Rebel News Podcast - SHEILA GUNN REID ｜ Robbie Picard wants Liberals to let First Nations benefit from oil and gas

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

00:00:54.540 come to fruition.

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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

00:03:40.860 Iqaluit.

00:03:41.680 Now further down in the article it reads,

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 0.95

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

00:04:31.760 on any given day of the week here in Canada.

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

00:05:09.140 people languish in.

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.

00:05:32.180 Take a listen.

00:05:40.400 Joining me now from his home in Fort McMurray is my friend, good friend of the show, Robbie

00:05:53.820 Picard from Oil Sand Strong.

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

00:06:12.360 partnerships with the resource industry.

00:06:14.760 And yesterday, Justin Trudeau announced billions of dollars for Indigenous people for housing

00:06:22.140 and mental health, $2 billion.

00:06:24.480 And he says if he's re-elected, he will give supports to First Nations, rural communities, Métis communities

00:06:34.960 and Inuit 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.

00:06:49.460 So I'd like your feedback on the issue.

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. 1.00

00:07:06.420 And that's from economic opportunities and not just money that they've thrown at the problem

00:07:12.860 over and over again.

00:07:14.740 What happens in Fort McMurray with our Indigenous communities is that they're, I mean, I just 1.00

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

00:07:27.820 industry.

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

00:07:41.640 of this has just been constant.

00:07:43.260 And, um, how long has it been Prime Minister for?

00:07:47.400 Six years.

00:07:48.480 I know it feels longer.

00:07:50.940 Six years.

00:07:51.760 Yeah.

00:07:52.000 So six years.

00:07:53.500 That's a long time.

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

00:08:01.480 from, um, Prime Minister Trudeau.

00:08:04.120 I mean, uh, we were supposed to have a balanced, uh, budget.

00:08:07.100 We're supposed to have this and that.

00:08:08.920 None of it came true.

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 0.59

00:08:41.620 problems is to do it themselves.

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

00:09:07.260 over the last little bit here.

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

00:09:22.340 Nations reserves.

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

00:09:40.080 gas.

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 1.00

00:10:48.840 and get natural gas and pipelines and stuff.

00:10:51.200 And that's taken many years, but it's starting to come up, uh, come around, especially in BC.

00:10:56.280 I mean, BC here, it's a little bit different.

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

00:11:09.320 so long.

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

00:12:03.980 a bus recently that runs on propane and gas.

00:12:07.320 And I'm taking that to Ottawa fairly soon.

00:12:09.000 I don't have the exact date yet.

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

00:12:18.260 lives of Canadians.

00:12:19.060 And honestly, like if you look at plastic in the ocean, a good chunk of that comes from

00:12:25.120 Haiti.

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. 0.81

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

00:12:49.160 it.

00:12:49.600 We have nothing to be ashamed of, but somehow, some way we have told ourselves that what

00:12:55.000 we're doing is bad.

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

00:13:08.260 has benefited us all for so long.

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. 1.00

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

00:13:34.040 has put us in this horrible position.

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.

00:13:52.860 And I'm very worried about the future.

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

00:14:02.940 did.

00:14:03.540 They just handed back a country to, um, uh, the Taliban who basically will rape, murder, 0.99

00:14:11.060 uh, children and, uh, women and do all kinds of things. 1.00

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, 1.00

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.

00:14:30.960 It's just a sad state of affairs.

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

00:14:44.240 the world.

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

00:15:01.220 build pipelines, et cetera.

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. 1.00

00:15:24.900 And yet we're landlocked because, uh, because environmentalists tell us the fate of humanity

00:15:32.660 hinges on it.

00:15:33.620 But for me, humanity means, you know, living with human rights where little girls can go 0.99

00:15:39.620 to school and not get shot in the head where women can wear whatever they want, even if I 1.00

00:15:45.040 don't like it.

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

00:16:03.800 this firsthand.

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

00:16:18.980 was no diesel bus to come pick them up.

00:16:20.960 But, um, for them, it's not for people in indigenous communities and around the world, these are

00:16:28.720 jobs.

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,

00:16:40.120 um, it's about human rights.

00:16:42.040 It's about human dignity.

00:16:43.300 And, you know, it's interesting to see people who claim to be advocates for peace and justice

00:16:48.240 not care about any of that.

00:16:51.600 Yeah.

00:16:52.600 I spent a little bit of time in some big cities recently and just watching and observing how

00:16:58.200 people are.

00:16:59.000 And I would argue that the people in the big cities are far more dependent on fossil fuels

00:17:03.280 than the people in the smaller cities.

00:17:04.880 Sure.

00:17:05.880 They don't realize it.

00:17:06.880 Yeah.

00:17:07.880 Right.

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,

00:17:31.120 where meat comes from and all that.

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' 0.54

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?

00:18:08.840 My, you know, I, I, I have a nice yard.

00:18:11.380 My biggest complaint now is a sod that I laid is not taking and I'm pissed off because I 0.99

00:18:16.000 paid too much money for it.

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.

00:18:33.920 It's allowed people the choices.

00:18:37.320 And I would handle this.

00:18:39.440 I would not do a just transition.

00:18:41.180 I'm not saying that I'm against solar energy or wind energy.

00:18:44.640 They all have their place.

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

00:19:46.400 footprint in processing those.

00:19:49.080 Um, and, um, I don't know.

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. 1.00

00:20:06.840 I mean, America has built enough pipelines to go around the earth twice when we're just

00:20:10.140 trying to get keystone.

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.

00:20:18.840 I mean, at least we're doing that now.

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

00:20:31.180 way.

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

00:20:52.260 country and make a documentary?

00:20:53.760 Because I'm not a white supremacist.

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

00:21:15.320 so-called, um, I don't know what to call them.

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

00:21:31.040 inclusivity and bringing a united message.

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

00:22:13.740 benefit from without some sort of consequence.

00:22:16.740 And so I, I sat on that for a while.

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.

00:22:27.220 It's going to be fun.

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

00:22:44.540 never meet, see, or touch.

00:22:46.940 And that's wrong.

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

00:23:10.100 affect us?

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.

00:23:17.080 I mean, it's, it's pretty awesome.

00:23:18.320 Right.

00:23:18.920 Um, I had to drive Edmonton and it's a five speed low and high.

00:23:23.620 Oh my God.

00:23:24.320 It was so terrifying.

00:23:25.000 I was up a hill in rush hour trying to hold the clutch and not roll back.

00:23:30.020 And the thing was trying to stall. 0.92

00:23:31.300 So I am cheating a little bit.

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.

00:23:43.280 It's fun for a few minutes.

00:23:44.540 Like, yeah, cool.

00:23:45.020 I can drive a standard, but trying to figure out what gear and low when you hit a hill and

00:23:48.520 it clugs.

00:23:49.820 So it's, it's, it's amazing.

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.

00:24:01.300 Which is less than my pickup truck right now.

00:24:04.520 Oh, that's less than my Jeep right now.

00:24:07.840 That's really affordable.

00:24:09.820 And campaign is clean burning and a clean burning fossil fuel.

00:24:13.940 A hundred percent.

00:24:15.100 It's very, yeah, it's amazing.

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.

00:24:22.220 So I'm pretty excited about it.

00:24:24.080 Oh, that's cool.

00:24:25.040 Now I want to touch on something that you're involved in and normally you don't get involved

00:24:30.860 in politics.

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.

00:24:43.480 Um, but tell us what's going on up there.

00:24:47.300 Um, so I've decided to get involved and I'm, I'm actually helping a few candidates that are

00:24:53.180 running for council.

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.

00:25:39.480 I don't care what you do in your life.

00:25:41.580 Um, I want to be fiscally conservative.

00:25:43.640 I want to spend money properly, protect the, protect the, protect the vulnerable, but give

00:25:50.140 everyone a chance to make their own way.

00:25:52.240 And then honestly, I'll, I'll say it.

00:25:54.540 Um, Brian Jean, he, uh, talked to me a little bit and these two are so polar opposite, but they

00:26:01.920 agreed on one candidate, Sandy Bowman.

00:26:04.200 And I thought, you know what?

00:26:06.100 We need some unity in Fort McMurray.

00:26:08.440 Second of all, I'll be candid.

00:26:10.140 I'm sick of the way they blow money here. 0.93

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.

00:26:23.700 I don't know.

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

00:26:34.100 attracts people.

00:26:35.540 So, um, we have recreation centers that are worth $50 million that only one or two people

00:26:41.840 go a day to.

00:26:43.020 And we don't just build one of them.

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

00:26:56.500 of a thousand cuts.

00:26:57.380 I've seen what happens to communities, but I've had to make adjustments when they lose

00:27:00.220 coal and we're way ahead of that.

00:27:02.440 We're blessed to be one of the richest municipalities in the country, but the community needs to

00:27:07.300 speak for the people.

00:27:08.560 And I think a lot of times people come to Fort McMurray that have no real interest in

00:27:13.540 being here for a long period of time.

00:27:15.100 They come here for maybe five or six years and they leave a legacy and then they, uh, and

00:27:19.440 then we have to pay for that legacy forever.

00:27:21.240 We have a football, we have multiple football fields.

00:27:23.640 We don't use Conklin.

00:27:25.500 I love the town of Conklin.

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

00:27:37.860 that sits empty.

00:27:38.620 It is ridiculous.

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

00:27:54.560 for a grocery store.

00:27:55.340 They could have went to the local hotel and said, look, we'll put a pool on this hotel

00:27:58.120 for you.

00:27:58.540 Let the kids use it.

00:27:59.860 And you have your guests use it.

00:28:01.360 They could have done a lot more.

00:28:02.760 But no, they took 50 million dollars and they blew it, put it on a giant arena that no

00:28:06.080 one goes to.

00:28:06.620 And the town doesn't even have a football team and they've got like a two, three million

00:28:09.420 dollar football field.

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.

00:28:18.540 And I've always stayed out of local politics.

00:28:19.860 But I'm sorry.

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.

00:28:38.440 Thank God the premier put a stop to it.

00:28:41.440 And we have an empty building where the brick used to be.

00:28:44.680 So here's common sense.

00:28:46.120 I'm not against the arts.

00:28:47.440 You know, I'm a gay gay guy with 208 or 2000 Avon bottles.

00:28:51.460 I don't I'm not judging nobody on anything.

00:28:53.280 I'm like centric, very centric.

00:28:55.420 That being said, you take the brick building, throw a couple million there.

00:29:00.140 Now you have your art gallery.

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

00:29:19.180 my whatever I can to help.

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

00:29:36.380 and gas in this community.

00:29:37.820 Like, we also have to understand in Fort McMurray that there's a bigger world out there.

00:29:41.660 I mean, I just was in Banff.

00:29:42.740 I had a great visit.

00:29:43.460 I talked to a lot of I felt very inspired.

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.

00:30:00.260 I am no, I'm not going to hide it.

00:30:01.580 I love burning fossil fuels.

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

00:30:10.980 the country.

00:30:11.760 And everyone else here should have a little bit more.

00:30:15.260 I don't know.

00:30:16.100 I guess respect for themselves and respect for the industry that has given us this great

00:30:25.660 life.

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.

00:30:34.720 No.

00:30:35.160 And the amount, the hundreds and millions of dollars that have been pissed away in our

00:30:40.700 region.

00:30:41.160 It's embarrassing.

00:30:42.080 So last thing, Robbie, how do people support the work that you do?

00:30:50.220 Because you're largely self-funded.

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?

00:31:05.120 It's real simple.

00:31:06.600 There's two ways.

00:31:07.400 Okay.

00:31:07.780 You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter.

00:31:10.300 Now we're going to charge five bucks a month for something that I'm going to write.

00:31:14.280 And please subscribe.

00:31:15.520 So it's ongoing.

00:31:16.360 That helps, you know, and to buy a ton of t-shirts.

00:31:19.440 We don't have shortages and t-shirts anymore.

00:31:21.640 I know a few people order shirts and it only took them like eight months to get, but we've

00:31:24.520 actually got them to them.

00:31:25.680 That's all been fixed.

00:31:27.140 We fixed our postage too.

00:31:28.860 We sold a ton of shirts.

00:31:30.580 And thank you.

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

00:31:40.060 for postage.

00:31:40.820 So we actually kind of had a wash on that because sometimes a shirt that would 15 bucks

00:31:45.680 to ship, we fixed that.

00:31:47.200 We're charging a little bit more for postage now, but we're making money on the shirts.

00:31:51.620 And yeah, I fund it.

00:31:53.280 So any way you can support my Rub Your Card Media, which is my marketing company, funds

00:31:58.540 it.

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

00:32:11.860 Strong.

00:32:12.220 I'm stepping up on Oil Sand Strong.

00:32:13.640 There's going to be daily videos, all kinds of stuff.

00:32:16.600 We're going to take it up a whole level.

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.

00:32:46.300 But I have skin in the game.

00:32:48.940 I have a ton of skin in the game.

00:32:51.320 I always have.

00:32:52.460 And this is what I will say.

00:32:53.700 I'll say it to the to the Energy Center and all these organizations.

00:32:58.100 Put your own skin in the game.

00:33:00.420 If you're one of these people that are doing this type of cause, put yourself in an uncomfortable

00:33:05.820 position.

00:33:06.400 Use your own money for something, not just the money that you get from your wage and step

00:33:10.740 up.

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

00:33:17.700 had a good thing going.

00:33:18.700 I didn't always agree.

00:33:20.340 I was not treated fairly by Canada Action.

00:33:22.320 Anyone knows that.

00:33:23.140 I wasn't.

00:33:23.600 I was shafted huge, majorly shafted.

00:33:26.480 And the reason people know about the I Love Old Sons movement is because of me and the work

00:33:30.320 we did up here.

00:33:31.220 And a couple other people that I worked with here wasn't just me, but we had a big hand

00:33:35.120 in it.

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

00:34:22.020 they had.

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

00:34:33.120 and Canada Action had all that covered.

00:34:34.960 But so what happened was, is that Rally for Resources, Canada Action, myself, we kind of

00:34:40.760 fell apart and we were onto something good.

00:34:42.960 We had that stupid rival convoy.

00:34:45.180 And in hindsight, that convoy, like, we actually had the first convoy, but they got the jump

00:34:50.780 and then theirs.

00:34:51.380 And we should have just stopped and let them have their convoy and regrouped and gone back

00:34:54.960 to our roots, which were rallies.

00:34:57.380 And we didn't.

00:34:58.540 And we kind of fell apart.

00:35:00.780 And that's, but here's the thing.

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

00:35:09.240 or whatever?

00:35:10.120 Well, you know, the government is doing this.

00:35:11.740 Well, the government sucks at advocacy.

00:35:13.560 They've sucked at advocacy the entire time.

00:35:16.300 That's how we got here.

00:35:17.520 That's how we got here.

00:35:19.260 Exactly.

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.

00:35:28.180 Okay, that's nonpartisan.

00:35:30.020 I have been nonpartisan this whole time.

00:35:31.940 I have worked with all parties.

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.

00:35:48.000 So respect the grassroots.

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.

00:35:58.080 So they kind of tie in.

00:35:59.900 But we need to get back to that and respect the people that have skin in the game because

00:36:04.840 we're the ones that actually made this happen.

00:36:07.100 And now going forward a little bit as I'm about to dive back into this, I will be taking

00:36:12.520 care of the business and way more.

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

00:36:28.480 risk.

00:36:30.180 And that's the thing.

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.

00:36:40.360 Yep.

00:36:40.460 Robbie, that's a great spot to leave this interview.

00:36:45.040 I have to move on to my very next thing today.

00:36:47.400 I know you do too.

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.

00:36:56.460 And we'll talk again very, very soon.

00:36:58.100 Thank you for having me.

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

00:37:17.900 season.

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.

00:37:49.420 Don't talk about Indigenous people! 1.00

00:37:51.860 Justin Trudeau!

00:37:53.680 Don't talk to the fuck about Indigenous people! 0.99

00:37:57.060 You are such an unsafe person!

00:37:59.900 Indigenous people are not any different than the rest of us.

00:38:03.420 Our votes cannot be bought and sold.

00:38:05.260 They must be earned.

00:38:07.840 Well, everybody, that's the show for tonight.

00:38:09.880 Thank you so much for tuning in.

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.

00:38:37.840 We'll see you again!

00:38:46.320 We'll see you next week!

Rebel News Podcast - September 02, 2021

SHEILA GUNN REID ｜ Robbie Picard wants Liberals to let First Nations benefit from oil and gas

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