The untold story of pro-pipeline, pro-business First Nations (Guest： Robbie Picard)
Episode Stats
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Summary
What's being called Canada's first Aboriginal-led pro-oil and gas rally was held in Lacklabish, Alberta over the weekend. Not only did the rally celebrate Aboriginal culture, but it showcased just how important oil and gas development is to the health and welfare of our Aboriginal communities.
Transcript
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Hello Rebels, you're listening to a free audio only recording of my show, The Gun Show. Today
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my guest is my friend and Métis Fort McMurray oil sands activist Robbie Picard. He's the founder
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of Oil Sand Strong. We're discussing how Western Canada's First Nations are speaking up to change
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the narrative around oil and gas development. These pro-oil and gas indigenous groups have
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been part of the silent majority for far too long while the radicals and the cranks opposing
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resource development claim to speak for everyone and get all the airtime. I think it's about time
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these pro-oil and gas voices were heard. If you like listening to this podcast then you are going
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wherever you listen to podcasts. Those reviews are a great way to support The Rebel without having to
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spend a dime. And now enjoy this free audio-only version of my show. What's being called Canada's
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first aboriginal-led oil and gas rally happened in Lacklebish, Alberta over the weekend. I'm very glad it
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happened and it's about time, but my Métis guest tonight has been leading oil and gas rallies
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for the better part of a decade. I'm Sheila Gunn-Reed and you're watching The Gunn Show.
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Did you know that oil and gas and mining are the largest employers of First Nations people
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in the entire country? These high-paying jobs are giving Canada's Indigenous peoples opportunities
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to pull themselves and their communities out of the generational poverty that has plagued
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so many of them. And there's also a burgeoning business class amongst Canada's First Nations,
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particularly here in Western Canada and especially in Fort McMurray, thanks in no small part to oil
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and gas development and partnerships with major oil and gas companies. But you wouldn't know it if
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you got all your news from the mainstream media, would you? These Indigenous success stories are
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very seldom told. Instead, the mainstream media favours the handful of radicals and kooks who block
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prosperity not only for Indigenous communities, but for the rest of the entire country. We saw it in
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the favourable coverage the anti-trans Mountain Camp Cloud protesters received. They were treated as
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spokespeople for all the Indigenous groups along the Trans Mountain Pipeline route by sympathetic media
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outlets when that absolutely couldn't be further from the truth. They were indeed the outliers.
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And we see it right now in the sycophantic coverage that the gas link protesters are receiving
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in northern British Columbia. The democratically elected band council of the Wet'suwet'en people
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have approved that gas pipeline, but the handful of self-appointed hereditary chiefs, heavy on the
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quotation marks, have decided that they speak for all the people. My colleague Kian Bexy did an
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incredible expose on the protesters of that pipeline and how they are actually an astroturf creation
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of the anti-oil movement. But I think the tide is finally turning. An Aboriginal-led pro-oil and gas
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rally, complete with a truck convoy, was held in Lacklabish, Alberta over the weekend. Not only did
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the rally celebrate Aboriginal culture, but it showcased just how important oil and gas development
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is to the health and welfare of our Aboriginal communities. But long before this Aboriginal-led
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rally, my guest was speaking out on behalf of these Aboriginal success stories that are growing in our
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oil and gas sector. And he's Métis himself. He's from Fort McMurray. We all know him. Joining me tonight
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Joining me now from Fort McMurray is my friend, OilSands activist Robbie Picard. Hey Robbie,
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thanks for joining me. Thank you for having me. It's always a pleasure. Now, Robbie, you've been a
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pretty busy guy lately, actually. You're always a pretty busy guy. The reason I wanted to have you
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on today, or just one of the reasons, I have a ton of things that I want to talk to you about, but
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I wanted to talk to you about this Aboriginal-led pro-pipeline rally that was in Lacklabish
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over the weekend. I wasn't able to be there, although I was, like at so many of these rallies,
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there in spirit. How was it attended? How was it received? What was the response from the community?
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Mostly it was a positive response. I thought it'd be a little bit more attended, but it's the first
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one of its kind in a place I don't think has had a rally before. There was a good media presence.
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They had a truck convoy. It was nice to see that finally people are saying, like, hey, wait a minute.
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Not having market access affects all First Nations people from all parts of Canada, particularly
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in Alberta, Saskatchewan, where you have small, medium, and large businesses that are just trying
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to survive. And I really enjoyed it. They had great food and great dancing, but there needs to be a lot
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more. And it was good. It was good. Yeah, I was really heartened to see First Nations groups come
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together to do something so loud and so proud. I think these pro-oil and gas Aboriginal groups are
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often lost in the shuffle when these small, few, loud activist groups really get all the attention.
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And that brings me to the next thing I wanted to talk to you about, and that is the Aboriginal presence
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blocking a liquefied natural gas pipeline in northern British Columbia. They're doing it against
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the will of the democratically elected band in the area. And I think, for me, it speaks to this total
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disregard for the democratic will of the people in that band to have these, really, a half a dozen
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activists hold up this multi-billion dollar project for the whole country, but not just for the whole
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country, for these Aboriginal bands that are trying to lift themselves out of poverty. And then we see
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people like Hollywood actors, Leonardo DiCaprio, for example, taking the side of these Aboriginal bands
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against the people who elected their band council, who brought forward an agreement to build the
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pipeline. It's real simple. Our energy industry is under attack by foreign funded entities. Leonardo
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DiCaprio's opinion doesn't count because he's the biggest hypocrite in the history of hypocrites in the
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world. And what they do is they pay off a few people who, for whatever reason, they don't care about the
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democratically elected process through their bands. They don't care that they're actually hurting other
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aboriginals. It's simply they get either getting paid or they get some kind of joy that they're being
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backed by these so-called celebrity environmentalists. And it's really costing Canadians. It's costing
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aboriginals. It's costing, it's insane. And as bad as it is, people are standing up. And I mean,
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like, it's, it's, it's, it's beginning to resonate amongst everybody that something needs to be done.
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And it's a colossal mistake, the way they have not responded to anything and the way they've let this
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go on for so long. So I mean, as much attention as these small, very timely numbers that people are
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getting, there are also a lot of people saying, Hey, wait a minute, you're taking kid, you're taking
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food out of my child's mouth. You're hurting my family. You're hurting your own people. You're hurting
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your elders. So I'm glad to see that more people are speaking up, but it's, I'm not surprised. And I mean,
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Leonardo DiCaprio's opinion, I mean, does not matter to me at all. I cannot, I cannot believe that people are
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still even listening to him. It's just blows my mind. A guy who can get the biggest yacht in the
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world and prize flies around on private jets is somehow credible in telling regular people,
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regular Canadians, regular Aboriginal Canadians on how to live their lives.
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You know, it's, it's funny because these celebrity enablers, they'll say stuff like,
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oh, we're standing up for Aboriginal rights. But while they're doing that, they're stomping on the
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actual Aboriginal right to pull themselves out of generational poverty through these
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multi-billion dollar projects. You're in Fort McMurray, you know, some of the most wealthy
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Aboriginal bands in the country are right where you are. Isn't that right?
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Yes, we have, I mean, pretty much it's all 100% support behind pipelines. I mean, tech just inked a
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very, very strong, powerful deal that had 100% unanimous Aboriginal support. There's issues that come up
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from time to time, but I prefer that we, I like what I like is for the most part, we deal with those
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internally, unless there's some sort of celebrity who's trying to, you know, get more famous by acting
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as if Fort McMurray is a toxic wasteland. It's actually very beautiful. But I think after Jane Fonda's
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visit here, we haven't seen one of those celebrities in a long time. But I mean, the Mikasu and the Fort
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McMurray First Nations, collectively, they have a $500 million deal on a tank farm. Tech has, from what
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I'm told, is it has billion dollar deals with all of the Aboriginals in our region. Aboriginals in our
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region are now becoming oil producers themselves. I mean, it's the game has changed. So when we don't
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have access to market access because of lack of pipelines, and you have these celebrities and
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these so-called environmentalists that are severely damaging it, it hurts everybody here.
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But I don't think we're going to take it anymore. I've had several meetings recently with a lot of
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people and they're fed up. I mean, they just, we have the highest environmental standards in the world
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and we know how to reclaim land. We know how to work together with industry and we don't need
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American celebrities telling us how to live. Well, and I, I really think you're right about
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the tide changing. There's no longer this silent Aboriginal majority who supports oil and gas
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development or the, I think the us versus them issues are completely over. I actually saw that
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pretty evident when I was at one of these rallies against the, um, the Bighorn Park development.
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Um, the people who are really driving home, um, that they are the protectors of the land and they
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will not be told by the government how to use the land, um, is the Sun Child First Nation. Um,
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they've really been at all of these rallies saying, we will fight for this land and everybody's land
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use, our, our friends and our neighbours and non-Aboriginal communities. Don't worry. We've
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got your back. We'll invoke our treaty rights. We'll do whatever it takes. Um, because we are all in this
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together. And as an Albertan, it's really heartening to see that, uh, we really are on the same side of
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so many issues, despite, uh, the division that seems to be fostered by these activist groups.
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Well, I, I think like, so if you just look at basic education, okay, in Fort McMurray,
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more Aboriginals are graduating than ever before. They're, they're completing degrees. And once with
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that knowledge and education, the game's changing and people here don't want to be victims. They
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don't want to be on a, like a poster. What they want is to live a successful life. I was just at
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the rah-rah awards and I would like, I, I, I very seldom get emotional, but I really like, look, I
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like love covering stuff for NABA. And, um, I just posted a video and I mean, these, these people are
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genius intelligence and excellent contributors to the community. And I tend to focus on business. I'm
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like, well, this person does this and this, but these are one person went back to school and,
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and then one person who had a bit of struggles and now they're almost finished their nursing degree.
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I mean, I think celebrities would prefer that, uh, that, that they can put, that the people that
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they're trying to claim are victims, state victims, instead of digging themselves out of poverty
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and then becoming successful and becoming wealthy. And then, and, you know, in contributing to society
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and all whole multitude of levels, generational poverty can be stopped in minutes. If we all
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work together, utilize the oil sands in the industry and natural gas, um, in a smart, intelligent,
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um, um, environmentally responsible way, which we do. Um, it, it weakens their argument,
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like Leonardo DiCaprio's argument, because he's, he's at like, there's no real victims here. We work
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together. Yes, there's problems, but we, we have enough intelligence and sophistication to solve
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our own problems. So, um, I, I think, uh, I think we all get it. And I think we're all united,
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uh, on that one thing. And I'm trying to keep us united on that one message for all I can do.
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Now being united is, uh, sort of is a good segue to, uh, my next question that I wanted to ask you
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about. Um, I wanted to ask you about the convoy to Ottawa. Uh, the convoy to Ottawa was organized by
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the yellow vest movement or loosely organized by them. They sort of split into two. Um, but I wanted
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to ask you what your opinion is of the yellow vest convoy to Ottawa. I know that some, some pro oil
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sands activists have reasons why they, they don't approve of the yellow vesters getting involved
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in, uh, pro resource rallies. I think anybody who wants to support Alberta's oil sands are welcome
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to show up and voice their concern. But I wanted to ask you because you really are like the OG of oil
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sands activism. And so, uh, because you're sort of this godfather of the movement, I wanted to ask you
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what you thought about that, because for me, your opinion might be the definitive one.
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Okay. I thought about this a lot actually, because I found myself very torn in a lot of ways. Um,
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on one hand, working with Canada action and rally for resources and et cetera, I'm going to give you
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the goods here. Um, they, you know, we, we became, and it's not like everyone had their part. Like I
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would argue that my attack on Saudi Arabia, um, four years ago is partially why that Justin Trudeau
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gets questioned often now on why are we going to know from a country that has such a heinous human
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rights record. I tend to be a little bit of that. These rallies started small, et cetera, et cetera.
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But, um, when we did ours, I don't agree with how we handled it. Um, now we had a plan to do a convoy
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before they did theirs, but they launched theirs first and there's had a lot of success. So here's
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the problem when you're sitting comfortably, like I'm, I mean, I'm, I'm, I'm comfortable. Okay. I've
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been doing this quite a while. I can, I've done a lot of media. I'm seasoned at it. I know how to,
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I know how to conduct myself. These guys don't necessarily do. So that doesn't take away the
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fact that a good chunk of the L of us are completely broke. They've lost everything. They've lost their
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jobs. Industry has disappeared from their communities. And as a good friend told me,
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who am I to tell them what to do when all they have left in them is to hold up a sign and say
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something sort of nasty and stand on the side of the road because they don't know what their future
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holds and all their dignity has been taken from them. Here's the, but we made major progress
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advocating for pipelines to the point where, you know, we had events where you had the NDP and the
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liberals and across the country were united. For instance, Quebec, 66% of people in Quebec
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support the energy use pipeline. So here comes the problem when they post something a little bit
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racist or they get too much on the UN and all that, it does, it can affect the argument of build the
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pipeline. So my argument has been very strict to one thing, prosperity for all. These problems become
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minute if everybody can work and have a good life no matter what they do. So I've tried to stay on
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message. It is not my place to judge or tell other people how to act or how to protest or how to be
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angry. And I refuse to do it. And I also refuse to paint all the yellow vests with this brush that
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they're all racist because I don't believe that. I know quite a few of them. They might lean a little
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bit more right than I do, but I'm not going to explain that. But the bigger kicker is that they've
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had their own breakup internally amongst them. And Glenn is doing his own convoy, which is sort of
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separate from yellow vests now. And I like Glenn. You can't get more Albert than Glenn. He's a
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paramedic, a firefighter, a good guy. So I have given him 100% of my support. I just did a video
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encouraging people to support him. And I believe in doing the right thing. And I frankly don't care
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what anyone else tells me to say, because like you said, I've been doing this quite a while. And
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I think that it's important to do the right thing. It doesn't matter who's right. It matters what's
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right. So I think he's going to have a good time. I was going to go on the convoy. I was going to take
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my camper van and my two dogs, but I have to work. My marketing company is finally doing well
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and taking a week to go there and a week back. I can't do this. But I am flying to Ottawa and I'm going
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to speak at his event and I'm going to support him as much as I can. So Canada's broken and we need
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to fix it. And everybody's voice matters, including the yellow vests. So instead of like, I believe we
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need to understand what is bothering them and why and try to find common ground. And that's what I'm
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trying to do. You know, I love that answer. And I feel the same way about Glenn that you do. I think
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that he is just a salt to the earth guy. He like you to organize this. I mean, he's a business owner
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in central Alberta. He and he's not making money to organize this massive convoy, which sounds a lot
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like herding cats across the entire country. And somehow he's doing it. He's got, you know, a budget
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and he's got a timeline and he's got permits and organizing a bus so that other people who maybe
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don't want to drive can go on the convoy. I mean, he's bitten off a lot to bring the message of what's
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happening here in Alberta in our oil patch to Ottawa. And he's doing his best to keep this sort
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of one message going forward. And I don't think it's fair for people to attack him as though he's a
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wingnut. I mean, there's really absolutely nothing in this except a lot of headache for him,
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but he's willing to do it anyway. So I agree with you. And I do agree with you that we shouldn't be
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telling people who have nothing left what they can and can't be mad about. And I don't think we should
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be looking down our noses at the Yellow Vesters when some of their concerns are pretty darn valid.
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when a lot of their critics have really never been as down and out as some of them are. And
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I just, I won't judge them for it. Now, I wanted to ask you about your next project. I think it is
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fascinating. I'm full of ideas about it that I want to tell you about and I want you to steal them.
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Um, but maybe we'll do that off air because I don't want to give people a sneak peek.
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I'm giving them. You cannot steal something I'm giving you. Um, tell us about Boots on the Ground.
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So, um, I have a video series called Visit Fort McMurray, which is sort of kind of like, uh,
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uh, Fort McMurray's got nice rivers. It's got this and that. And, um, it's really nice. It's,
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it's gotten almost a million views total between all of them. And, um, I'm proud of that because I
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haven't put a lot of like money boosting and I'm still growing it, but hang on. I just want to stop
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you. I love your video series, Visit Fort McMurray and you thought of it on your own. And basically
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you just go around to these sort of, um, local gems, hidden gems in your community that are
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beautiful that the rest of the world don't know about. And you're busting this narrative about
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Fort McMurray, that it's ugly and toxic one video at a time. And you're just one guy out there.
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You're making videos, driving around with your dogs and they're beautiful and they're well done.
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I'm from the internet. I know these things. And, and, uh, I really like what you're doing. So
00:22:38.900
sorry to interrupt. Continue. Well, thank you. So like I have a media company and there's three
00:22:45.120
employees, myself, Richard, and, um, I don't think she wants me to say her name, so I won't,
00:22:49.100
but I got to give credit to my team. And, um, we work together, um, and we do a lot of videos
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actually for different businesses. And I, I, I, oil sounds strong sometimes. Like I like it,
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but I can be edgy. I like taking on, uh, Fonda, Trudeau, um, and et cetera. Um, so we started
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Visit Fort McMurray and I, it, it's nice. It's positive. And I, I don't really go too gritty
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after doing that. I realized like, and actually it was a yellow vester that kind of motivated me to do
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this. Um, I want to, I want to go a little deeper into the ups and downs of these decisions that
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other people make in Ottawa and how they affect regular Albertans and regular Canadians. And I
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want to tell a very honest story about these, these lies. So now some will be business owners,
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but some might be a guy who is new to Canada and they, they came here to work. And for whatever
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reason, the system has failed them because they, the, the cutbacks and they, let's just say they're
00:23:49.700
cleaner at, uh, camp. And for whatever reason, um, they, the, the rig get shut down. And now this
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person is, has to, has no choice, but they get government assistance, assistance. I want to tell
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those stories, but I want to do it in a hopeful way that the rest of Canada can look into a different
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perspective. It's a lot of people in the city don't understand what happens in the West actually
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provides their beautiful city lifestyle. I I've always wanted to bring that together. So I'm
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going to go and, um, I'm going to try and go and spend 20 minutes, like it'll be more than 20 minutes,
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but I'll do a 20 minute video once a week on telling the untold stories of regular people
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that work in oil and gas. And that's sort of the premise behind, behind the series.
00:24:37.640
You know, I think that's a really, uh, beautiful and powerful thing to do to tell the human side
00:24:44.340
of these policy failures. Um, uh, people really forget that every time that they pull up to the gas
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pump and they count on the fact that there's gas coming out of that pump to go into their car so that
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they can get their kids off to hockey or soccer. One of the million places I drive my kids to on any
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given day that there's a drilling rig full of guys working in the cold, far from their family,
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missing birthdays that made that happen. There's a refinery full of guys working to make sure that,
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you know, the gas is exactly the right gas that needs to end up in that pump. There's
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truckers and pipelineers, all these hardworking men and women from Canada, from other places in the
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world. And they really are being let down by these policy failures. So I think it is,
00:25:37.340
uh, that might be the best way to change hearts and minds. We can talk about abstract numbers about
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aboriginal employment all day long, but when we're hearing this story of the aboriginal
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pipeliner, who's losing his truck, I think that might be the kicker.
00:25:53.480
Yeah. Like, um, when I was in Lloyd Minster, I actually met a woman. I spoke at a rally and I,
00:25:59.620
oh my God, like I got there within seconds before they were closing because the roads were so icy
00:26:03.960
and I just rolled. And I always roll in the perfect, like fashion relates, my thing, but this
00:26:08.580
was actually like, I wasn't sure I was going to make it anyway. So we went out to eat after. I
00:26:12.880
don't even remember what I said in my speech because I drove, like, I ended up driving for
00:26:16.260
eight hours and I, and I was up all night working. So, um, I just got in there. I had my,
00:26:20.800
I couldn't have wanted to watch my dogs and my dogs were everywhere. It was just a whole thing
00:26:23.920
going on minus 40. So, um, I sat down with her after and they wanted to talk to me and they're
00:26:30.120
like, you know, what, what should we do different about the rally? And the rally was, you know,
00:26:33.960
it was, it was decently attended, but it wasn't what they thought. And I said, well, don't be
00:26:36.900
discouraged because like, you got to start somewhere. Anyway, I started talking to her and she tells me
00:26:41.600
that she left an abusive husband and, um, went on, worked on the rigs and she's like, I'm kind of an
00:26:48.260
engineer and has people under her and she supports her child. And it was a whole interesting story.
00:26:54.620
So you have a female oil rigger and she's like struggling to keep her kid because her deadbeat
00:27:02.540
husband like was useless. And she's not, she's like, I don't want anyone to give me any handouts.
00:27:07.840
I just want to be able to provide for my child and have a decent life. And I'm like, wow, people need
00:27:12.940
to hear that story. Cause like, this isn't, this is not a typical story. And one of the things I'm
00:27:18.580
struggling with more than anything, and I'm not scared to say it as when Justin Trudeau made those
00:27:23.440
comments about camp workers, I, I, I'm not over that yet. And his pathetic answers to when he's
00:27:29.900
doing these town halls, this drives me insane. Um, but like, what about her? She lived in camp along
00:27:36.700
one of these, one of these roads and, uh, like, like she's a bad person too, because Justin
00:27:42.600
Trudeau's claims that he's the feminist of the generation with his gender politics. There's
00:27:47.760
way more to this story than, than coming. I think the biggest mistake with these politicians
00:27:53.140
as they come in and they speak, like, I'm going to save everything. They don't have the capacity
00:27:58.580
to, but at the least that they could understand the big picture. I think they, you know, they
00:28:03.640
walked a mile in her shoes, which Justin probably would like, um, they would, I don't know, that
00:28:08.660
was horrible. Um, they would, um, they would understand more about what she's going through.
00:28:15.560
And, and that was, that's sort of my point. Well, and you know, a woman like her, it doesn't
00:28:20.240
sound like she wants to be saved. She doesn't need to be saved. She's empowered. She's strong.
00:28:25.180
She just wants to work like everybody else. It's one of those universal things. Now, are you
00:28:31.660
able to give us a sneak peek hint at the next thing that you're working on? That one? Are
00:28:41.600
you ready to let the, okay, go ahead. The biggest rally in Fort McMurray that I've ever done is
00:28:47.080
coming up in the next couple of weeks. Um, it is huge. Um, it's going to be substantial. I am going
00:28:52.700
to be inviting the prime minister. That's why I'm trying to bite my tongue right now. Um, but he's the
00:28:56.740
only one that I need to bite my tongue with. I've been very respectful of Rachel Notley. I've been
00:29:00.580
very respectful of Jason Kenney. Um, I like, uh, I really admire when we've done these rallies,
00:29:08.200
how everyone has come together and we put all partisan politics aside. And I stand by that.
00:29:13.320
I have been very nonpartisan and very fair. And I, for the most part, I have been, um,
00:29:18.380
I like Jason Kenney's blue truck. It's perfect the way it is. Um, and, uh, I, I'm going to invite
00:29:25.820
everybody to come and speak. Um, we're, we're going to be doing, I kind of want to wait. Um,
00:29:34.220
uh, we're going to be doing, I'll say it, we're going to be doing Fort McMurray's first
00:29:37.200
multicultural rally. So I recently covered an event for visit Fort McMurray at the multicultural
00:29:42.060
association, and I really enjoyed it. You had this Russian lady. She was crazy. She had this like
00:29:48.000
tin of all these like sweets. And I think these sweets were like illegal. They were like condensed
00:29:53.400
milk and layers. Right. And she kept giving them to me and just like hiding them in the bag. Right.
00:29:56.920
And I, and I got like this biggest sugar high ever, but it was really good. And I found that
00:30:01.060
really funny because there was a Russian Ukrainian community. There was, um, a group from Egypt and
00:30:06.160
they had the greatest desserts. Um, there was every country in the world, there was some first nations
00:30:11.080
dancing. And I realized that our community is very, very diverse. You have people from everywhere
00:30:19.280
coming here and they want a better life. And if we get market access, the good that our community
00:30:27.360
could do for the world, for the oil senses, it's, it's amazing what it could do. And I'm very, uh,
00:30:33.280
I'm very proud to be doing this rally. I'm not going to quite say who it's with yet. Cause I have to be
00:30:38.320
a bit careful. Um, but it's, um, it's, it's, it's kind of emotional for me because I, I really am proud
00:30:45.940
that we are all coming together. And, um, I want to, I want to encourage more people who have been a
00:30:53.920
bit quiet about their support for the oil sands to come together and show their support because it's
00:30:59.760
very important. I feel. Yeah. You know, I was at, I think it was Brooks and it was just after I
00:31:05.420
started working at the rebel and there was like an anti NDP rally, anti carbon tax rally that was
00:31:11.740
happening at a trucking yard in Brooks, Alberta. And I'll never forget this man pulls in and he's
00:31:19.200
got a, a microscope too. And it's like fastened to the roof of his car. And he walks up to me and
00:31:27.120
he's walking quite fast. And I'm thinking, Oh, Holy hell, I'm about to get a blast because of where I
00:31:33.160
work or whatever. And he said, I want to talk to you. And he, and I felt bad for immediately judging
00:31:40.560
how he walked up to me because he told me the most incredibly heartfelt story of how he was from
00:31:51.420
India. He's a geologist. Um, he had been out of work for about six months and he said that all he
00:32:00.540
wanted to do was come to Canada and work. And he said he never wanted a penny from anybody. He refuses
00:32:08.880
to take a penny from anybody. His kids are, uh, getting ready to go to university. He said he's
00:32:15.020
the hardest worker, but he just wanted it to work. And I think there are so many other stories just
00:32:22.300
like his in the oil patch, people who've come to Alberta because it is the land of milk and honey
00:32:27.580
and promise and, uh, government policy has really robbed them of their opportunities, just like
00:32:35.400
everybody else who's in Alberta. And, uh, and, uh, I'm happy that you're doing a rally that sort of
00:32:41.880
shows that, um, we're all together in this. Well, I, I, I find like, you know, a lot of the rest of
00:32:53.480
Canada, like, I don't think they understand that Albertans aren't really about entitlement.
00:32:57.860
They just want a fair shot to earn a fair wage. And that's what Alberta was for so many people
00:33:05.840
that people that they're not satisfied. They don't want government handouts. They don't want
00:33:11.340
to be kept. They just want, Hey, I want a chance to, to do the right thing. Now I, I, I am hopeful as
00:33:20.900
of late. I, I, I truly pray that Justin Trudeau has a plan with that pipeline. I'm, I'm not sure if he
00:33:26.580
does, but I'm praying optimistic, a gentleman, but I think you're optimistic. Optimism is misplaced.
00:33:33.220
Well, if he doesn't have that pipeline built and he blew $4.5 billion of our money, not his trust fund,
00:33:40.820
then we're in a really bad place. And, um, it's, it's sad because the potential that we had as a
00:33:52.120
province, as a region, as a country was infinity. If we would have just got behind it 10 years ago,
00:33:58.780
you know, if, if more, you know, Aboriginal people would have said, Hey, we need this.
00:34:05.060
I truly hope that like, it's good right now. Everybody's on side and we're working together.
00:34:09.580
And I, and I liked that it was easier now than it was four years ago, but I just hope it's not too
00:34:15.180
little too late. And, you know, I, I, I've, when it comes to the prime ministers, like, you know,
00:34:22.680
like I didn't, I'll even say it. I didn't agree with everything that his father did, but I respected
00:34:27.100
him. I was, I, I had a lot of respect for Jean-Claude Chan, Paul Martin, Stephen Harper,
00:34:32.860
even Mal Rooney. I've always met, but, um, I can find common ground with Rachel Nolley. When it comes to
00:34:38.940
Justin, I'm, I'm terrified. I'm terrified that this strange combination of circumstance has led us
00:34:48.580
to a leader that just wasn't ready. And because of his lack of experience and knowledge and a little
00:34:56.600
bit of narcissism, um, there might be unintended consequences that will last for generations.
00:35:04.240
So that I'm, I'm scared of. I'm, and I'm trying, I'm trying to bite my tongue right now. Cause like
00:35:10.000
I have a rally where he might be speaking at, and if he chooses, I will be respectful and I'll make
00:35:13.740
sure everybody's respectful, but it's hard. I mean, it's been four years of just, of just talk.
00:35:20.160
And I don't know. It's, I don't know like how, I don't know a prime minister who's had more
00:35:25.340
scandals. I truly don't. I really don't. Yeah. I think you are, um, a lot nicer than I would be when
00:35:33.640
you say it, it's inexperienced because I don't think he would ever be ready. I don't think he
00:35:38.880
has the mental capacity, um, to run a monopoly board, let alone run, uh, you know, the Canadian
00:35:47.540
economy. Um, but you are trying to be nonpartisan because you want him to speak at your rally.
00:35:54.100
Um, yeah, he might, who knows? Um, as long as there's nobody there asking tough questions,
00:36:00.580
he might show up. Now I wanted to give you a chance to, um, tell everybody where they can find
00:36:06.740
you, tell everybody where they can, uh, get to these great oil sands, strong t-shirts like the
00:36:11.760
one I'm wearing, because unlike other oil sands activists, you don't really have any deep pocketed
00:36:17.840
sponsors. You do a lot of, well, almost all of your work out of your own pocket. You travel on your
00:36:24.200
own dime. Um, you go to all these rallies, you drive late, you're taking time off work and it's
00:36:29.820
all out of your own pocket or the majority of it is out of your own pocket. So plug your business,
00:36:35.620
plug your t-shirts, do what you got to do. Okay. So, um, go to oilsandstrong.com to buy t-shirts,
00:36:43.260
um, and, um, share our posts. I'd really like to go to our page and we, I am toying with the idea
00:36:50.900
of setting up some sort of, if you want to sponsor, um, art show, visit for McMurray or boots on the
00:36:56.900
ground, I'm going to might open the doors to that. Um, I, but I really want to get our clothing line
00:37:02.300
going. Um, we've had some success with it. I'm about to upgrade it. If you're in Fort McMurray,
00:37:07.560
you can go to Napa on parts and, uh, our t-shirts are for sale there as well. And, um, just kind of
00:37:15.620
stay tuned. But, um, my goal is I have, I probably will be selling some sponsorships to the new TV
00:37:21.180
video, sorry, to the new web series. Um, because, you know, I like, there's only so much I can take
00:37:26.640
as a small business person. Um, but, um, it is my labor of love. I, I do enjoy doing it. Um,
00:37:32.420
and for the most part, you're right. I have been 100% self-funded. There has been occasions where I've
00:37:37.140
sold bald shirts. Um, but, um, I definitely, um, I want to grow, um, and I want to, I want to do my
00:37:44.000
best to try and keep my employees going so we can all keep doing this work that we do, but at the same
00:37:50.080
time, have fun and grow, grow at the same time. Well, Robbie, I want to thank you so much for
00:37:55.760
being generous with your time. I told you 20 minutes and we're at well past 30. Um, and I
00:38:01.460
want to thank you so much for doing what you do and fighting so hard for families like mine and
00:38:05.580
trying to keep, um, these important conversations about the ethical nature of Canadian oil and gas
00:38:10.680
going every day. Thank you. It's always a pleasure being on your show. Um, and it's always a blast.
00:38:15.640
Thank you for having me. Thanks, Robbie. You're the best. Thank you.
00:38:20.080
Bad economies don't play favorites and unemployment. It doesn't really care about
00:38:36.300
your ethnicity. The consequences of damaging government policies that chase away investment
00:38:42.960
and kill our jobs are absolutely colorblind. And the best thing for all of us, no matter where
00:38:48.940
we come from is for the government to quit trying to help us and just get out of our way. Well,
00:38:55.400
everybody, that's the show for tonight. Thanks so much for tuning in. I'll see everybody back here in
00:39:00.220
the same time in the very same place next week. And remember, don't let the government tell you that