The world needs more Canadian energy.
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Summary
On today's show, we are talking about Canada's goal of energy independence and supplying the world with that great energy we have so abundantly. To talk about this and so much more, we bring on the youngest Member of Parliament in the Atlantic Caucus, Jonathan Rowe.
Transcript
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Hello and welcome once again to The Blueprints. This is Canada's Conservative Podcast. I'm
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your host, Jamie Schmael, Member of Parliament for Halliburton Cowortha Lakes, with new content
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for you every single Tuesday, 1.30pm Eastern Time. Don't forget to like, comment, subscribe
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and share this program. Tell your friends too to download it on platforms like CastBox,
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iTunes, Google Play and Spotify. Happy 2026. On today's show, we are talking about Canada's
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goal of energy independence and supplying the world with that great energy we have so abundantly.
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To talk about this and so much more, we bring on the youngest Member of Parliament in the Atlantic
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Caucus. Hello to Jonathan Rowe, the Member of Parliament for Terranova, the Peninsula. Thanks
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for coming on the show. Hello, thanks for having me. Congratulations on your big election win. This
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is the first time you've been on the show since that time and a whole 12 votes. Yeah, it was a small
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win but a big victory. So originally I lost by 12, did a recount and we won by 12. So it was a small
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margin win, very efficient, but what's even the big part of that win was my district's been Liberal
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since 1988. So for the first time in almost 40 years. Wow. It's we're getting that flip. So it was
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it was a big win and a big flip. Nicely done. Well congratulations for that. I'm sure that was a
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hard work effort on your behalf and the behalf of your team as well. Absolutely. We had countless
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volunteers just pounding the pavement, knocking doors, making phone calls and wouldn't be here
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without them. So one of the big things that's happening all across the country, but I'm sure on the rock,
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especially cost of living. Cost of living and the fact that this country could be more productive
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than it is. Many stats show that in terms of our GDP, we're one of the dead last in terms of growth,
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actually making stuff in this country. There's a graphic here showing that our affordability crisis
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is linked to a lack of productivity. I'm sure you heard that at the doors in your area. Oh yeah,
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we in Newfoundland and Labrador is our productivity would even be down as a collective. 25% of our
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population is seniors over 65. First in Canada, first province of Canada even hit that. So our young
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people are, you know, going to high school, a big chunk of that class is going straight to, you know,
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Alberta or other places for work. And then we're going to university. And after we graduate university
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in Newfoundland, we're also then going to work and very little of us actually stay behind and work
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because there's just no opportunities and no jobs. And then that ends up the productivity of our
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province is just flatlining. And which is strange because I think a lot of people haven't realized,
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or maybe they do, and it's just not commonly known, is that Newfoundland and Labrador has a pretty
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robust oil and gas industry. Very robust. So we're the third biggest producer of oil and gas in Canada.
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Canada. But what's even more interesting is where our economy is more dependent on oil and gas than
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anywhere else in Canada. So you think of, you know, Alberta. You know, when we think of oil and gas,
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we think Alberta. They only rely on oil and gas for 21% of their GDP. Newfoundland and Labrador relies
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on 25% of our GDP. So when Pierre Polyev came to Newfoundland and made an announcement that we wanted to
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double oil and gas in our province, most even Newfoundlanders said, well, that's not that big of a deal. But
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adding 25% to your whole economy, GDP is a huge deal. It makes such a big difference. Everything,
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health care, roads, education, I mean, automatically 25% increase in GDP is just so significant. And
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we've got a lot of potential there as well. We've got more oil and gas on Discovered than we have
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discovered in our offshore industry. That bodes well for the future, especially if we can figure out a
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way to get our product to additional markets, not just the United States. And that helps with the
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affordability. As you pointed out, paychecks get bigger. We all know what happened in Alberta when
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that big boom happened. Paychecks went through the roof. Wages rose at a rate that was faster than
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most people can even comprehend nowadays when wages seem to be stagnant or falling. Let's queue up cut
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one where a piece of legislation that we keep hounding is still in place, C-69, it's called the No More
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Pipelines Bill. That unless there is a way to repeal this or the government uses its special superpowers
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it asked for and parliament gave them to override it, it's going to be very difficult to get anything
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built. So let's play cut one. How do you reconcile keeping Bill C-69 with your plans to build
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infrastructure in Canada? Do you plan to repeal Bill C-69? We do not plan to repeal Bill C-69,
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to answer your question directly. What we have said and made very clear 10 days ago, formally,
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with the first minister's meeting, is that we will move for projects of national interest to remove
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duplication in terms of environmental assessments and other approvals. And we will follow, as the federal
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government, the principle of one project, one approval. That sounds good, but what the government
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has created, and you know this as well, it has all these pieces of legislation that stunt or hinder
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any growth and investment in the energy sector, but at the same time gave itself, as parliament,
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and like I said before, parliament approved these special powers that allowed the government to go
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around these pieces of legislation. Wouldn't it be here just to get rid of those pieces of legislation
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that allows the private sector to do what it does best and compete for those investments and those
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projects? I think you're hitting the nail right in the head. You know, C-69 wrapped up industry,
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almost every industry in Canada, with red tape. It just wrapped it up. And we call it the no pipeline
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bill because that's the one it affected the most. Yeah. We, as conservatives, were saying over and over,
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this is a problem, this is a problem. No, no, no, it's not a problem, it's not a problem. The liberals
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were saying, all of a sudden we've got a change and they're finally admitting that we're right,
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it's a problem. So they created so much red tape, instead of cutting the red tape like conservatives
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want to do, they said, no, no, so much red tape, we actually need to bring in C-5 to put a red carpet
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over the red tape. So you had all this red tape and then they had to do a red carpet. And that was one
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of the first things I voted on, was actually to give the current government power to actually go over
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the red tape, step over it, and get things done. And the thing is, things still aren't really getting done.
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Things are saying it's getting done, but it's not. And if it's not one thing on one side of the country,
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it's another thing in another. So, you know, no doubt the big talk is pipelines, pipelines, pipelines.
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Oh, will we do a pipeline or will we not? Well, it's foolishness because Newfoundland,
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Labrador oil and gas industry doesn't even need pipelines. So pipelines are important,
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but what's foolish is the talk about, oh, we can't get our oil to market because, you know,
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there's a province in the way, or there's someone else in the way, or there's issues in the way.
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We don't have those issues in Newfoundland. So what did they do? They came in and created
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more issues. They brought in C-49 and said, okay, if you can invest billions of dollars
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into offshore Newfoundland and we decide this is a marine protected area at any given point,
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we can stroke our magic pen and you got to float away. Just like that. So not only does that just
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open up the window for corruption. I mean, if I don't scratch your back every day, you can strike that pen
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and get me. So not only is the temptation for corruption is just, it just grew exponentially.
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Then you've got a situation where now investors are saying, I don't want to invest here because
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it's too risky, right? We're not even getting any bids in offshore research in the past few years
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because companies are saying, we're not touching that. We would rather go down south where the
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government is saying, drill, baby, drill, then come in Canada and work with a government,
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try to work with a government that doesn't want to work with us. So I always say,
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if it's not one thing on one side of the country, they just make up something else for the other
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side. And the mindset is still keeping the ground. We've seen that in his book. We've seen that
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over and over all Mark Carney's life, even saying, keeping the ground, this globalist environment
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agenda. And then they need to win an election. So they do a Hail Mary, change up their song.
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Maybe, maybe they had the same tune and change some words, but it's the same tune, same song.
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And until I see something, I'm just going to believe their past, because the best way to know
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the trajectory of something is to see where it's been. That's a good point. And we still
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import tankers on your side of the planet into Canada. Well, actually, this is something I
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don't understand why there's a tanker ban on the west coast, not the east coast.
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We bring Saudi oil in on your neck of the woods. Imagine if we said, imagine how much of this country
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would go cold if we said that we're going to have a tanker ban on the east coast. And that's why they didn't do it.
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Right. But they did it on the west coast because there's an export harbor. Yeah.
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But the east coast is an import harbor. And when you actually look at it through that lens,
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it's just mind boggling. Well, you said something a few seconds ago,
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use marine protected areas. And you know what? It sounds great, right? Like most pieces of legislation,
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how government works, puts a fancy title on it. So chances are it's hard for an opposition party to
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vote against it, unless you really dive into it. But it sounds good, but it's not really all about
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protecting aquatic life at all, that legislation. No. I mean, what are we protecting it from?
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We can't go out and dump things in our ocean. All of our oceans, all of our land in Canada is
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protected. There's all these protection policies in place. It's simply a mechanism used to control
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industry to say, well, we can kick you out, whether it's a gold mine, whether it's forestry,
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whatever it is, we want to just let you know that we can kick you out of this country and shut down
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your industry at any given moment. So you better keep scratching our backs. And it is opening the
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door for massive corruption in Canada. Of course it is. All right. We have a few graphics here and
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we've got another cut. This is Mark Carney again. Let's queue up cut two here. Pipelines are boring.
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Play cut two. One of my questions was, is this pipeline going to come? So boring.
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It's not actually for a big part of the country. It is. No, but it is. It is because it's, look,
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there is this whole world. Okay. Hands up. Who's working on the pipeline in this room?
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Okay. Isn't that a problem? No, no, no, no. Look at all the variety. Like, Nav, like, does your,
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will have a much bigger impact on productivity in this country.
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It's good. To your point, command and control of the economy. Yes. And you know, she asked,
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isn't that a problem? I wonder how many people in that room were unemployed. Yeah. Well, judging
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by that room and that crowd, they're probably all connected to government somehow. And that could
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definitely, definitely be. I mean, maybe pipelines are boring. No, we dig a hole, put it in the ground.
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We bury over it. You can farm on it. There's less risks of environmental spills and putting it on
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trains. You know, maybe it is boring. We, it's very clean. It's very good for the environment. Maybe it is
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boring, but I tell you what's exciting is the jobs that's in place, the money that we can be made.
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They're getting, reaching our potential that we have below our feet. That's the exciting part.
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The pipeline might be boring, but the economic excitement of that is what should keep Canadians
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excited. I would think so. We've got a few graphics. Let's throw up the graphics.
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What we talked about before, the major projects. Still, we've only seen a handful of projects,
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you know, get approved, but most of them are, were already in progress already. Most already
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had shovels in the ground. So it wasn't as if there were these projects that were announced.
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It was like, wow, this is going to be great. Well, they were already approved, most of them.
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So let's queue up cut three. We had the prime minister go to Alberta, sign a memorandum of
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understanding with the Alberta premier about a potential pipeline out to the BC coast. BC premier
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says, basically over my dead body. We'll see what negotiations happen. You know, this was a few
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weeks ago, granted, and things change all the time. So hopefully for the sake of those workers
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in those provinces, I hope this goes forward. Let's play cut three.
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All right. Speaking of Canadian interests, this prime minister opposed the pipeline from Alberta
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to the Pacific, just like his liberal predecessor blocked that same pipeline. On Thursday,
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he'll make one of his grand announcements waving around a meaningless so-called memorandum of
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understanding. If it's anything other than a public relations ploy, why won't he say on what date
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will construction begin on a pipeline from Alberta to the Pacific? Sometimes the question reveals
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everything. The memorandum of understanding that we're negotiating with Alberta creates
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necessary conditions, but not sufficient conditions because we believe in cooperative federalism.
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We believe the government of British Columbia has to agree. So basically what you just talked about,
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right? The sufficient conditions. It's the, we'll, we look like we're approving something,
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we look like we're trying, but there's always that barrier. Same with the programs you talked
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about on your side. This is on the west coast. So east-west, similar situations, similar barriers.
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There's always that big if, right? We'll approve the pipeline, and the pipeline will go ahead
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if BC approves. If, if, if. And what's interesting is how many times are we going to allow that
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if to happen before we wake up and say, okay, it's not going to happen. And what's the point,
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you know, for BC and for other provinces that are hindering getting our products to market,
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what's the point? What's the point of us being, provinces are part of Canada if we're not going to
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help each other, right? I use the expression when the west does better, the east does better. Newfoundland
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and Labrador has been traveling back and forth through Alberta and other parts of Canada,
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working for years. And when the west does better, we do better too. We're all in this together. But
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if we're not going to support each other, what is the point, right? And we talk about, you know,
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putting Canada first, but that's just working together and helping each other get done. And
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you know, you guys have, have an issue of getting your oil to, Alberta has an issue of getting their
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oil to markets. We have an issue of getting electricity to markets. It's, it's the same thing that's
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happening on the west coast is also happening on the east coast. And it's so frustrating because of
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all these ifs. And we're all always, always handcuffing ourselves to your point. Always.
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I think people in your, your province, Newfoundland and Labrador, you know, you're realizing this,
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we took what, three seats in the last election, hopefully more following in the, you know, subsequent
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elections. But people are realizing that the best solution here is to get what we have, in your case,
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oil and natural gas, energy, to the markets that want to pay for them. And, and that creates jobs,
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opportunities, wealth. Everyone rises as a result. And, and you were talking about my industry. So,
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in Newfoundland and Labrador, the thing hindering our oil and gas is also emissions cap. So, you,
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you, there's no other room after the Beta Nord project, if it go, if it goes ahead. And if these
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guys make it a project that they want to see go ahead, if Beta Nord goes ahead, no other projects
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can come online until another project is finished because of the emissions caps. So, in the budget,
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they announced, oh, the emissions caps won't be no more. And the Newfoundlanders got excited. Yay,
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our oil and gas industry isn't capped anymore, which is right now. But in the fine print was this big,
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fat, if we're going to take the emission caps off, if there's other procedures in place that make it
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redundant. So, we'll take it off if we don't need it, because other things are in place. It's always
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this big, fat if. And it's always a way for the government to say no. Well, you know, we tried,
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but just this one thing couldn't get done. Using other people and other provinces as their scapegoat
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to do their agenda. Yeah, exactly. And, and unfortunately, it doesn't really, as you said earlier,
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bring Canada together because we have this potential and, and we can create that. You know,
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we're, we're spending $78 billion over and above what we're already collecting tax revenue. There's
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a way to, to generate some of this tax revenue, to put some of the money back into the government
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conference. We're just not allowing ourselves to do it. Trillions of dollars of on-tap resources.
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Yeah. Technologies now, AI technologies, that's just going to enable us to do so much more with such
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less people. One of the biggest, you know, hindrances in our economy has always been
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our small population, you know, 40 million people, a big, massive country. But, you know,
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we've got gold mines opening up in, in Canada where they're autonomous, autonomous trucks. So,
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we're able to do so much more with less people. We have the potential now to be one of the leading
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countries in the, in the world and one of the best economies in the world. There's no reason why we
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can't be, you know, such as Norway with trillions of dollars in reserves, not 1.3,
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trillion dollars in debt. That's a very good point. Jonathan, we're pretty much out of time,
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but as you know, the guests always get the last word. The floor is yours, close us out.
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Well, I just want to, you know, thank you for having me. You know, we touched on Newfoundland
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oil and gas, but Newfoundland's natural resources in general is, we're more reliant on natural
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resources than anywhere else in the country. We've got, we've got oil and gas, we've got oil,
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we've got natural gas, we've got mining, critical minerals, earth minerals, you know, your gold,
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your, all your, all your metals. Then we've got massive hydroelectricity potential that we could
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be exporting. All of that is just capped by federal regulations. It's so frustrating and we see it in
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Newfoundland and we see it right across this country. Our problems in the East are very similar,
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if not the same as the West. And I'm just hoping that we can make changes one day at a time.
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And in those industries, those are good paying jobs, high earning pay jobs.
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Oh yes, absolutely. The jobs we need in this country.
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Yeah, absolutely. Jonathan, thank you so much for your time.
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Thank you for yours. Jonathan Rowe, Member of Parliament for Terra Nova at the Peninsulas from
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the beautiful province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Thanks very much for coming on the show.
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Congratulations on your big win. I know you'll expand on that margin next time.
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All right. Deal. Give yourself a little cushion there.
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Don't forget, we will have new content for you every single Tuesday, 1.30pm Eastern time. Don't forget to like,
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subscribe, comment and share. So until next week, remember, low taxes, less government,