Hello Chestermere! I have a question for you. When did oil, gas and pipelines become political messages? Think back in your lifetime of sports events and dance recitals, think of work, life in Alberta, going to fill up at the gas pump, or having an oil change. When did the discussion become political? In our beautiful province, we have always had to fight to have a voice at the table whether that was about equalization payments, royalties, or our contributions to confederation. It is shocking to me that our self-promotion of an incredible product like Alberta oil and gas has become the political football that it is. “I love Canadian oil and gas” is not a political statement. It is as Canadian as our Anthem and our love for our country and the fine people who responsibly develop our resources. It was bad enough when our former NDP Premier called us the “embarrassing cousins”, and her Minister of Health called us “sewer rats”, or that her former Minister of Environment went to Paris and allowed the term “dirty oil” to continue, or the fact that they did nothing to stand up for Alberta when the Federal Liberal government introduced Bills C-69 (aka the “No More Pipelines Bill”) and C-48, the “Oil Tankers Are OK unless they are carrying Alberta Oil” bill. Both these bills are now law. You add to that recipe a Prime Minister that forgot to mention Alberta on Canada’s 150th birthday, who has shown his true colours again and again when it comes to Canadian prosperity, pipelines, and our incredible natural resources and who has created such division and politicking around pipelines, oil and gas that security guards in our house in Ottawa in the Parliament are (for the second time) turning away a Calgary couple wearing what should be our national motto- an “I love Canadian Oil and Gas sweatshirt. “What?”, you say. Oh yes, and you can watch the CTV News story at https://calgary.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=1780283 . In the first incident, William Lacey was told that his shirt may be “offensive” …huh? The Calgary couple in the second incident was told that it was a “political statement”. After the first incident we were told the staff misinterpreted the message on the t-shirts and they need “operational guidance and training”. Perhaps we should send them some t-shirts. Maybe Mr. Trudeau should wear one and set the example for his candidates about Canadian prosperity. This was just so shocking to me! Do you know that in August, Saudi Arabia was producing 9.85 million barrels per day? Guess who they are exporting to? Canada, and we are not even one of the top importers. Asia, China, Japan and the United States are the biggest importers. Unfortunately for Canada, Trudeau put so many barriers in the way of the Energy East pipeline that the project proponents gave up. We have the world’s third largest oil reserves, we are the cleanest and most ethical producer, and we do not have security of supply here in Canada. This is a disgrace. We have so much to be proud of. We have to work hard to seek leadership that understands this. We must not allow leaders to attack our own people, our prosperity, our national unity, and our way of life. Canada is the greenest and most responsible producer in the world. We need to get our message to Canadians and to the world. Our wonderful candidate Martin Shields is making the rounds as he works hard to earn your vote in the upcoming Federal election on October 21st. Please make sure you vote, and there are special ballots if you are out of country, or you can vote in the advanced polls. Please make sure you take the time to volunteer and help out with the campaigns. We as elected officials are nothing without our wonderful volunteers who work so hard to help us to get elected. We have a responsibility to educate our families and friends all over Canada about the amazing work that goes on in this province and our immense contributions to Canada.
A huge shout out to Rotary, their volunteers, the organizers, and the businesses who contributed to the 6th Annual Rotary Amazing Race! Special thanks to Lifepath Wellness for their generous donation. Congratulations to the winners, and all the participants. It was a great day for the competition and we had a blast going around to meet all the businesses, and donning a pink wig or two. Check out my Facebook page for pictures. Rotary contributes so much to our community, and we are so grateful.
As always I love to hear from you.
