A video dropped on YouTube on Aug. 26, and it soon started going viral. On our own Pipeline Newswebpage, pipelinenews.ca, it was viewed around 1,700 times in the first two hours, which, for us, is pretty impressive.
It’s a message put out by a group calling itself Canadians for Canada’s Future, energy companies and service providers. Their message in this 2 minute 20 second video rang out almost word for word what Pipeline Newshas been saying on these editorial pages for years. It’s also a script that could have been taken from any number of speeches by Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe, former Premier Brad Wall, or Alberta Premier Jason Kenney.
So what did it say?
Here’s the transcript of the narration:
“Over the past decade, everyone from foreign-funded protestors to homegrown activists have attempted to landlock our resources.
“While we’ve been busy reducing GHG emissions, and maintaining the highest environmental and human rights standards for energy development in the world
“We’re working hard to keep this country running, and Canadians in jobs, even as our critics do everything in their power to keep our resources locked away.
“Today we say enough is enough.
“For too long, we’ve been taken for granted, by all too many people who vigorously condemn what we do, while relishing in the fruits of our labour every day of their lives.
“We’re tired of our natural resources being sold to American customers at bargain prices, and it sickens us to see our strong and free nation buying oil from countries that violate every value Canadians hold dear.
“It’s time for us to tell our story. A story we can all be proud of.
“A story that positively impacts millions of lives across our beautiful country.
“The truth: global energy needs are increasing every year. The world needs Canadian energy. It needs thee most responsibly sourced and safely delivered energy in the world.
“It drives our economy as much as it drives your car.
“We create jobs and build schools, playgrounds and hospitals. We support communities, charities and families. We fuel the arts, technology, renewables, and virtually every other industry.
“We are here to stay.
“We will continue to employee millions, feed families, fund infrastructure, pay doctors and teachers and fill restaurants, movie theatres and hotels.
“Canada needs us. The world needs us. We are Canadian energy, and we are proud.”
That’s it. 274 words that distill what we, as an industry have felt in our hearts, our souls, our very being, for the last decade as we’ve been trampled up, denounced, derided, protested and belittled. We’ve taken it on the chin, and in the gut. But this video, and the message it sends, gets it. It’s like a doubled over boxer, whose taken the beating of his life, standing up straight and saying “Is that all you got?”
In other words, the plot to every Rocky movie ever, and we’re Rocky.
There’s another movie allusion, too. Perhaps one of the most moving dialogues in cinema was this line by Jack Nicholson in A Few Good Men, shortly after his character, Col. Nathan Jessop, says, “You can’t handle the truth!”
In it, he says, “I have neither the time, nor the inclination, to explain myself to a man, who rises and sleep under the blanket of the very freedom that I provide, and then questions the manner, in which I provide it. I'd rather you just say 'thank you' and go on your way. Otherwise I suggest you pick up a weapon, and stand a post. Either way, I don't give a damn, what you think you are entitled to!”
The line in the video, “For too long, we’ve been taken for granted, by all too many people who vigorously condemn what we do, while relishing in the fruits of our labour every day of their lives,” echoes this sentiment exactly.
They can’t handle the truth.
The truth, as the video not so subtly points out, is that their mochaccino-sipping, cellphone tweeting, gas-guzzling, natural-gas heated comfortable lifestyles would not exist without our blood, sweat, toil and tears to provide the fundamental elements, literally, for a 21st century lifestyle.
It’s no wonder Brad Wall and Jason Kenney both shared this video on social media within an hour of each other. It’s the message they’ve been preaching for years, and that the rest of Canada needs to hear. Not only do they need to hear it, but they need to internalize it. Live and breath it. Understand that without our oil and gas, they’d be living in huts wearing wool or animal skins.
We are Canadian energy, and we are proud, indeed.
