A Toronto Take on the United We Roll Convoy

When you live in the world’s second largest country it’s easy to understand how people from one part might have difficulty understanding people from another region thousands of kilometres away. Undoubtedly that’s one of the issues facing the United We Roll Convoy. Oilfield workers from the prairies just don’t make a lot of sense to, say a banker from Toronto. What does that banker think when dozens of big trucks clog up traffic in front of the Parliament Buildings in Ottawa? Is that person likely to take a bit of time and get to know why they’ve taken their big trucks half way across the continent? Or is that banker just appalled at them for promoting the oil industry in such a demonstrative manner.

The brave workers (and former workers) who headed out on the United We Roll Convoy knew they were taking a substantial risk before setting out. They knew this could go sideways, but they were desperate to send a message. Alberta’s oil is landlocked and certainly hundreds of thousands of people are affected. Families, businesses, and communities wait for an indeterminate amount of time for Canada’s pipeline issues to work themselves out with no guarantee it will ever happen. So they gassed up and gathered at Gorts Truckwash in Red Deer and they launched this project. They didn’t have a marketing firm formulate a message for them. They didn’t clamp down on any of their drivers and insist that their messaging go through a single spokesperson. They just hoped..

Their reception was not what they were dreaming of. But they did get a few chances to get their message worked in there with whatever the nation’s media wanted to talk about. It may be that the passing of time will help Canadians focus in on what it was that they wanted to say. But there’s no guarantee that it will ever get through to that banker in Toronto. Well. That’s not totally true. There’s one banker from Toronto who really backs these people. That’s because like a reporter embedded with a military battalion, he’s been embedded in the middle of Alberta’s Oil Country for some time now. Here’s an opinion Canadians haven’t heard yet. From a banker. From Toronto.

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After 15 years as a TV reporter with Global and CBC and as news director of RDTV in Red Deer, Duane set out on his own 2008 as a visual storyteller. During this period, he became fascinated with a burgeoning online world and how it could better serve local communities. This fascination led to Todayville, launched in 2016.

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Official statement from Premier Danielle Smith and Energy Minister Brian Jean on the start-up of the Trans Mountain Pipeline

Published on May 1, 2024

Government of Alberta

Alberta is celebrating an important achievement for the energy industry – the start-up of the twinned Trans Mountain pipeline. It’s great news Albertans and Canadians as this will welcome a new era of prosperity and economic growth. The completion of TMX is monumental for Alberta, since this will significantly increase our province’s output. It will triple the capacity of the original pipeline to now carry 890,000 barrels per day of crude oil from Alberta’s oil sands to British Columbia’s Pacific Coast.

We are excited that Canada’s biggest and newest oil pipeline in more than a decade, can now bring oil from Edmonton to tide water in B.C. This will allow us to get our energy resources to Pacific markets, including Washington State and California, and Asian markets like Japan, South Korea, China, and India. Alberta now has new energy customers and tankers with Alberta oil will be unloading in China and India in the next few months.

For Alberta this is a game-changer, the world needs more reliably and sustainably sourced Alberta energy, not less. World demand for oil and gas resources will continue in the decades ahead and the new pipeline expansion will give us the opportunity to meet global energy demands and increase North American and global energy security and help remove the issues of energy poverty in other parts of the world.

Analysts are predicting the price differential on Canadian crude oil will narrow resulting in many millions of extra government revenues, which will help fund important programs like health, education, and social services – the things Albertans rely on. TMX will also result in billions of dollars of economic prosperity for Albertans, Indigenous communities and Canadians and create well-paying jobs throughout Canada.

Our province wants to congratulate the Trans Mountain Corporation for its tenacity to have completed this long awaited and much needed energy infrastructure, and to thank the more than 30,000 dedicated, skilled workers whose efforts made this extraordinary project a reality. The province also wants to thank the Federal Government for seeing this project through. This is a great example of an area where the provincial and federal government can cooperate and work together for the benefit of Albertans and all Canadians.

Alberta

Protecting the right to vote for Canadian citizens: Minister McIver

Published on May 1, 2024

Government of Alberta

Minister of Municipal Affairs Ric McIver issued the following statement in response to Calgary City Council’s vote to extend the right to vote to permanent residents:

“Yesterday, Calgary city council passed a motion advocating for permanent residents to be extended the right to vote in civic elections. Alberta’s government has been clear since the beginning: only Canadian citizens are able to vote in civic elections. That will not be changing.

“The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms affirms the right of every Canadian citizen to vote and to run as a candidate. This right extends to voters in municipal, provincial and federal elections.

“Protecting our democracy is of the utmost importance. Our provincial election legislation, like the Local Authorities Elections Act, has also been clear since its inception that voting is a right of Canadian citizens.

“Alberta’s government is also ensuring that voting is accessible for more Albertans. The Municipal Affairs Statutes Amendment Act proposes to enable special ballot access for any voter who requests it, without having to provide any specific reason such as physical disability, absence from the municipality or working for the municipal election. The ministries of Seniors, Community and Social Services and Service Alberta and Red Tape Reduction are also making it easier for individuals to obtain the identification Albertans need for a variety of services, including the ability to cast a ballot.

“Our government will continue to protect the integrity of our elections and make sure voting is accessible for all Albertans who are Canadian citizens.”