.600
partnerships with Indigenous communities and oil and gas companies, Robbie works to promote
00:05:01.440
resource industry jobs as the way out of the cycle of poverty that so many of Canada's Indigenous
00:05:10.400
Robbie's on the show tonight to talk about Justin Trudeau's always empty promises to Indigenous
00:05:18.940
people while oil and gas isn't really a major issue during this election campaign and why
00:05:25.220
Robbie himself is getting involved in municipal politics as a campaigner, but not as a candidate.
00:05:40.400
Joining me now from his home in Fort McMurray is my friend, good friend of the show, Robbie
00:05:55.920
Robbie, it's been a while since we had you on the show and I regret that deeply, but I
00:06:00.660
wanted to have you on particularly today because you're such a strong advocate for Indigenous people
00:06:05.820
and for job creation for Indigenous people and for Indigenous financial independence through
00:06:14.760
And yesterday, Justin Trudeau announced billions of dollars for Indigenous people for housing
00:06:24.480
And he says if he's re-elected, he will give supports to First Nations, rural communities, Métis communities
00:06:36.820
And for me, I think this is just so insincere considering Justin Trudeau also promised to end
00:06:43.680
boil water advisories on Canada's First Nations communities and yet 50 still remain.
00:06:54.480
When it comes to Indigenous issues like boil water, proper housing on reserves and stuff,
00:07:01.780
I think the issue needs to be solved from the Indigenous communities, period.
00:07:06.420
And that's from economic opportunities and not just money that they've thrown at the problem
00:07:14.740
What happens in Fort McMurray with our Indigenous communities is that they're, I mean, I just
00:07:19.600
went through one the other day and they're thriving, right?
00:07:22.040
But that's because they have businesses and employment directly connected to the energy
00:07:29.080
And I mean, I don't want to say that it's a bad idea to help, but I just, I, this, this
00:07:36.220
last, God, I don't know how long it's been now, like almost, I guess almost eight years
00:07:43.260
And, um, how long has it been Prime Minister for?
00:07:54.200
Cause I remember the night that, uh, I remember that election night.
00:07:57.440
So it was kind of weird how the world's been a blur, but there's been so many empty promises
00:08:04.120
I mean, uh, we were supposed to have a balanced, uh, budget.
00:08:10.500
What I, scares me about elections is that like, it's really just promise something and
00:08:15.840
don't deliver seems to be the norm in this country.
00:08:19.140
It also seems to be the norm that, you know, uh, narcissistic people, um, lead us.
00:08:24.620
And, um, I'm, I'm learning a lot about politics too, cause I'm, I'm working on, on a smaller
00:08:29.720
level on, on a, on the local campaign here and, uh, bottom line is, is that, uh, I think
00:08:36.400
that the only way for Indigenous communities and First Nations communities, uh, to fix
00:08:43.880
And the, if you can't just throw money at the issue, the, the, the community itself needs
00:08:48.760
to take ownership of this and the government needs to provide those opportunities, that
00:08:53.040
logistics, that support, and that training to maintain this.
00:08:56.600
So I'm, I mean, I guess on one hand, I'm great if he promises this, but I, I don't
00:09:02.380
particularly trust all the promises that he's made because he's made so many false promises
00:09:09.560
Well, and that's the thing, like he's making false promises to some of Canada's most vulnerable
00:09:14.840
people when you consider, um, just the, the rate of poverty on some of Canada's First
00:09:23.120
And you see the flip side of this, you live in Fort McMurray, where so many, uh, First
00:09:28.220
Nations communities are wealthy, their business focus, their wealth creators, their job creators,
00:09:34.800
not just for Indigenous people, but for everybody, um, because their partnerships with oil and
00:09:40.500
And yet this is the same prime minister who says he's going to help Indigenous people
00:09:44.140
while simultaneously phasing out oil and gas, which is, uh, when you couple that with mining,
00:09:51.400
the single largest employer of Indigenous people in the country.
00:09:55.780
And I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that that's where the oil and gas is.
00:09:59.920
It's, it's out there outside of the big cities where the reserves are in, in rural Canada.
00:10:05.840
I think that we have a real problem coming down the pipe, so to speak, or not coming down the
00:10:12.120
pipe, depending which way you look at it, um, with this whole nonsense of this just transition.
00:10:17.440
Um, there is such a pressure to damage Canada's oil and gas industry and words matter.
00:10:26.160
When the prime minister says stuff like, you know, we'll phase it out, we'll do this.
00:10:29.600
And there's these so-called green energy jobs that are going to be popping up everywhere,
00:10:33.520
which we all deep down inside know what, what, what's happening.
00:10:38.580
I think that the communities that will be affected by it the most are the Indigenous communities.
00:10:43.200
And right now there's such a push for the Indigenous communities to get in oil and gas
00:10:51.200
And that's taken many years, but it's starting to come up, uh, come around, especially in BC.
00:10:58.540
Our Indigenous communities here have been doing oil and gas for quite a while.
00:11:01.360
So some of them are incredibly wealthy and I mean, incredibly wealthy.
00:11:04.480
And BC, it's a little bit different because their Indigenous communities have been shafted for
00:11:10.020
So they've never really had an opportunity to recently, and Fort McMurray is an example
00:11:15.080
and a beacon for the rest of the country on how to do economic reconciliation.
00:11:19.900
And, um, so I think that there is no such thing as green energy.
00:11:25.240
And I, I actually was reading an article last night about what happens to the batteries of
00:11:28.940
these electric cars when they finally break down.
00:11:31.700
And I would argue that we're headed for catastrophe if, um, if we go down this route and we don't
00:11:47.960
have a plan to deal with these, the recycling of these, uh, lithium ion batteries.
00:11:51.460
So I, I think the world needs to pause and honestly, I don't think oil and gas is that bad.
00:11:58.500
And I'm proud that, uh, you know, that I have, uh, a gas powered car that I, and I bought
00:12:10.300
Um, but I'm going to be going to Ottawa and I'm going to be doing a documentary along the
00:12:14.020
route, stopping in all different cities, talking about how, um, oil and gas has changed the
00:12:19.060
And honestly, like if you look at plastic in the ocean, a good chunk of that comes from
00:12:25.940
And that's because they don't have the infrastructure, the fossil fuel network to handle their garbage.
00:12:30.840
So they just poured into the, into the rivers and that takes it into the, into the ocean.
00:12:34.840
And fossil fuels have made this world so much better, particularly in North America.
00:12:42.800
And we have not done a proper, uh, a proper marketing campaign to celebrate that and protect
00:12:49.600
We have nothing to be ashamed of, but somehow, some way we have told ourselves that what
00:12:55.840
And I would argue that the future could be worse if we don't actually stop them from ripping
00:13:01.980
apart perfectly good infrastructure, working apart perfectly good, um, a good system that
00:13:10.580
So I think that this virtual signaling and this social justice stuff just needs to end.
00:13:17.360
There's not been anything better for Indigenous communities than oil and gas.
00:13:21.520
That is the only thing that has been proven to work to improve the lives of their people,
00:13:26.140
lift them up from object poverty, take them up a level.
00:13:28.600
And this messing with it and all this stuff that has been done by the so-called environmentalists
00:13:37.180
So, um, I'm not going to accept this notion that somehow, some way, some government bureaucrat
00:13:43.540
or a government, you know, a person from any, any level of government is going to tell
00:13:49.060
me that I need to give up my way of life for something better that doesn't exist.
00:13:54.760
I mean, look what's happening in Afghanistan right now.
00:13:56.720
I mean, all, both Canadian government, all the presidents, I mean, look what they just
00:14:03.540
They just handed back a country to, um, uh, the Taliban who basically will rape, murder,
00:14:11.060
uh, children and, uh, women and do all kinds of things.
00:14:16.380
I mean, if I would, I'd hate to have a daughter in Afghanistan right now that was 12 years old,
00:14:20.820
cause that's the end of their lives and our governments with this wonderful North America,
00:14:25.940
we just handed it back after basically, you know, screwing them with them for 20 years.
00:14:33.200
And I think that Canada, if we could just build our own country, get our energy to market.
00:14:39.420
So we're rivaling Saudi Arabia because we are the third largest proven oil resource in
00:14:45.220
Nevermind the rest of it, natural gas, uranium, everything else, the precious earth minerals
00:14:51.220
that we have for solar and wind and all that, we have it all here.
00:14:55.840
Uh, and we have just allowed the rest of the world to determine where we sell it, how we
00:15:02.500
And that allows countries in the Middle East to reign heavy over weaker countries like Afghanistan.
00:15:09.360
And we could actually do more for the world if we were in a stronger position.
00:15:13.260
Our competitors around the world are, you know, Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, some of the,
00:15:19.220
Iran, like some of the worst places to be a human being and be alive in 2021.
00:15:24.900
And yet we're landlocked because, uh, because environmentalists tell us the fate of humanity
00:15:33.620
But for me, humanity means, you know, living with human rights where little girls can go
00:15:39.620
to school and not get shot in the head where women can wear whatever they want, even if I
00:15:46.260
Um, it's, it's very funny to hear, uh, environmentalists from downtown Vancouver and downtown Toronto
00:15:54.140
tell us, um, what, what, uh, human rights mean when they really aren't affected by any of
00:16:05.160
I mean, they would, they would care if they lost their iPhone, if they went to plug in
00:16:10.500
their iPhone to charge and nothing came out of the wall because there was no electricity
00:16:14.780
or when they went to get on their diesel bus to go to their job at the coffee shop, there
00:16:20.960
But, um, for them, it's not for people in indigenous communities and around the world, these are
00:16:29.300
It's like, these are the, the way out of a circle of poverty.
00:16:34.000
And, you know, when we are competing against countries like Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Iran,
00:16:43.300
And, you know, it's interesting to see people who claim to be advocates for peace and justice
00:16:52.600
I spent a little bit of time in some big cities recently and just watching and observing how
00:16:59.000
And I would argue that the people in the big cities are far more dependent on fossil fuels
00:17:08.880
They think when they're eating their, you know, their avocado toast and they take the
00:17:10.880
packaging and they put it in the recycled area, they don't understand the whole power
00:17:14.840
that goes to fire that entire infrastructure that is the city.
00:17:19.400
And so there's a disconnect, but like they, they might plant like a little urban garden,
00:17:23.240
but that's not going to feed more than 20 people.
00:17:25.800
They don't understand the true value of what happens with farms and where food comes from,
00:17:32.420
And there's just such a disconnect and I don't know how to fight it.
00:17:35.340
I mean, we've been, I try in my small ways to step up and stand up for, you know, for
00:17:43.000
the oil and gas industry, but there, the disconnect of the, I call them the educated, uneducated.
00:17:49.500
These are people that are highly university educated that have still live in their parents'
00:17:53.520
basement and don't have real world practical skills.
00:17:57.040
And, um, we're in a interesting spot, but the truth of the matter is that like every
00:18:04.040
day we get up and no matter what side I have a pretty good life, you know what I mean?
00:18:11.380
My biggest complaint now is a sod that I laid is not taking and I'm pissed off because I
00:18:17.460
And, you know, I'm going to have to put it down.
00:18:19.320
And meanwhile, in other countries in the world, and even, even the rich oil countries, that
00:18:24.040
people are so suppressed that they don't have rights.
00:18:28.200
And I would argue that our energy industry has given us these rights.
00:18:41.180
I'm not saying that I'm against solar energy or wind energy.
00:18:45.620
I mean, they use solar up here in a few places like that and they, it's not always the end
00:18:49.680
of the world when it comes to mixing the two energies.
00:18:52.420
Like I was at a lodge that has solar on the roof and then they've got a diesel generator
00:18:57.320
backup and, and a battery backup and the two compliment each other.
00:19:01.600
This war that we have against our fossil fuel industry is ridiculous.
00:19:06.420
But if you go and you mine all of this metal and, and to make these batteries and they don't
00:19:13.780
have a contingency plan for the real toxic tailings ponds, which are far worse than these
00:19:17.620
tailings ponds here and everything that comes from the consequence of that mining, you know,
00:19:22.180
20 years from now, you're going to be hearing ban solar power, ban this.
00:19:25.900
Like we have a pretty good thing right now, the way we're doing it.
00:19:29.060
And all we need to do is build on it and improve it.
00:19:31.080
Like, I mean, if we get this, um, carbon capture, uh, that they're talking about here
00:19:35.780
in Alberta, um, you know, we'll be ahead of them.
00:19:38.120
And I would argue right now that there has not been enough research done on the carbon
00:19:42.020
footprint of making batteries and solar panels and windmills, because there's a great carbon
00:19:50.480
Yeah, we have a pretty good with what we have right now.
00:19:52.400
And I think that we, we, it's a lot, it's just been such a long fight and you burn out
00:19:59.340
because you've been fighting this fight for quite a while.
00:20:01.200
Cause you're fighting Saudi Arabia and the Americans, they don't care.
00:20:06.840
I mean, America has built enough pipelines to go around the earth twice when we're just
00:20:11.420
I mean, we're going to get one pipeline built, you know, we're not, we still have to ship
00:20:15.360
oil through the Panama Canal to go to the other end of our own country.
00:20:20.820
I mean, that is a step in the right direction, but I mean, we have the greatest resource in
00:20:27.000
the world at our fingertips sitting here that we need to develop in a sustainable, responsible
00:20:31.540
Like, and for some reason allowed these, uh, so-called environmentalist organizations
00:20:37.560
to tell us our story and we shouldn't have done that.
00:20:40.920
So I guess that sort of answers my next question, but I'll get you to expand on it.
00:20:45.420
Why did you buy a propane powered bus and why do you have this plan to take it across the
00:20:59.440
Um, the reason is, is that, um, after, uh, the Carlton Liberal Association, uh, labeled
00:21:06.020
my organization, I, I was angry at first, but more just sort of sad because, um, these
00:21:18.140
I would say that they are recession-proof, out of touch yuppies in Ottawa labeled an organization
00:21:25.460
that actually, that I, you know, own and I funded and I started, um, that is all about
00:21:34.660
So I figured, um, cause, um, I found this bus online and of course, like, you know, it's
00:21:40.180
practical to buy a 1977 bus that's 43 years old and take it across the country.
00:21:45.560
But I thought, you know, what a great way if I take my time and I stop in every little
00:21:50.100
town along the way and I sell t-shirts and give out buttons and stickers and then I connect
00:21:55.140
to people that hopefully some good of that, you know, what they, that horrible thing they
00:21:59.360
called us comes out of it and we can show them through the videos that you can't just
00:22:05.700
sit across the country and call down the most important region in the country that they
00:22:19.080
In hindsight, I probably should have went for it, um, when they did that.
00:22:22.400
Um, but I, I, I think that this bus is really cool.
00:22:28.340
I think I'll bring my dogs and it'll be a little bit of a road trip.
00:22:32.260
And, um, my, my plan is to try to shed a light on the human factor of what the people,
00:22:39.760
people in Ottawa make these decisions that affect people across the country, but they
00:22:48.400
I think that the, the fact that we are the second largest country in the world, um, that
00:22:52.880
there's places, I mean, I still haven't been to Newfoundland.
00:22:55.320
I've still, I've only, I've never been to certain areas and it's hard because, um, you
00:22:59.860
know, we're so vast, but the truth of the matter is, is that those people are a world
00:23:03.200
away and you kind of wonder sometimes, like, uh, how could they make these decisions that
00:23:10.520
So I'm hoping in my small way that I can bring attention to that issue.
00:23:13.800
And I mean, it's just cool to take a propane powered bus on the highway.
00:23:18.920
Um, I had to drive Edmonton and it's a five speed low and high.
00:23:25.000
I was up a hill in rush hour trying to hold the clutch and not roll back.
00:23:33.160
I am putting an automatic transmission in it before I go, because, uh, I just like,
00:23:37.960
it's the, the novelty of a, of a five speed low and high wears off in about an hour.
00:23:45.020
I can drive a standard, but trying to figure out what gear and low when you hit a hill and
00:23:52.060
And it runs on propane and actually, so I'll tell you how affordable it was.
00:23:56.160
So it's a giant bus and it only cost me $110 to come from Edmonton to Fort McMurray.
00:24:09.820
And campaign is clean burning and a clean burning fossil fuel.
00:24:16.440
And it, and then you can flip a switch and it runs on gas.
00:24:18.720
If you get a situation where you need to have a little bit more power, but yeah.
00:24:25.040
Now I want to touch on something that you're involved in and normally you don't get involved
00:24:31.660
You sort of stay out of it, but because Fort McMurray is your hometown and you love Fort
00:24:37.380
McMurray, you're a little bit involved in the local mayoral campaign.
00:24:40.720
You're not running for mayor, which is a bit of a disappointment for me.
00:24:47.300
Um, so I've decided to get involved and I'm, I'm actually helping a few candidates that are
00:24:53.880
And yes, I'm, I'm working on the mayor's campaign.
00:24:56.960
Um, and I, I'll tell you why I'm going to be really, really candid here on why.
00:25:04.600
Um, our city has been very divided for a long time.
00:25:09.940
You have sort of this left and this, uh, it's very liberal, like it's very liberal city.
00:25:14.760
And then you've got these people kind of thing.
00:25:16.180
And then to be honest with you, um, two friends of mine, um, one, um, she typically would help,
00:25:26.580
um, you know, she's kind of a more of a, I go to advice for her all the time, but she's
00:25:31.200
a little bit more liberal thinking than me, but we all kind of, we all.
00:25:34.320
It's not like, we're all kind of like, we all kind of have the same philosophy.
00:25:43.640
I want to spend money properly, protect the, protect the, protect the vulnerable, but give
00:25:54.540
Um, Brian Jean, he, uh, talked to me a little bit and these two are so polar opposite, but they
00:26:12.240
They, they piss away millions of dollars all the time on decisions.
00:26:17.360
For instance, we had a place called Jubilee Square.
00:26:20.580
The estimates are either 20 million to 40 million, whatever it costs.
00:26:24.200
I know that there was a $2 million weather catcher built that was taken down a few years
00:26:29.200
later and our racetrack here actually, you know, it doesn't have any money and it actually
00:26:35.540
So, um, we have recreation centers that are worth $50 million that only one or two people
00:26:43.980
We build two of them because we can't learn from our first mistake.
00:26:46.560
We destroyed our downtown and ex-appropriated and put anything there.
00:26:50.540
And it's been going on for quite a while and I can't watch our community die the death
00:26:57.380
I've seen what happens to communities, but I've had to make adjustments when they lose
00:27:02.440
We're blessed to be one of the richest municipalities in the country, but the community needs to
00:27:08.560
And I think a lot of times people come to Fort McMurray that have no real interest in
00:27:15.100
They come here for maybe five or six years and they leave a legacy and then they, uh, and
00:27:21.240
We have a football, we have multiple football fields.
00:27:27.140
I know I'll say, um, I, I support Conklin and that 50, 60 million dollars by every cent
00:27:32.920
should have gone to Conklin, but not in a giant arena that for a town of 300 people
00:27:40.280
And they don't even have, they don't barely have running water, which I, which I think
00:27:44.860
that because they're kind of like little acreages, you probably could do cisterns and
00:27:47.960
wells, but this town should still service that.
00:27:50.260
They could have taken that 50 million dollars, gave Karen's gas station a million dollars
00:27:55.340
They could have went to the local hotel and said, look, we'll put a pool on this hotel
00:28:02.760
But no, they took 50 million dollars and they blew it, put it on a giant arena that no
00:28:06.620
And the town doesn't even have a football team and they've got like a two, three million
00:28:10.160
So, yes, I'm sick and tired of the waste in our community.
00:28:13.520
And I have used my massive platform to push this place for industry for a long time.
00:28:21.040
These decisions are so stupid and they keep happening over and over again.
00:28:25.380
So, yeah, I'm going to try to get some common sense people in there that will actually have
00:28:29.480
business sense because this philosophy of building things we don't need.
00:28:34.820
We were about to build a 17 million dollar art gallery here.
00:28:41.440
And we have an empty building where the brick used to be.
00:28:47.440
You know, I'm a gay gay guy with 208 or 2000 Avon bottles.
00:28:55.420
That being said, you take the brick building, throw a couple million there.
00:29:01.420
But why is it that the racetrack people who actually love their passion as well have a beat
00:29:07.200
up old track that they can barely afford bleachers for?
00:29:09.860
The wealth in this community needs to be distributed far more evenly than it's ever been.
00:29:13.720
And that is why I've decided to back a few candidates this time and, you know, like use
00:29:20.980
Because the point is, is that we need to have some like common sense change in our region.
00:29:27.480
And also, we need to start defending ourselves.
00:29:30.320
I'm so sick and tired of like me being the only one that ever talks in defense of oil
00:29:37.820
Like, we also have to understand in Fort McMurray that there's a bigger world out there.
00:29:45.800
I sat down and I heard Rex Murphy's same speech that I've heard like 200 times.
00:29:49.880
But I actually this time I felt connected to it because like, I don't know what is wrong
00:29:54.920
with us, but we, we, it's almost like we are apologetic of being successful here.
00:30:03.320
I'm proud that I can burn fossil fuels in a free country.
00:30:06.300
I'm proud that I can, I can have the freedom of buying a giant old bus and take it across
00:30:11.760
And everyone else here should have a little bit more.
00:30:16.100
I guess respect for themselves and respect for the industry that has given us this great
00:30:26.380
So yeah, I typically don't speak about local stuff and I try to stay out of the fray here
00:30:30.660
because I mean, it can be quite vicious, but at the same time, I'm sorry.
00:30:35.160
And the amount, the hundreds and millions of dollars that have been pissed away in our
00:30:42.080
So last thing, Robbie, how do people support the work that you do?
00:30:52.680
I mean, this documentary project in your beautiful propane bus, that's all self-funded.
00:30:59.360
So how do people support you and keep you going and keep that fire in your belly?
00:31:10.300
Now we're going to charge five bucks a month for something that I'm going to write.
00:31:16.360
That helps, you know, and to buy a ton of t-shirts.
00:31:21.640
I know a few people order shirts and it only took them like eight months to get, but we've
00:31:31.200
When Pierre Polyev wore the shirt in Ottawa, the problem was, is that our postage was so screwed
00:31:37.100
up because we weren't used to selling that many shirts, so we didn't have the proper charge
00:31:40.820
So we actually kind of had a wash on that because sometimes a shirt that would 15 bucks
00:31:47.200
We're charging a little bit more for postage now, but we're making money on the shirts.
00:31:53.280
So any way you can support my Rub Your Card Media, which is my marketing company, funds
00:31:58.880
So, you know, sponsor our videos or whatever, that would be great.
00:32:03.180
I've got my series for Macquarie 1000 that I'm still looking for some sponsorship for.
00:32:08.040
I'm basically going to be running two things, the Fort Macquarie 1000 series and Oil Sand
00:32:13.640
There's going to be daily videos, all kinds of stuff.
00:32:18.240
But, you know, I listened the other day, I got burnt recently.
00:32:23.160
I'm not going to say who burnt me, but I felt very burnt.
00:32:25.300
I had an idea that I pitched stolen by a government agency, and I was very, very hurt by this.
00:32:32.880
And I realized something at that moment that I was kind of proud of.
00:32:38.360
You know, I'm one guy, you know, I've got four employees in my small business, but I'm
00:32:42.280
one guy and I have my moments where I'm up and down in this cause.
00:32:53.700
I'll say it to the to the Energy Center and all these organizations.
00:33:00.420
If you're one of these people that are doing this type of cause, put yourself in an uncomfortable
00:33:06.400
Use your own money for something, not just the money that you get from your wage and step
00:33:10.980
One of the things that I'm very sad about, and I'll say it because I'm in a mood, we
00:33:26.480
And the reason people know about the I Love Old Sons movement is because of me and the work
00:33:31.220
And a couple other people that I worked with here wasn't just me, but we had a big hand
00:33:35.960
But one thing I will say is for a little brief period of time there, Rally for Resources,
00:33:41.540
Canada Action, a couple other organizations, we had these rallies across the country.
00:33:46.880
And when we had that, I'm so proud of that moment.
00:33:50.640
My favorite moment actually, I'm not sure it was Halifax or Vancouver because that was
00:33:54.300
pretty awesome when that puppet attacked me on the stage.
00:33:57.020
But the truth is, my ultimate favorite moment was probably Vancouver.
00:34:01.020
We were only less than 500 people at our rally and Greenpeace, I mean, they either had five
00:34:07.340
or 10,000, but they had a big rally, rival rallies.
00:34:10.940
We started ground, we did our speech, and the news that day was so pro-energy in Vancouver
00:34:17.720
that we actually canceled out their little, like, you know, their little crybaby fest that
00:34:22.880
And we had, we all worked together and we moved the, we moved it forward.
00:34:27.000
Now, my personal brand, Olsen Strong, I didn't have the buttons and the stickers and the signs
00:34:34.960
But so what happened was, is that Rally for Resources, Canada Action, myself, we kind of
00:34:45.180
And in hindsight, that convoy, like, we actually had the first convoy, but they got the jump
00:34:51.380
And we should have just stopped and let them have their convoy and regrouped and gone back
00:35:03.220
These other organizations that they're hard to compete with when they're, like, when you're
00:35:06.220
going and you're saying, hey, listen, you know, I've got this idea, can you fund us
00:35:19.660
And groups like ours that actually move the needle.
00:35:24.240
I mean, I had Rachel Notley in an I Love Oil Sands hoodie.
00:35:33.960
The only times I've gone after them is, like, crazy Elizabeth May or, you know, the BMW
00:35:38.860
driving NDP leader because, you know, because he's so fuel efficient in his dual exhaust BMW.
00:35:44.860
But my point of the matter is, is that we've done that.
00:35:50.720
Don't get watered down with three million organizations that are, and I'm an ad agency,
00:35:55.180
but I'll be honest, like, I'm also an activist.
00:35:59.900
But we need to get back to that and respect the people that have skin in the game because
00:36:07.100
And now going forward a little bit as I'm about to dive back into this, I will be taking
00:36:14.000
But it's hard when you're in the field, when you're squaring off with a multi-millionaire
00:36:18.640
celebrity in a parking lot when it's minus 40 on your cell phone that's about to have
00:36:24.100
a dead battery, tracking her down on your own with your own money and putting your own
00:36:30.940
Like, it's like, I'm just, I guess I'm just kind of angry because where we are now,
00:36:36.540
we don't need to be there if we respect the people who got us there.
00:36:40.460
Robbie, that's a great spot to leave this interview.
00:36:48.380
You're a very business, very busy business owner and advocate for families like mine.
00:36:54.320
I want to thank you so much for coming on the show.
00:37:06.520
If you got all your news from the mainstream media, you would think that Indigenous people
00:37:10.200
are some sort of monolithic, uniform voting bloc that the Liberals own every single election
00:37:18.400
But I think the tide is turning this time around and we saw it firsthand.
00:37:23.560
As reported by our chief videographer, Mocha, when he captured a scene not reported in the
00:37:31.320
mainstream media and even called fake news by the mainstream media, Indigenous people protested
00:37:37.840
and blocked Justin Trudeau's campaign bus for over a half an hour, something the mainstream
00:37:45.640
media didn't think was newsworthy enough to report on.
00:37:53.680
Don't talk to the fuck about Indigenous people!
00:37:59.900
Indigenous people are not any different than the rest of us.
00:38:11.700
I'll see everybody back here in the same time, in the same place next week.
00:38:15.420
And remember, don't let the government tell you that you've had too much to think.