Western Standard - SNEAK PEEK： Western Standard Radio with Marc Patrone

00:00:00.000 and welcome back to western standard radio mark petroni with you so very glad that you could join

00:00:12.080 us on this interview about pickup trucks you had the scourge of pickup trucks who knew that it was

00:00:17.880 such a big deal yet there's a whole lot of hand-wringing going on in the globe and mail

00:00:23.220 where marcus g points out that now half of all sales in the united states happen to be pickup

00:00:28.360 trucks he says well there used to be a role for these big vehicles there used to be something that

00:00:34.580 they were practically used for now they're a status symbol according to g who claims that it's just a

00:00:40.360 way of saying i am bigger than you maybe it's a way of compensating for some guys i don't know

00:00:45.380 but he says it's a lot more than harmless fun he claims that they are polluting the streets he

00:00:52.180 doesn't like this he doesn't want to look at these things here's an urban guy from uh you know

00:00:57.600 probably a very liberal part of the country who says you know this has got to stop that people

00:01:03.080 are treating these things as fashion statements so who better to talk to than somebody who was born

00:01:09.100 and raised in the great province of alberta jackie conway sorry conroy i'm sorry jackie i've written

00:01:17.560 conway on a street on a piece of paper it's conroy correct yes sir sorry about that okay jackie

00:01:23.600 conroy joining us from calgary all right tell us a little bit about how this is a cultural phenomenon

00:01:30.700 in alberta that the idea that somehow pickup trucks are a bad thing is frankly insulting to a lot of

00:01:38.080 people in alberta who use them every day well i think it first and foremost comes down to

00:01:43.960 this this guy who wrote this article marcus g saying how dare consumers choose for themselves

00:01:49.420 how dare you as a consumer take your hard-earned paycheck and spend it on what you want instead

00:01:55.540 of you know polling the liberals to see what the popular choice of today is i think it's it's a very

00:02:01.920 entitled action to to be looking at other people and saying how dare you how dare you spend your money

00:02:07.980 on something that you like how dare you choose the vehicle that you prefer to drive over a different

00:02:13.780 vehicle i think there's there's a lot of entitlement and i think especially coming from a place like

00:02:19.120 alberta where we we value big business we value freedom of choice we value freedom of enterprise

00:02:24.620 i think it's it's frankly very very insulting for someone who who doesn't live here who doesn't know

00:02:30.960 what it's like i mean for goodness sake who doesn't know alberta winters like i know there have been many

00:02:35.140 times that i've been chugging away in my little hyundai elantra and been very very jealous of the guys

00:02:40.820 able to just swish past a giant pile of snow in their big pickup trucks i i don't think they're

00:02:47.280 necessarily hurting anyone i think that there's a lot bigger issues at hand i think that people

00:02:52.920 like this don't acknowledge you know countries like china countries like russia who are producing

00:02:58.360 more than enough of the world's you know waste into the carbon atmosphere and yet we're going to pick

00:03:04.540 on joe schmoe who who scrimped and saved and bought something that he enjoys like i i think it's

00:03:11.260 very very insulting and very very entitled for them to be taking that approach marcus g seems to be

00:03:16.000 suggesting that uh there are a lot of bad actors happen to who happen to be driving pickup trucks i'm

00:03:21.600 going to read you part of his column in the globe and mail anyone who has traveled a canadian highway

00:03:28.040 lately has been tailgated by a speeding pickup driver being up there in that big cab over that huge

00:03:37.520 engine i don't know there seems to be an element of insecurity here on the part of marcus g i i'm

00:03:43.520 detecting it here huge engine seems to make the drivers think they own the road lesser vehicles

00:03:51.920 be damned an investigation by consumer reports last month titled the hidden danger of big trucks

00:04:00.000 said that hoods are higher on current models and drivers have poorer front sight lines creating a blind

00:04:09.260 spot that can hide a pedestrian or smaller car right in front i mean what's going on at this this truck

00:04:16.620 drive there's been trucks on the road for like decades while he suddenly realized that uh that

00:04:22.620 they look different that the hoods are higher higher i think people are used to seeing pickup trucks

00:04:27.740 on the road what i you know what is it what's going on is there something going on here with this guy

00:04:33.580 that we don't know is this a way almost to point a finger at albertans and say you guys are the

00:04:39.980 problem oh it totally is and and once again it's someone who isn't willing to acknowledge their own

00:04:46.860 issues isn't willing to acknowledge how how the starbucks that they're holding got into their hands

00:04:51.740 and all of the you know gas and everything that went into getting that i think it's also a matter of

00:04:58.220 you know obviously poor marcus got cut off by a pickup truck the other day and he he decided to

00:05:05.260 really share his thoughts with the world about these these heinous horrible people i think it's

00:05:10.780 frankly a ridiculous argument especially if you want to take the environmental stance why is he not

00:05:16.140 criticizing minivans why is he not criticizing hummers you know why is he not criticizing all of these other

00:05:22.300 vehicles that are probably just as if not worse for for the environment for visibility etc and yet

00:05:29.100 he's targeting pickup trucks which is generally speaking a rather working class car if that makes

00:05:35.100 sense like a lot of working class people especially in alberta drive pickup trucks like to albertans i

00:05:40.860 believe pickup trucks are much more of a symbol of of working class of saving and scrimping and getting

00:05:47.020 something that you like and as i said before it's it's more of a necessity like i i understand that

00:05:52.940 there are certain places in in bc or or toronto and stuff like that that you don't have the kind of

00:05:59.020 snowfalls that we get every single year but we get oh lordy what was it last year at least three or four

00:06:05.660 feet of snow and when you don't have a vehicle that's capable of handling that you you might as well not

00:06:12.060 have a vehicle in this province so he seems to think that there's more at play here just quoting

00:06:17.580 on with his uh his column here jackie even if they weren't polluting and dangerous the parade of pickups

00:06:26.140 would be a blight on the roadscape so i'm getting a picture here of mad max uh a parade of pickups would

00:06:35.660 be a blight on the roadscape and a finger in the eye of other drivers a way of saying to everyone else

00:06:43.500 i am bigger badder and richer than you a vehicle that started as a practical tool for hard-working

00:06:51.820 people has become for many an obnoxious assertion of dominance and division you know this guy sounds

00:06:59.820 like somebody who's particularly uh insecure in change rooms back in high school i'm just i'm reading

00:07:06.620 something i mean we've i mean if you drive down um you know if you're in toronto for instance there's

00:07:12.780 there's lamborghinis around you know there's people driving incredible sports cars that are worth way more

00:07:19.500 than your typical pickup truck you know are they obnoxious why doesn't they go after those guys

00:07:24.620 um i don't know i think there's something cultural at play here and once again to me it highlights the

00:07:32.460 differences between uh the divides between say more of the the more liberal parts of say urban canada

00:07:41.020 whether you're in ottawa or toronto or montreal where you got these stuck up snobby people who look at

00:07:47.740 pickup trucks and think that guy is trying to show off and i don't like it and

00:07:54.700 you know i think that it's a hidden attack on westerners because pickups are so popular out

00:08:01.100 there he doesn't come out and say it but there seems to be something here that i think albertans

00:08:06.620 might look at and think this is directed at us and furthermore it's probably even directed at the

00:08:13.100 resource sector in general after all you know you've got it out there and you know not only have you seen

00:08:19.820 an attack on the resource sector in albert and saskatchewan particular but now you're also seeing

00:08:25.500 an attack on the trucks that are so popular out there i don't know what do you think am i reading

00:08:30.220 more into this than than uh perhaps you think so or what i think you're really hitting the nail on

00:08:36.220 the head in terms of the insecurity like i know in my personal experience with other human beings

00:08:41.740 the ones who scream the loudest against something usually have an ulterior motive are usually doing

00:08:48.220 that because they're they're feeling something inside i think you're hitting the nail on the

00:08:52.860 head in terms of it being a much larger attack than just pickup trucks i think it's a very very thinly

00:08:59.180 veiled not threat but for sure accusation towards albertans towards working-class albertans um and i

00:09:07.180 do also find it funny that he would use the word eyesore do you believe a motorcycle gang is an eyesore

00:09:12.460 with all of the revving and everything you're not claiming that once again a fleet of minivans would

00:09:16.860 be an eyesore it's only this one particular kind of pickup truck or not a particular pickup truck but

00:09:23.180 pickup trucks in general that once again are mostly driven by albertans i'm sure if we were able to

00:09:28.860 pull the country i think i i would make an educated guess that alberta is home to the most pickup truck

00:09:34.860 drivers but i i think it's sad to be honest i think it's sad and it's that common leftist tactic that

00:09:42.300 look outwards instead of inwards for a solution when something is wrong it's your fault your fault and

00:09:47.260 your fault but not mine you know lord knows well i i can remember if you go back to the 70s you used to

00:09:54.940 have these sporty cars you know the cars with the big block engines you know the chargers the trans

00:10:01.420 ams the you know the camaros um you know these were these were basically like race cars on the road

00:10:08.940 that was the way i think a lot of guys expressed themselves back in the day you know is with these

00:10:14.220 monster cars with uh who could really go fast on the roads but i'm wondering if it's the same kind of thing

00:10:21.420 now that maybe in in 2021 it's about the truck i don't know maybe it is maybe it isn't but i still

00:10:26.380 think that they're pretty darn useful having and the other thing of course is that you can pull stuff

00:10:30.780 with them you know so if you get a a pickup truck you know you can uh you can buy a camper and guess

00:10:37.020 what you know you can pull the damn thing you're not going to be able to pull that say with a

00:10:40.860 i don't know with an older you know small toyota i might might have a harder time pulling you know

00:10:45.900 a 30-foot trailer behind you what do you think there's still a practical use for this thing

00:10:50.460 and this guy doesn't seem to be able to see that not at all and i was even going to say marcus

00:10:55.500 gee better hope that he doesn't have to move anytime soon because i don't think he'll be very popular

00:11:00.460 around pickup truck drivers when he does like there's there's a number of realistic uses for these

00:11:07.660 trucks outside of just you know aesthetics and i think it's very it's very stereotypical and it's very

00:11:13.820 entitled of him to not even acknowledge any of that jackie conroy thank you so much for coming

00:11:19.900 on the show today i really appreciate that thank you so much for having me jackie is a journalist

00:11:27.660 at western standard online and that is it for for this segment of the show appreciate you joining me

00:11:33.420 jackie we'll see you again next time thank you so much see you soon i'll see you soon

00:11:43.820 you

Western Standard - July 28, 2021

SNEAK PEEK： Western Standard Radio with Marc Patrone

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