Calgary has a new ban on single-use plastic bags, and the Canadian Taxpayer Federation applauds the move. But what does this mean for the rest of the country? And what does it have to do with the oil and gas industry?
00:09:53.860my guest has a flat tire, so you're stuck with me for 10 minutes on my own.
00:09:55.860But I want to touch base on this plastics ban situation.
00:09:59.860Last week, we brought you the war on lunch, and we broke down Calgary's new single-use plastic ban, the bag bylaw, the bag tax, as the Canadian Taxpayer Federation called it.
00:10:13.640What's happened now in the last week is the city councilors have actually heard from their constituents, and a couple of them have changed their minds.
00:10:21.640I really actually commend city council for taking this step.
00:10:24.640Right now, Canadians are facing an incredible affordability problem.
00:10:29.640You know, groceries have gone up and up and up.
00:10:31.640The cost to heat your homes have gone up thanks to the carbon tax or the tax on everything.
00:16:05.640The pipeline is built with special reinforcements.
00:16:10.640And even through the Burnaby Mountains, they basically encased it in concrete.
00:16:15.640And, you know, we've seen in the past oil spills and we don't want that.
00:16:21.640But if you compare us to the rest of the world, we're the only ones tracking those oil spills,
00:16:26.640cleaning up those oil spills and, you know, making sure that we not only extract the resources,
00:16:33.640but we extract the resources responsibly.
00:16:38.640The other thing with Alberta's or with Canada's oil and gas industry is that it's not some faceless industry ran by big oil oligarchs.
00:16:50.640The large majority of Canada's oil and gas industry is small service companies.
00:16:55.640There's hundreds of rig moving companies while dozens of rig moving companies,
00:16:59.640but hundreds of rental companies and service supply companies,
00:17:03.640little pipeline companies that connect each individual well into the larger pipeline system.
00:17:09.640But there's also the electricians that connect the oil and gas wells to permanent power and, you know, build the compressor stations and everything.
00:17:19.640There's so many different areas from upstream, downstream, midstream, and every single one of these contributes to the Canadian economy.
00:17:29.640And I would hate to see what the Canadian economy looks like right now without the oil and gas industry.
00:17:34.640We would be in a technical recession or in a real recession.
00:17:38.640And it would be more beneficial if the federal government could find ways to help encourage the oil and gas industry to be more creative
00:17:48.640and really push hard on different ways to produce more oil and reduce emissions like the Premier's looking for.
00:17:59.640You know, the United States has become the world's largest oil and gas producer in the world,
00:18:04.640and they don't have the reserves that we do.
00:18:06.640So if we could get our pipelines to Tidewater, both in BC and out east,
00:18:12.640you know, we could help reduce the global emissions by getting our natural gas to India and China.
00:18:18.640And, you know, if we're going to push for any carbon neutral societies,
00:18:25.640and if we're now going to lower emissions globally,
00:18:32.640the fastest way to do that is to help countries with emerging economies reach those goals as well.
00:18:38.640You know, you've got different countries in Africa, and the wealthier they get by developing their own resources,
00:18:45.640the more power they're going to consume.
00:19:38.640So I'm just hoping here that our guest can get in.
00:19:42.640He's just sent me another message that he's got a flat tire.
00:19:45.640So while we're waiting, I'm just going to take a quick peek at the site and see what else is coming up.
00:19:52.640So this is another thing that's been happening in Alberta is the water shortages.
00:19:59.640So last week or this week in Edmonton, there was a pump that went down and Edmonton was put on water restrictions.
00:20:05.640And it looks like now that the federal or the provincial government is trying to get out in front of the water shortages that could be coming this spring.
00:20:14.640You know, we had historic snowpack in the mountains a few years ago, and since then, you know, our reservoirs haven't been filled.
00:20:25.640And with the reservoirs not being filled properly, we are going to be running into a bit of a situation this year with drought and with irrigation and even with recreation.
00:20:35.640And this is going to affect a lot of things. So this is this is another thing that even ties back into oil and gas.
00:20:41.640Canadians have been finding ways to reduce the amount of fresh water our oil and gas uses more than anywhere else in the world.
00:20:48.640Most of our fracking, if not all of it, is done using recycled water and recycled products.
00:20:53.640And that's a huge change from using fresh water for everything.
00:20:58.640And I think that's something that should be highlighted and pointed out, especially going into this summer, where we're going to have we're going to have this this drought situation across the province.
00:21:11.640You know, it's really good that Environment Minister Rebecca Schultz is getting out in front of this now and working with stakeholders, irrigation districts, landowners to make sure that we've got enough water this spring.
00:21:25.640But, you know, for sure, this is something we're going to have to keep our eye on.
00:21:29.640And I hope that we can figure figure this out because we don't want years and years and years of water shortages going across the country.
00:21:44.640So I'm just checking here and nope, still no guests.
00:21:58.640Last week, last Wednesday, it was Tucker Carlson Day.
00:22:02.640Tucker Carlson spoke in both Calgary and Edmonton.
00:22:05.640And it's well, the liberals lit their hair on fire about it.
00:22:10.640You know, Danielle Smith, the premier of Alberta, made a remark that she wished Tucker Carlson would put Stephen Gilbeau in his crosshairs.
00:22:19.640And, you know, Stephen Gilbeau, he took that as a personal attack, saying that this would raise violence against politicians.
00:22:29.640And it's just disingenuous, especially coming from Minister Gilbeau, when, you know, he climbed on top of former Premier Ralph Klein's house and was attempting to install solar panels while his terrified wife was in the house alone.
00:22:44.640You know, it's a little bit rich coming from a guy who's actually done something against a politician to say that this is going to cause hate against him.
00:22:53.640And one of the other ministers, Randy Bassanel from Edmonton, he went on some sort of unhinged rant about conjuring the evil mega forces from the United States.
00:23:23.640I went back and I actually watched Tucker's speech in both Calgary and Edmonton.
00:23:26.640And if the line for homophobia is calling Justin Trudeau a cross dresser, then we really have some problems with our society.
00:23:34.640If you take a look, Justin Trudeau's never had a problem putting a costume on and just absolutely making a fool out of himself and making a fool out of Canada.
00:23:45.640So I would say to both ministers, I would say get a grip.
00:24:08.640You know, it's not a game for the faint of heart.
00:24:11.640And more than doing or telling people what they should be doing and how they should live their lives,
00:24:18.640politicians should be seeking to actually, you know, govern the way that their constituents want them to govern.
00:24:25.640They, you know, they're supposed to listen to their constituents and come up with policy that their constituents can vote for and get behind and that they support.
00:24:35.640And instead, most of the liberals in the NDP coalition looks down its nose at Alberta politics or at their constituents and tells us what we need.
00:24:57.640So, you know, I watched Tucker's speech and, you know, there was a lot of important things in there.
00:25:04.640And one of the most important things I think he said was, you know, maybe it's time to start laughing at the ridiculous things that these people are saying.
00:25:13.640You know, when churches are burning across the country and when, you know, they're trying to shut down our major industry and their response is, you're racist.
00:26:35.640There was a lot of really good discussion from Dr. Peterson, Tucker Carlson.
00:26:41.640There was Lord Conrad Black in Edmonton and the Premier.
00:26:46.640And, you know, the Premier took a lot of flack saying that Tucker Carlson's not a real journalist, that she shouldn't be meeting with him.
00:26:54.640But, you know, if you're a politician, you should take every chance you can to get in front of people and tell them your message.
00:27:03.640And when the world's eyes are on you because of an event like this, you have the responsibility to get up and explain your position and explain what you're trying to accomplish and what your goals are for your province.
00:27:15.640And it's frustrating to see that instead of taking the opportunity to talk to different people from different paths to life, that different groups just came out and said, no, we want to shut this down.
00:27:28.640It was I forget which minister it was, but one of the ministers said or basically alluded that Tucker Carlson should be stopped at the border.
00:28:24.640We should get rid of the useless Senate.
00:28:26.640We should definitely seek for Senate reform.
00:28:28.640I would love to see the triple E Senate, you know, equal, elected and effective.
00:28:35.640I don't think we're ever going to see that because the senators that were there would actually have to vote themselves out of out of a job, you know, vote themselves into being elected instead of appointed.
00:28:49.640You know, they're supposed to be the chamber of sober second thought.
00:28:52.640And, you know, from the no more pipelines bill to the Online News Act to the online censorship bills and everything else, you know, the senators have had ample opportunity to shut these things down and they haven't done it.
00:29:18.640So I hope that someday we'll see a triple E Senate.
00:29:21.640But I don't think that'll happen anytime soon.
00:29:24.640I would, however, really appreciate if the next prime minister would actually appoint the elected senators that Alberta has elected.
00:29:32.640You know, Alberta is the only province that put this in place.
00:29:35.640And, you know, I think it's it's it's better and healthier for democracy if the Alberta citizens actually get to decide who represents them in the Senate instead of the prime minister getting to decide who represents us in the Senate.
00:29:47.640But it looks like my my guest is here now so I can stop floundering all over the place.
00:29:54.640And let me just get to do his bio here.
00:29:58.640So a lot of you guys are already going to know Robbie Picard.
00:30:01.640He has been taking on Neil Young, Jane Fonda, and most recently drove across the country to tell the story of the oil and gas industry.
00:30:09.640Robbie's an advocate businessman and a serial entrepreneur.
00:30:13.640Thank you for joining me today, Robbie.
00:31:21.640I was walking my dogs and I said, wow, whoever has that jet has a lot of cash.
00:31:27.640And that was the time that Leonardo DiCaprio came to Fort McMurray to kind of bash us.
00:31:32.640And I thought, wow, how hypocritical is that you can afford this jet and you come to the community that, you know, contributed so much to the economy of Canada.
00:31:42.640And you fly a private jet here and then come and slam us.
00:31:46.640I guess that was almost two years ago.
00:31:47.640So I guess I'm an old sounds activist.
00:31:51.640I've got a new magazine called Oil and Gas World.
00:31:55.640And I believe in getting the other message out there.
00:32:01.640I really hate the world we're in right now with this wokeness and such polarization.
00:32:06.640And I don't like it how my community here in Fort McMurray has been so viciously attacked over and over again in regards to the very thing that pays their bills.
00:32:18.640I believe we have the highest environmental standards in the world.
00:32:47.640I got Oil and Gas World magazine, which is more of a humanizing thing where we talk to people, interview them and find out about families in oil and gas and what they do.
00:32:56.640And then Oil Sand Strong is like it's the group that we stand up.
00:33:00.640We've got just shy of 300,000 followers on Facebook and our reach is always in the millions and it's pretty strong.
00:33:41.640I actually love your video of you confronting Jane Fonda.
00:33:45.640You know, that's one of the messages that we all like never, ever hear is that when these celebrities show up and they get in front of a microphone, they're speaking to the world, telling them a different story.
00:33:56.640And finally, somebody stood up and said, hey, but what about these other stories?
00:34:00.640You know, what about the indigenous community?
00:34:02.640What about the people who are working here?
00:34:04.640What about the families who are just here to put food on their table?
00:34:07.640And what about the fact that we have the most ethically cleanly and progressive society that's producing oil and gas in the world?
00:34:16.640You know, we should invite Jane Fonda to go on a tour with us to Saudi Arabia, although you and I might want to take some security with us for that.
00:34:24.640Yeah. Well, and that's the funny part where I found it.
00:34:28.640I mean, even recently when I saw Ryan Boatsmouth in Ottawa with Stephen Gavol and they were whining about Tucker Carlson's visit.
00:34:35.640And I'm gay and I've been openly gay this entire time.
00:34:39.640And I find it hilarious that like that one particular side acts like they speak for all gay people.
00:35:12.640Oh my God, Tucker Carlson hurt our feelings.
00:35:14.640And oh my God, we're not going to stand for this.
00:35:16.640And it's just like, there's such bigger problems in Canada right now that we are facing that if Premier Daniel Smith has a conversation with Tucker Carlson.
00:35:26.640I mean, it's just insanely ridiculous the world we're in.
00:36:17.640And I think that Jane Fonda and all those celebrities should be ashamed of themselves for what they did to what they did to our region.
00:36:25.640And the other thing I think we all need to start talking about is like this ban on gas and diesel vehicles that is going to happen in 11 years.
00:36:35.640And if we don't like there is no such thing as green energy.
00:36:39.640I think batteries cause pollution, you know, even hydro electricity causes some type of pollution.
00:36:46.640And I just watched a show the other day about Manitoba, how their grid is starting to fail.
00:36:51.640And they thought they were the greenest grid ever because they've got hydroelectric dams.
00:36:56.640So I don't know. I think the world needs to wake up and understand there's a lot of problems we're facing in this wokeness of our Mr.
00:37:05.640Dressup prime minister is really hurting our country.
00:37:09.640Yeah. So let's talk about the grid for a little bit here.
00:37:12.640So Alberta had to put out a grid alert a couple of weeks ago.
00:37:16.640We're importing energy from B.C. and Saskatchewan.
00:37:20.640Saskatchewan had to fire up an old coal facility in order to make sure that the west grid didn't collapse.
00:37:27.640And we're years away from Site C if it ever gets finished from coming online.
00:37:32.640In the short term, we need energy and we need energy now.
00:37:40.640What do you think the oil sands and Alberta's oil and gas industry in general should be to make sure that we continue to power the grid and that we actually have safe and secure power?
00:38:07.640You know, the transplant pipelines firing up here.
00:38:10.640But the psychological damage that is done on our community with this fake wokeness that they're somehow going to get rid of it really affects the mood up here.
00:38:21.640And it's funny because, like, we should be booming right now.
00:38:24.640Oil is a good price and there's very little development.
00:38:27.640A lot of people are scared to buy homes right now, even though Fort McMurray has the cheapest homes in the country.
00:38:48.640But the psychological feeling is that Justin Trudeau has put a time limit on our community and that hurts us.
00:38:55.640Now, on the bigger question, like we got rid of all our coal power in Alberta and they switched to natural gas.
00:39:02.640But getting rid of coal devastated a ton of communities and they're still recovering from that.
00:39:08.640So this wokeness that came from the NDP when they did that, I am not convinced that there is one answer in regards to power.
00:39:17.640I know that this so-called green energy in China, every single one of those facilities is backed up by a coal power plant because they're not that reliable.
00:39:27.640So I think we just need to stop being ridiculous.
00:40:24.640My company has actually had benefit agreements with two different nations and they're amazing.
00:40:32.640There is no better way to get a steady stream of employees that are getting educated, that are getting better, that want to work in the industry, that work hard than these benefit agreements.
00:40:44.640What kind of effect have these benefit agreements and these partnerships between resource groups the indigenous communities had on Fort McMurray and the greater, like greater northern Alberta as a whole?
00:40:59.640I wouldn't make the argument that we are an example for the entire world on indigenous reconciliation and economic reconciliation.
00:41:06.640I mean, a friend of mine, Chief Raymond Powder from the Fort Mackay First Nation, I helped him on his campaign.
00:41:12.640They have the, I mean, they've got the Fort Mackay Group of companies.
00:42:21.640You can come to Fort McMurray with nothing and get a job.
00:42:25.640And then before you know it, you own a home and you have a purpose.
00:42:28.640If you have a business, I'm, I think like they're doing the worst thing the federal government is doing is, is it hurts our, I mean, not to be weak or anything, but it hurts our collective consciousness.
00:42:41.640It affects our self esteem when you have, you know, your federal government, you know, attacking your source of income so much that changes everyone's lives.
00:42:51.640I mean, I cannot tell you the amount of people from the East coast that I know who, you know, were say working in the fisheries and lost their job or whatever.
00:42:58.640And then they came here and now they're retiring back in Newfoundland and they're buying two properties and they've got tons of money.
00:43:08.640And then, you know, the worst part is when you, when you see like Quebec get transfer payments after transfer payments and all comes from here, you know, it's kind of demoralizing.
00:43:19.640So kind of to your question, yeah, it's the greatest thing that's ever happened to indigenous people.
00:43:38.640Like the, the oil and gas tide rises all boats and just the, the spinoff to the economy, the tax generation, the resource revenue, the homes, like income taxes.
00:43:50.640It just, it's exponential how much it actually helps these communities.
00:43:55.640And, you know, it's kind of rich for Quebec to say, there's no social license for pipelines or oil and gas exploration in Quebec.
00:44:02.640At the same time, you know, importing oil and gas from some of the worst dictatorships on, on the entire planet.
00:44:09.640Well, basically treating Alberta, which is one of the most progressive places, even with conservative governments.
00:44:15.640We're still one of the most progressive places on earth.
00:44:18.640You know, but they're fine with dictator oil.
00:44:21.640But before we wrap up here, oil and gas world magazine, tell me about this new project of yours.
00:44:40.640Um, I wanted to, I wanted to find a way to like oil sand strong is kind of the fist, right?
00:44:49.640Like we're, we're, we go after people, we, we defend our industry, but there's a lot of people that are in the oil and gas industry that I find are very interesting.
00:44:58.640They've got hobbies and they are different and they, there's a soul to them.
00:45:04.640They're not just these like kind of like tough oil people.
00:45:07.640So I started this project to travel across the country and interview people from all walks of life.
00:45:12.640So rather if I'm interviewing, say someone of Brett Wilson's, you know, like kind of a multi-millionaire, billionaire guy in his business,
00:45:19.640or a friend who just has like a little gas station restaurant, I try to talk to them and hear their stories.
00:45:26.640And, you know, we always try to connect it to something to do with oil and gas, but that doesn't necessarily have to be.
00:46:06.640And the wokeness of the federal government right now has tried to take that message and hijack that message.
00:46:13.640And I don't believe, I believe the vast majority of Canada, the Canadians want all kinds of energy and no one wants to be forced to drive an electric car.
00:46:21.640So I love what the projects doing really well.
00:46:23.640I originally wasn't actually even going to do print.
00:46:26.640Um, but I did a print one to kind of show the idea and then it just took off and everybody wanted a copy of the print one.
00:46:52.640I'm really excited about this project as well.
00:46:54.640Uh, you, you and I got to chat a little bit last week.
00:46:57.640And, uh, I think one of the biggest things and one of the biggest misconceptions of the oil and gas industry is that it's like six billionaires that are sitting around smoking cigars and pipes in downtown Calgary.
00:47:08.640When realistically it's hundreds, if not thousands of small businesses, small entrepreneurs, small families, and people working, working in this industry.
00:47:18.640Thank you very much for joining me though.
00:47:20.640Uh, you, you already said your oil and gas world, uh, what's that website again?
00:48:25.640So I hope that when these, uh, new policies come out in the next 24, 48 hours, that everybody can take it and approach it from a human point of view.
00:48:35.640Uh, you know, consider that that's someone's kid that we're talking about, consider that it's someone's parent, that it's their friend, that it's their family member, and that these measures aren't coming out to punish anybody or try to shut down or silence a particular community.
00:48:51.640These policies are coming out to protect kids, to ensure parents have rights, and to ensure that we have a society where everyone is supported, uplifted, and loved.
00:49:04.640With that, we're going to end today's show.
00:49:07.640And, uh, next week, Cory will be back and, uh, we can all go back to normal.
00:49:12.640So, uh, thank you very much for joining us.
00:49:15.640If you're not already a member of the Western Standard, you can become a member, www.westernstandard.news slash subscribe.