Last week, everyone was focused on #OscarsSoWhite. It was the big story with so many moving parts and so many celebrities saying interesting or stupid things. But the whole time, Leonardo DiCaprio was staying silent… about #OscarsSoWhite. He was trying to campaign and make headlines about other issues, it’s just that Leo got lost in the mix. Leo was at Davos, making speeches about environmentalism and climate change and announcing a $15 million dollar investment (from his foundation) in environmental projects around the world. But during his big Davos speech, Leo tried to generate headlines to remind everyone that he’s been an environmental crusader for years. He told the rich crowd at Davos:
“We simply cannot afford to allow the corporate greed of the coal, oil and gas industries to determine the future of humanity. Those entities with a financial interest in preserving this destructive system have denied, and even covered up the evidence of our changing climate. Enough is enough. You know better. The world knows better. History will place the blame for this devastation squarely at their feet.”
Who would take issue with that? Besides Leo’s yacht captain and the guy piloting Leo’s private jet, I mean? Oh, just Canada’s hot new prime minister, Justin Trudeau. Trudeau listened to Leo’s speech and the prime minister was disturbed by Leo’s rhetoric:
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau urged Leonardo DiCaprio to tone down his “inflammatory rhetoric” on climate change saying it was not helping those who have lost their oil-industry jobs. At a dinner later in the day, Trudeau, elected in October as the head of a Liberal government, took the 41-year-old actor to task.
“I pointed out that both Alberta and Canada have new governments over the past year that are committed to action on climate change…and that there are families suffering, out of work, who need to be supported, and inflammatory rhetoric doesn’t necessarily help those families or help Canada,” Trudeau said as he recounted his remarks to reporters on Friday. “He actually said if we took concrete action on climate change he would be the first to come up and celebrate with us.”
I get Trudeau’s point, and he’s speaking like a politician who is worried about employment rates and the dwindling middle class in North America. Leo’s point would have probably been that if first-world countries make the investment in green technology, those will be the jobs that supplant oil-industry jobs. But that’s not the point of this at a gossip level. The gossip is that there’s boy drama between Prime Minister Heartthrob and Leo.
Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet, Getty, WENN.
Is Leo a hypocrite? Of course he is. He’s rich. All rich people are hypocrites. It is how they stay rich. That said, I’m so sick of hearing about how we need these destructive industries “for the jobs”! You know what we need more? A planet! A planet we can live on. No planet, no jobs. Duh.
Agreed, but the families in Alberta whose parents lost jobs cannot pay the bills this month with “we need the planet.”
First we need to invest huge sums in clean energy to develop an infrastructure that can support a transition and then have a large percentage of the country (I was going to say the continent) make the switch. But as long as everyone is happy to heat up their home, power their car, light their home, use plastics or any conventional beauty products with anything dug out from the ground or shipped across from Asia and sold as cheaply as possible, the change won’t happen. And if Canada won’t pump it, you can bet the Gulf states or the US will do it. This topic is a lot more complicated than it appears and I say this as an environmentalist.
Nailed it.
No Jobs= no people. Animals rule a pollution free planet. That’s your goal, right?!
I agree with that. But people are losing jobs at an insane rate in the oil sector in Canada. And we are a resource rich Country. That’s how we make it here. It’s not to say we don’t want things to change. We elected a more environmentally friendly Prime Minister and For the first time ever went NDP in Alberta, which is the most environmentally friendly gov. That could be supported. And he just pointed out to Leo how coming from his privileged position, he is sticking it to people in mostly the middle class who are now out of work! Like everyone is talking about how bad job loss is in Alberta right now. Trudeau wants to talk about the environment too. He certainly cares about it more than the conservative Gov. did. He is rightfully sticking up for Canadians out of jobs as a good leader should. I like him so much!!
There are thousands of people in Alberta out of work with families to feed. I understand their unemployment insurance will be running out soon. Jobs are disappearing and the economy is going down the tubes. But then Trudeau flings open the borders and is bringing 50,000 refugees into the country, each family to be supported for at least a year with a generous stipend. For heaven’s sake, look after your own suffering people first before letting your bleeding heart liberal mentality take over. Does he think jobs grow on trees for everyone who wants one?
Sabrine
Then you won’t be happy to hear some refugees are still living in hotels paid for by taxpayers and the Trudeau govt have also arranged to bring doctors and dentists to treat them at the hotels. The question is: are they also ordering room service, getting their prescriptions etc delivered, watching free pay per views, wearing their free coats from airport gift shops while Canadians born and raised in western Canada and other parts of Canada can’t find work, line up at food banks (some of them turned away), sleep in bus shelters etc… the thought of taking care of our own seems “lost in translation” between the language of the rich v the poor. And not all rich are hypocrites. That’s like saying all poor people are connected to street gangs.
The funds allocated for Refugees are completely separate to any monies due to Canadian citizens in need. You make it sound like they are staying in the Four Seasons, dining at the best restaurants, and wearing clothes from Holts, not the case. This sort of crass mentality coming from another Canadian really gets my back up, Harper destroyed our reputation in a mere decade on the world arena, and a simple act of true Canadian humanitarian efforts is being slammed when it has been part of our country’s core values for decades!
I’m Alberta born and raised, though I live in BC now. Alberta’s economy has always been boom and bust, and this latest bust is just one more in an ongoing cycle. Wages in Alberta have been the highest in the country while housing and other living costs have been reasonably moderate, at least compared to here in BC where a tear-down bungalow costs upwards of $1million in “working class” neighbourhoods. My point is that Albertans have always thought, during the good times, that the good times would never end. They didn’t bother saving money to help cushion the blow of the inevitable bust, and now they are crying “broke”. Employment Insurance is not a wage replacement program in Canada. It’s designed to provide a supplement to savings workers are expected to have saved.
As for the refugees, you can be sure that those housed in hotels are staying in the equivalent of Super 8’s, and they are pushed out into apartments as soon as possible. They “generous stipend” they receive is equivalent to Canadian welfare rates. The medical care they receive is the same as any other welfare recipient gets. The coats they get to wear “for free” have been donated and may or may not be new. And after a year they are expected to be self-sufficient. There is no molly-coddling or special treatment for refugees in Canada. And the people who are coming here are genuine convention refugees who are in danger of persecution and possibly death. They are not like the European economic migrants who are just looking for a better life.
@LeMaitresse, this American admires Canadian humanitarian efforts. I remember how you treated Americans who were stranded on and after 9/11. They were taken into people’s homes like family members.
@elle you got it. I really can’t stand celebrities that make a complex issues so black and white. Its great that Leo is an advocate for the environment but his rhetoric does need to be toned down.
Sorry @Bonster, this cycle is not 2008 all over again, or some regular market fluctuation. This is like 1980, but worse. The commodity market has wiped out a generation of growth in a year and a half.
There was savings, lots of it, but Redford and now Notley are burning through it as fast as they can, with no real plan for the future.
Trust me, the rest of Canada never thought the good times would end with their transfer payments. They will get 3 more years until Alberta becomes a “have not” province, and the parts of Canada who received those payments will also feel what it is like to be without oil revenues.
What Canada needs today is a long term plan that truly takes our dependance off of commodities and builds a more stable industry for the future, and that is not a quick fix for those families without jobs today.
I’m an Albertan, I lived through the slowdown in the’80’s and this is indeed different. And there are hundreds, if not thousands of workers who are not eligible for EI as they are self-employed. Many of these are rig welders employed in the oil patch. No safety net for them. And I disagree with the commenter here who says cost of living in Alberta is moderate…..haha. Noooo…check out the house prices in Fort McMurray and dental rates in alberta compared to Saskatchewan. Calgary too has high housing. Kudos to Justin Trudeau who may have had some advantages due to inherited wealth and connections but those same advantages he has had to live down as well.
Wasn’t there this thing called the National Energy Program that was supposed to help with the boom and bust? I know it’s why the west hates Trudeau senior but if it was still in place wouldn’t it be helping deal with the quick drop in oil prices now ?
Nic, the NEP was a disaster for the energy industry in Alberta. Basically…force the oil producers to sell their oil at lower than market rates to the rest of Canada. Mostly to the provinces who have manufacturing bases. Who then are in no way obliged to sell THEIR products to the rest of the country at lower than market rates. It was basically a vote-buying scheme at the expense of Alberta and is one of the main reasons that Albertans hated Pierre Elliot Trudeau.
Obviously, the companies investing in oil production back then took their money elsewhere and got market rates for the oil they produced elsewhere.
I understand both positions BUT – I have gone through two job downsizings in the last 10 years and my husband has gone through two in the last two years. Neither of us are in the energy sector here in Canada. My point is that the economy is tanking for EVERYBODY, not just oil workers. They had a great ride for a long time, just like the rest of us.
I don’t like to hear about people out of work, but that’s the reality nowadays, sadly. Doesn’t mean we have to keep investing in oil over solar or wind.
Pandy, I hear you but the issues around both solar and wind are quite complicated. I actually looked into solar alternatives for our home and the setup cost is very high compared to a regular furnace, and you never recoup that investment when you sell your home. I also looked into geothermal and if I had the money for that investment I would have done it, but again, it is very expensive for the average homeowner.
You can’t really use solar for industrial purposes because we do not have yet the technology to store and transport it efficiently.
You can’t have wind turbines in highly populated areas due to the noise pollution and I don’t know enough about storing and transporting eolian to speak intelligently about it but I think you run into the same issues.
Should we give up? Of course not, and we should definitely invest in further R&D. But you can’t just flip a switch, because there is t one yet.
That’s interesting.
Here in Oz it only takes 4 to 10 years for solar panels to pay for themselves by reducing the energy bill. (The huge range is because subsidies and feed-back tariffs differ depending on state, and because high-end systems that export 50+ percent to the grid are over-priced … a low-end system that only feeds back 10% pays itself off sooner.) Any increase to the house value would be over and above that.
Do you not have similar subsidies and tariffs? If not, why is the Canadian government subsidising oil and not solar?
Lucrezia, thanks for sharing how it can and should be done. Canada subsidized oil and not solar because the now-former Prime Minister, Steven Harper, and his right-wing government (in power since 2006) reflected the interests of the Alberta-based oil industry. As long as oil brought in money and built up their power, they had no interest in (or capability for) broadening the economy. Trudeau was swept to power last fall partly out of disgust with that government (unfortunately removing from office a lot of good environmental MPs; the Liberals are pro-business in the end).
Many Canadians have been waiting for some kind of coherent energy policy and support for doing the right thing. We’ll see if that starts to happen now.
So yeah, Canada is behind. We hope that Canada can catch up.
yes! I agree about your argument against “for the jobs”. I once argued with some lass online who truly believed because of dwindling gas prices, the entirety of America needs to pay an extra $1-$2 a gallon to support these families who are getting pay cuts or losing their jobs. I told her it’s a shame they are losing their jobs, but just to sustain their job, we are destroying the planet and hurting other people’s pocket money. It’s so selfish. There are bigger things than supporting a few families. On top of that, their CEOs refuse to take profit cuts instead. We have to (not should) go the renewable energy route. People lose jobs for many reasons, then they find other jobs in other industries. I’m tired of tipping the balance to support “some” when it’s just not very sustainable in the long run.
I am an environmentalist and live in Texas, also hard hit by the oil slump. I think people who applaud the oil slump and how it hurts oil companies are missing an obvious point- renewable energy is more expensive right now than oil at $100 a barrel, but at least then it is competitive. But with cheap oil, there is little incentive for consumers or manufacturers to reduce oil consumption. Hybrid and electric cars no longer make financial sense, and neither does wind or solar energy. Plus, with lost/reduced jobs people have less money to spend on alternative energy even if they want to.
Texas has thriving wind and solar energy production as well as being home of Oil and Gas, but it alternative energy companies are suffering in this downturn as well.
Not to mention that big oil is going to come out of this just fine, it’s the middle class workers who are paying with salary and job cuts.
No, not all rich people are hypocrates. You can’t make blanket statements like that. Well, you can, but 99% of the time you’ll be wrong. There are many rich people who give back to their community, give generously to charities, and use theri influence to further very real causes. I don’t think Leo is one of them. He can spout off about any hot button issue he likes, but he doesn’t walk the walk and that is what is hypocritical. He travels on a private jet. The only type of women he hooks up with are high-maintenance women which might be indirectly hypocritical, but I have hard time beleiving any of them are what I’d call chemical-conservative. They’re using aerosols and sprays and whatever they want and he does not care so long as they are good arm candy and service him properly. He can’t just talk about climate change, not bathe, and call himself an environmentalist. You either practice what you preach, or you don’t preach.
Thank you. It’s so ridiculous when people make those sorts of generalizations, and the reason behind it so obvious.
All rich people are hypocrites? That is an extreme generalization and no different then saying all races are this etc.
If leo is being a hypocrite it has nothing to do with his economic status, it’s his behavior. Also all people ALL have hypocritical tendencies that is human nature.
Sorry but it is truly beyond offensive when people broad stroke groups of people.
Agreed. Don’t hear the western politicians saying much when multinationals send manufacturing jobs overseas for cheap labor. But as soon as we want to transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy they’re concerned about jobs. Give me a break.
We can’t keep industries around simply for the jobs. We didn’t subsidize blacksmiths when their horse shoeing business started to hit the skids because of cars.
As technology moves along it means that some jobs will go to the wayside and other jobs will increase. In America right now, coal jobs are dying out because it takes so much investment to get the product out of the ground. It is cheaper and easier to produce solar and wind energy, so those jobs are increasing.
Oil might be cheap right now hurting oil workers…but transportation is doing great and it has a large impact. It takes much less money to ship goods from ports of entry to points of sale, and this is a good thing. Airlines are actually making a profit.
Team Justin😍😍😍. Because he is right – our dollar is in free fall (and guess whose exports that will impact – the US, of course) and jobs have been lost. The transition from dirty to clean energy won’t be short, and it will be painful. I actually support green energy initiatives and have spoken against certain oil projects, but I don’t need hypocrite Leo to preach when his lifestyle is an exercise in mindless consumption.
Well said.
Mindless consumption? He’s a vegetarian. So I’d suggest he does put a bit of thought into what he’s consuming.
I was referring to the private jets and oil guzzling yachts. One person being a vegetarian does not make one an environmentalist. I still consume meat (raised responsibly, but I can afford to make that choice. I can pay double the cost of “conventional” products. Many can’t. Should we slam them while applauding Leo for flying around the world in private jets? I don’t, but to each his own.)
The question is does Leo’s environmentalism reduce more greenhouse gas than his lifestyle and perceived hypocrisy creates?
I agree with Prime Minister Trudeau, but not because as some think Leo is a hypocrite. The oil coal, and gas industries is just an industry no more greedier than any other. The blame for the planet is on all of us for not doing our part and buying high emission vehicle among other things, not just the industry execs and companies . The reality is now oil is around $30 a barrel, the industry is not as profitable as it once was. Plus it can hurt the planet so although it may be painful the change to different industries needs to be made.
Trudeau-they made him smarter, stronger, faster, and hotter. The New Six Million (Canadian) Man. I like him. And really, Leo? Maybe he does care, but I get the feeling he uses this to make himself look more serious and less “Capt. P*ssy O’Yacht” when he needs it. Ugh. Just give him the freakin Oscar already so he can get back to bad karate and good lingerie.
Capt. P*ssy O’Yacht is all kinds of awesome! 🙂
x 10,000!!
Leo is also something of a joke in Canada after he used temperatures in Calgary as an example of climate change when there was just a chinook blowing through.
I totally support transitioning to greener energy sources but he could also educate himself a bit more and have more sympathy for the families who will likely lose their homes because of the oil price
He could hire them to play horny bears in his next movie.
Yes the climate change in Calgary from the Chinook was cringe-worthy and certainly gave Canadians a good chuckle. And agree just give him the dang Oscar so he can get back to his gas guzzling jet and yacht and plastic women
Yes to Leo using a pulpit to be taken more seriously. But I don’t think he’ll stop even if he gets an Oscar. He seriously wants to be seen as an intellectual. So does Clooney. They can’t accept that they are simply actors. I wouldn’t listen to anything either of them had to say on any subject unless they went to school and actually learned something about what they’re talking about. Anything else is simply reading what somebody else wrote for them. I write speaches for people at work. I know how that works. Talking points and little something to back them up. It’s when they get asked questions, that the reality of their education on the subject comes through.
Bad karate and even worse dancing!
So by your reasoning none of us should have an opinion on climate change because we’re not qualified climatologists?
Oh my god that Prime Minister makes me want to move to Canada. Drool.
I’m still on the fence with Trudeau. I’m not particularly captivated by him, so far, and, to me, he seems to be the personification of “form over substance”. Time will tell.
It’s early and he’s young. Give him time. I’m not even from Canada but I respect his stance on change and his sensitivity to those struggling with the change. It wasn’t that long ago that the U.S. was all about big trucks and SUVs. We had quite a shake-up with our auto industry and President Obama stepping in. It took some time and some fear, but we got through it and we’re much better off than we were before. Give your new PM a chance. He has the right idea and it’s not fair to say there isn’t enough substance behind his push for change. Sometimes the momentum of change brings about substance. He’s the first PM in Canada to even address the problem. That speaks volumes. He isn’t a fence rider. He isn’t a placater. He isn’t hard core to make necessary changes to protect the environment and let those affected be damned. He may not have the answers yet, but nobody does.
I am a bit concerned about taking in the refugees at a time like this, but again, he didn’t get to pick the time and what is the answer when there is no right answer?
The refugee policy was one of his main campaign issues. I voted for him based on that. We have friends who are sponsoring families for a whole year. The FB rants you read about where it sounds like we are housing them at the Ritz while Canadians are dying in the streets are similar to Trump’s insane spoutings.
I am very proud to be a Canadian and offer succour to people in desperate times like those. Is every single refugee going to turn out a fantastic, model citizen? No idea, but neither are are all Canadian born, or immigrants such as myself. Although I have a feeling based on all the folks I know, they will work very hard to build a new life in their adoptive, safe, welcoming country.
BTW, the way government programs work are not all or nothing, take from one pot to put into another. Some Canadian cons have been howling about the homeless, mentally ill Canadians. Never heard them complain during the Harper administration except to grumble about the cost of mental health care programs. Second, the issue of mental health and housing are vastly different from the refugee program. 25,000 people is not much for a country our size and with our resources. Should we do better for everyone in the country? Absolutely, and Justin is working hard to fulfill his campaign promises. We have a cabinet that is well balanced – women, minorities, people with disabilities. We are bringing in refugees as promised. He is putting together economic programs. We should give him some time to see results.
I’m going to call him Prime Minister heartthrob from now on.
Team Trudeau. Families are suffering.
But really no one cares what Leo thinks, including the latest 19 year old underwear model he will be dating once he picks up his Oscar. 🙄
That’s my Right Honorable Prime Minister right THUR!!!!! Hahahahaha
I do not see the ‘hot’, nor ‘drool worth-iness’ in Justin Trudeu. AT ALL.
I only see it sometimes – but when I do, I absolutely get it.
But I also was exposed to the younger more awkward looking Trudeau, since I’m Canadian, so I think part of me just sees that. These photos really arent’ all that flattering either. I find him more attractive in ‘regular’ kind of photos- like hanging out with his kids, or doing more normal, every day things.
I dunno…I’m waiting and giving him and his cabinet time to really prove themselves. As for Justin, he doesn’t do it for me…that semi lisp of his really gets on my freaking nerves. Plus, his past credentials – snowboard instructor, theatre arts teacher….eeeeehhhh….I don’t know.
@BeeBee
Trudeau taught French and Math but mentioning that wouldn’t make him look as dumb as you are trying to imply.
@BeeBee – also don’t overlook the fact that he was brought up by a Prime Minister, he was raised on politics. He didn’t have to struggle, glad-hand or back-stab his way up the political ladder because he was familiar with politics from an early age, so it doesn’t matter that he first chose to be a teacher, in fact it was probably a pretty grounding experience – nothing like being stared down by a classroom full of uncooperative students – kinda like a typical day in the House of Commons 🙂
“nice hair though”
^They letting you use a computer Rona Ambrose?
I didn’t vote Conservative in the last Fed election. In fact, I didn’t vote at all.
Speaking of Rona, same applies to her ie “nice hair though.”
And I agree with her statements pertaining to Justin dumping the cost of his nannies on us: the Taxpayers, particularly the visit with Queen Elizabeth. Next time Justin, your children stay home because they’re not “little ambassadors.”
Why didn’t you use your valuable franchise as a citizen?
You didn’t vote so you didn’t care enough who would get elected but now you criticize the choice of the folks who bothered to get informed and vote. Nice.
Also, this has been said to death but here it is one more time. The PM gets a budget for household staff. He gets to decide what that staff is. As a man with three young children, JT chose to hire two nannies. What is to grumble about?
vauvert
I didn’t vote because I didn’t like the choice. It wasn’t a matter of being uninformed. Some people spoil a ballot- same difference.
As for liar Trudeau he specifically stated pre-election he would not dump his childcare expenses on taxpayers. He said he was rich and he didn’t need the taxpayers in that regard. Then he wanted the votes from Syrians already well settled in Canada, many of them business owners so he lied again stating he would bring in all the refugees by the end of 2015. And now JT is on the same road as Harper with regard to the United Nations. Trudeau only won because of the “who’s your daddy?” edge and because CDNS were tired of Harper’s corruption and secrecy and because ultimately no one bought into Mulcair’s $$$ pipe dreams for saving Canada when he’s a known traitor within his own province.
I don’t think he’s beautiful, but he’s clean cut – boy next door – and he’s sensitive. Those are very attractive traits.
ps- also with regard to Trudeau – he knowingly telephones a Quebecer informing such person his wife died (terrorist attack) imparting Canadian values when it was more important to that individual (survivor) a Quebecer call providing support knowing they (the deceased) were assisting others (french only speakers), Trudeau has already done significant damage re- Ottawa and Quebec relations by essentially annoying them with the ongoing rhetoric same sh*t different pile. Note Trudeau wasn’t at the airport in Montreal with Couillard and Coderre when the refugees arrived.
I think the gossip is that Leo thinks that because he raises lots of money, his carbon footprint doesn’t count. That only other people need to act carbon-responcible. The heavy diesel burning private jets/yachts don’t count, because he has a prius and foundation donations (other people’s money)! Not even flying commercial because at least it’s not an extra plane in the sky. Nope. P-r-i-u-s!
Can Leo make a difference in Canada? I’m just curious about how an American celebrity on an Oscar campaign can fix issue in Canada. And then the American backlash. I’m going for a drive in my SUV and pulling my trailer.
An American celebrity who recently used the chinooks (warm winds…naturally occurring) as an example of horrifying climate change has neither the education nor understanding necessary to speak on the subject of energy policy in Canada or, indeed, any of North America.
He should stick to agri-business corruption in the United States. That is a less complicated and much more obvious area for him to focus on.
Justin Trudeau taking selfies with Bono & Spacey at Davos while people lose their jobs and corporations avoid paying taxes. Incidentally Bono/U2 also avoid paying tax. Hypocrisy.
I too was NOT impressed with the Bono/Spacey selfies at Davos. It really pissed me off. Trudeau just loves him his selfies. That, and the Vogue photo spread he and his wife did after his taking office…just didn’t sit right with me. I don’t want to think of him as all form and no substance, but, that’s the impression I’m getting with him, and me NO like that.
Yet the President of the United States and First Lady take all sorts of photos with celebs at various functions and is even friends with celebs such as Beyoncé and Jay-Z. Mrs. Obama has covered not only Vogue but umpteen dozen other magazines and shade is given to our young, attractive Prime Minister who gets a small spread with his wife and that isn’t okay?
The whole media/selfie/magazine spread/cover thing with new age politicians is that they need to appeal to a younger generation and that generation happens to be obsessed with social media and themselves so what better way to appeal to them but to become one of them.
I have no problem with any of it. I don’t post selfies, I don’t even take them. I don’t even like posting photos of myself but that’s just me and I get it, this is the world we now live in.
Trudeau is a large part of the reason many families are suffering from job loss.
Really? How exactly is it his fault? Let’s see, Econ 101. Oil prices drop due to lower demand. Fewer jobs in the industry. Also due to lower oil prices, value of Cad$ goes down, therefore further depressing the economy, but ok, let’s blame Justin.
It doesn’t even have to do with how long he has been in power. Oil prices are outside his control entirely. What he can do is stimulate the economy by spending. But… When he announced a lot of spending initiatives to do just that, the Cons screamed at him for increasing the deficit. How exactly is he supposed to both limit spending AND spur job creation?
Hahaha, he’s done that much damage since October? I think you need to get your political opinions from somewhere other than garage talk.
Really? Because about 90% of the guys from around here (Atlantic Canada) moved out west to work the rigs for quick money with no real skills.
When you have a bunch of young guys running out to make fast cash, and who are blowing that money as fast as it comes, you’re not going to be prepared when prices drop.
The fact that gambling and general spending is up in the areas where these guys are living, during this time is not helping either.
I genuinely feel bad for the families who are out there and in a crappy situation – but there is such a majority of hot head young guys out there who had no interest in a backup plan. You’re taking your chances in industries like this.
Amen to Erinn. This is the exact issue have in West Texas. $1M homes now but that gas is gonna run out and the town will bust again. $300 for a hotel room we got 5 years ago for $69. NOPE. Crime is ridiculous and the baby boom will hit after the oil men leave.
^^^ This so much. The 70k trucks and ATVS/Dirt bikes and 70inch TVs they all kept spending on instead of saving really didn’t help much. I warned guys I knew to save their cash but no one listened.
Not just Texas but that happened all over in America. Everybody was living large back in the 90’s and early 2000s when the economy was great and everybody was making money. Hardly anybody saved their money or even a portion of it because they all thought they’d be making that kind of money forever. Nobody paid off their home or set up any IRAs. Instead they bought summer cottages, bought a new vehicle every 4-5 years, and spent, spent, spent. Then when the economy dropped, 3/4 of them had their homes foreclosed on. It’s almost hard to feel sorry for them. For the following decade, the hot button issue in the legal profession was foreclosures. The Governor of my state, Michigan, made the banks work with home owners to avoid foreclosuer and she held the mortage companies responsible for approving loans they had no business approving other than to make money for themselves in the long run. That needed to happen, because frankly, the mortgage industry was the wart on the butt of real estate. However, as someone who feels there should be consequences for irresponsibility including financial, I had a hard time with over-spenders being forgiven their debt or not having to face the same consequences anybody else did before that era, because I don’t see them as victims – stupid yes, but victims? No.
Zigggy….he just got elected. Canada’s oil sector has been tanking for ages. China is in economic free-fall which is affecting the entire planet. How exactly is job loss his fault? You have to spend money to make money. Before you drop overarching comments make sure you explain why.
And Zigggy, what exactly did PM Harper do to diversify the Canadian economy during the 9 years (2006-2014) he ran the country? His policies put all the eggs in 2 baskets: oil and housing. Now oil is going down, and housing will follow. Not smart. Don’t blame Trudeau, who was elected to actually do things for the country but left no money to do it with — you know, things like improving the health-care system.
I swear you just described Obama coming in to clean up Bush’s mess and yet, being blamed for Bush’s mess.
Hi JJ that’s how I recognized it. : )
They say Canada’s 10 years behind the USA…maybe politically too?
Trudeau is so good that he was able to get the dollar dropping and the oil industry to shrink since October 20, 2015. Damn that is pretty amazing.
Sarcasm over. Look at the facts. This was happening with Harper in office and it was why Alberta voted NDP before Trudeau and the Liberals got a majority federally. Harper made the Canadian economy way more reliant on the oil industry than in the past, letting the manufacturing jobs in Ontario and elsewhere leave altogether. It is probably impossible to fix but to blame Trudeau for this is just blatant lying and ignoring actual facts.
Thank you Nic919 – well said.
Ditto, Nic919. Harper spent his years in office transforming Canada’s economy into a petro-economy. It was purposeful, and it was successful, and now we’re suffering (but of course Mulcair was hammered by the national press for saying two years ago that Canada had/was susceptible to Dutch disease!). Well, Western Canada and Ontario are suffering. Atlantic Canada has been like this since Confederation so it’s more of the same for us.
Thanks Nic919. Amazing how a PM in office for just a few months gets blamed for things set in motion years ago. Like the way Obama got blamed for Bush’s faulty economic policies and the lack of oversight of the financial industry (ushered in under Clinton the First!).
No. Oil started going down like over a year ago. I live in Alberta.
It has nothing to do with Trudeau and everything to do with an oversupply because Saudi Arabia is pumping it out with no limit. Saudi’s outright said they’re refusing to cap their production because they want to hurt Western oil producers. They are staring at a $100 billion budget deficit already because of oil but they are committed to continuing to pump it out,.
Best guess? They would like to take over a bunch of American and Canadian oil companies who are hurting because of the price. Then they’ll cap production again and artificially raise prices. And we’ll all be bowing down to SA because they will basically have an oil monopoly.
I actually think lifting sanctions on Iran is partially a power play by western countries to hurt SA and send them a message.
You are correct.
You’re not wrong, Audrey. I live in Houston, and the scuttlebutt I have heard from clients for months now is that Saudi Arabia’s increased production has many reasons behind it. The main one is that Saudi – and many of the large energy companies, if they are honest – want to squeeze out the small, inexperienced producers who have gotten lucky but not necessarily smarter over the past few years. Another reason is to make it very difficult for ISIS and the remnants of the Assad regime in Syria to make money selling oil on the black market. Hurting Assad arguably hurts Putin and reminds Russia who is really the boss in OPEC.
The consensus here is that Saudi will start dialing back on production in 2nd or 3rd quarter this year, lest a continued high output and low price seriously undermine the global economy. It does not help those who are out of work and suffering now, but God willing, it will only be a small “market correction” rather than a total energy industry meltdown as we here in Texas have seen before!
Seriously, you’re trying to pin him with the actions of his father?
Oil prices are wayyyyyy down because this is the other side of the “oil crisis” coin when the Saudis cut off supplies. Now, thanks to shale oil, the US is, for the first time in decades, producing enough oil to not have to import. But…Saudi oil costs far far less to get out of the ground than shale oil, so they’ve been deliberately allowing the prices to plummet to the point that shale oil is no longer economically feasible to produce. Add into that the thousands of daily tanker trucks of stolen Syrian oil that is being smuggled into Turkey and sold for cheap on the black market. And it’s going to get worse because sanctions on Iran are about to be lifted and their oil is going to hit the international market again soon.
Please, DiCaprio is staying quiet on the #Oscarsowhite because he wants his Oscar already.
As for this issues, if people want to get rid of the oil industry then they better come up with plan at the same time to re-train those workers for another industry so they can have a job.
Actually, specifically re-training oil workers seems unfair to me. Jobs are lost due to competition and innovation ALL the time.
Did you care about people losing jobs at dial-up internet companies when you switched to broadband? You go to a restaurant and the food sucks, so you (and everyone else in town) go to a nicer joint. Did you spare a thought for the waitress at the original place?
Losing your job because the company failed sucks. But it sucks for anyone, regardless of the field. So I don’t understand calls to give special treatment to those in one specific industry.
That said, I’m not Canadian. I’m Australian, and thinking of special treatment recently given to the failing domestic auto industry. Is there something specific to the Canadian oil industry that I’m missing?
Traditionally, Canada has (or had) frequently committed to job retraining programs as an extension of our employment insurance programs. The idea being that it costs less to help someone find new work through a training program than it does to pay them for 4, 6, or 12 months EI. Those retrained workers find work sooner than they would without training, cost the government less in EI payouts, and begin contributing to the public coffers sooner (because the newly trained workers are then paying taxes and EI contributions). If the size of job losses in any _particular field_ (rather than gradual job attrition here and there such as you describe) reach the critical mass at which gov’t investment in training programs outweighs the cost of EI, why not??
A politician defending the oil industry. Imagine that.
You do realize that if Trudeau had the power to shut down the oil industry tomorrow the entire world, not just Canada, would pretty much lose their jobs. As the ever-wise Vauvert said above, the change to greener power sources will be long and costly. Leo is great at speechifying and dropping other people’s money for green research, and I applaud him for it, but as long we have countries like China that continue to pump out billions of tons of coal-fed pollution and consume more oil than the rest of the planet, the fault is not with a newly elected Prime Minister of Canada, the fault is with global capitalism.
Capitalism and environmentalism will be at odds as long as we allow it. (Forever, I suspect.) It shouldn’t a political statement, but it is. Politicians keep trying to reconcile the two with rhetoric, but it’s utterly and completely useless.
Handsome as he is, Trudeau is a politician.
And Leo? He’s ridiculous in life, but he’s not wrong about the environment.
Mother Nature might be losing the battle right now, but she will eventually win the war. (And I don’t think the human race is going to like the outcome very much.)
I’m a Canadian and I’m liking PM Trudeau a lot. So far he seems to be really trying to make a difference, and really, it couldn’t have gotten worse than what we had before. I live in Ontario; I don’t know for sure about the other provinces, but here we practice a lot of things to help the environment. We recycle with blue bins, green bins (compostable items) and are only allowed one garbage bag per week. We are required by law to test our vehicles every two years for emissions. We cannot legally use Roundup or other weedkillers of its ilk on lawns anymore. Many of us listen to David Suzuki (an absolute hero IMO) and plant milkweed for monarch butterflies, plants for bees, eat non-GMO foods, etc.
Do I agree with Trudeau on his theory here, that seems to be picking jobs over saving our planet? No. But I do see his point, and people do need jobs to live.
Leonardo DiCaprio on the other hand, is a hypocrite, tooling around on his yachts and private jets. I am admittedly not a fan and may be biased against him, but the facts here are that he is hypocritically spouting “save the planet” out of one side of his mouth while the other side doesn’t practice what he preaches.
Most countries have a long way to go, especially mine (we’ve just started seeing Recycling bins in the city) and Canada seems to be an example on how to do it. I try to recycle and repurpose as much as I can but without the proper infrastructure it’s hard.
It’s kind of funny, because my cousin lived in Guelph for a year or two, and said that there was far less recycling going on than we had in NS. It might be a regional thing though; certain parts might not be as up on it as others.
I think Trudeau is doing a pretty good job. No PM is going to be a complete god-send -they have to make hard decisions – and someone is going to get the short end of the stick. But overall, I’m happy with him thus far.
Recycling programs are municipal. Some places recycle plastic and others don’t and it has to do with the cost of running the program.
I live in Vancouver and we are going for the greenest city in the world by 2020.
We cannot throw food in the trash anymore, it is recycled in the green bin. Recycling is collected once a week where garbage is now only collected once a week.
It doesn’t make any difference to the environment though when large industries are polluting our planet like crazy.
If we want to make a change, it has to come from everyone on a large scale, not just by private citizens.
OT, but Bluenoser who spent 3 years in Guelph here. The story as I understood it was that the city built a recycling and compost processing plant a ways back. The building couldn’t handle the atmospheric conditions of so much moisture and the structure literally rotted away within years. That’s why all Guelph’s compost was being bundled with non-compostable “organic” things (i.e. diapers) for years and years and going straight to landfill. I believe a new compost plant is operational now so they are diverting significantly more than we do in NS/HRM, in fact highest waste diversion in all of Ontario.
Erinn, I am in Hamilton and we are VERY into recycling! it’s been one garbage bag weekly and as many blue bins and green bins as you want for many years now. They recently put a program into effect even for complexes that have a common trash collection area: it used to be impossible to see who left how many bags of garbage, but now they have a new way to do it with tags and separate boxes. This city has been a huge pollutant in the past with the steel factories but at least they’re trying to make up for it. 🙂
I lived in NS and now in Alberta. Previously in Yellowknife.
Yellowknife was the worst but that’s not surprising since they’re so remote.
Where I lived in NS was not great. they had curbside pickup. Trash had to go in clear bags, recycling in blue bags and a green bin for compost. But the trash bags were consistently full of recyclable items. Having the bags be clear so you could see was a good idea but didn’t work at all
In Alberta, we only have curbside trash pick up. We see a lot of traffic at the recycling centre when we go but I’m sure many don’t recycle if they don’t drive They’re considering doing curbside pickup but after my experience in NS, I’m not optimistic about it helping. However I do wish we had compost bins here. We have a lot of organic waste
I’m not sure if things have changed in the last 10 years since moving from Guelph, (though I can’t see how they would take a step backward in their programs given the commitment they had to them when I was there,) but Guelph has the best recycling program I have seen (compared to the other places I have lived in and visited). Even back in the late 90’s they required you to sort your garbage into clear plastic bags, compost into clear green plastic bags, and recycling into clear blue plastic bags. There were clear instructions on what fell into each category, (and the amount that could be recycled was vast,) and if any one item was placed in the wrong bag, they refused to pick the bag up and you were required to correct it. They also wouldn’t pick up the recycling bag if you didn’t wash out the containers. It was a fantastic system, and I even now use it as an example of what other municipalities should do. Hopefully it hasn’t changed except to get better.
As for Leo and Trudeau, I agree with a number of commenters, so I won’t repeat it. The only thing I will add is a question: doesn’t Leo have a Tesla now instead of the Prius?
Suzuki a hero? Thats the biggest laugh so far in these comments. How many mansions does he own. Do they have no footprint on the environment. He is in the same category as DiCaprio. A waster .DiCaprio thinks climate change is in the chinook wind that warms him up when actually chinook winds have been around as long as the world has. I live in Alberta. Our NDP premier is a disgrace. This government is making decisions by the seat of their pants. Our prime minister Trudeau is good at seldom being in our country but when he is he is good at taking selfies and bringing thousands and thousands of refugees here on the taxpayers dime. Many of them have no place to go so we are paying for them to live in hotels and giving them everything. We are taking away from our own, many who can no longer feed their children due to our economy. Where does this stupidity end.
The conservatives were a disgrace. They were like pigs at the trough.
Canada has had excellent experience with previous waves of refugees, who ultimately blended with the existing population and became productive, contributing citizens. It’s really not a worry and it’s not as expensive as you are implying. Some people sound resentful about the Syrians because more often than not they may be Muslim. As for “being put up in hotels,” that is transitional housing while additional local supports are set up and they can be placed in apartments in ridiculously overheated housing markets. It’s not like they’re being put up at the Ritz. What are you thinking? If you had to flee Canada, do you think another country would be placing you in a posh luxury resort and spa? No, more likely they are at a depressing Ramada Inn and grateful to have a roof over their heads in a clean, peaceful place, and to know their kids won’t be bombed overnight. This new-found compassion for Canada’s poor and homeless — funny how it started when the new government saying it would accept more refugees. Have a heart. It could happen to you and believe it or not, there actually is enough to go around.
The sudden outpouring of concern for the homeless and mentally ill in our country would be heartwarming, if it weren’t so obviously disingenuous. The same folks who cross the street to avoid and ignore the homeless beggars outside their downtown offices, had an instant change of heart when they heard refugees were coming. I’m not scared of refugees, but, I’m terrified of the heartless, discompassionate folks who fear them….
I live in the most drilled and fracked state in the country. There are many families out of work because the industry is done. There are no jobs to replace the high paying ones lost. Nobody is talking about how these people are supposed to
survive. On the other hand, we
are now the most seismically active spot in the world with
multiple quakes daily. Never had
quakes prior to 2011. Scientists
are saying quakes are mainly due
to injection wells. Fracking has
slowed down but too late. The
damage is done and nobody
wants to take ownership. Forgive
me if I could care less about
climate change. Earthquake will
destroy us here long before
climate change will.
Welcome to Texas. 🙂
Unless you live in Alberta or Canada i dont think you get to have an opinion about our oil sands. I work here and they are nothing that the media makes it out to be. We have the highest safety regulations in the world, highest environmental standards, and spend the time to reclaim land. I dont go to movie sets and tell him how to do his job, because i dont know anything about that, so i find it offensive that he is telling the world about something that he has never been a part of. I also find it completely hypocritical of him to be flying around the world on jets to spend time on yachts, creating a larger carbon footprint than an average family creates in a life time. As well, why is he only targeting Canada? The rest of the world doesnt follow standards that are anywhere near ours. Including the US. Ive been thru LA – ive seen the pipelines going thru neighbourhoods, i see what state those tanks are in. Or the Methane leaking into the air in california. We dont have that here – because we are regulated. He should be looking in his own backyard before he starts pointing the finger. Go stick to what youre good at.. making movies. Because pretending to be an environmentalist but not even knowing what a chinook is and calling it global warming makes you look like an idiot.
I mean no offensive to my American friends – im just saying that there is alot more at home that he could be doing to help the environment without specifically targeting Alberta.
It’s widely known that Alberta is filthy dirty thanks to those oil sands, no matter how great the regulations are.
@Gia, it’s widely known that countries like China, India and Russia are to blame for the billions of tons of fossil fuel emissions due to coal-fired power plants, zero regulations on vehicle emissions and toxic waste from mining and manufacturing. Alberta looks like a sparkling clean environment compared to those countries.
Oil comming from MiddleEaster despots with reprehensible human rights recordS are MUCH dirtier that the oil sands.
@Gia, i invite you to come and check out Alberta and our oil sands. We have a beautiful province and pristine land. Dollar is low, great time to travel to Canada!- ill debate all day, but if you have never stepped a foot in Alberta i dont think you have the right to talk about how well known our filthy province is. You have no idea what you are talking about. Filthy is China, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Yemen, even Russia. I have seen their lack of regulations first hand, and the blood poured over the way they do business. Its incredibly narrow minded of you to think that we dont have a handle on our resources. We have the best people in the world running our plants. they just show you the mining. Technology has moved far past mining.
Jessica I agree with most of what you say but honestly the oil sands are disgusting. That land will be uninhabitable forever!! I was there before the oil sands and it was full of wildlife and greenery. All that is gone.
I work in the graphic industry and our family company has taken all the necessary steps to reduce our carbon footprint – investing in green technology, replacing alcohol based ink with our own water-based formula, we use recycled resources, etc. We even take care in our prime resources because our products are in contact with food. We recycle everything we don’t have a use for anymore.
ITA with how hypocritical he comes off as. He could easily book a flight’s entire First Class cabin for himself and his Posse, without the need to use private jets the same way most people use the bus or tube. He basically spends time on yachts directly polluting and contaminating the ocean. He should take a look at his habits, make a change, and then speak so boldly.
@Jaded based on what stats are you saying that India and Russia are the world’s biggest Greenhouse Gas emitters? China, US and the EU are the biggest polluters according to WRI stats. It’s obvious why China is a huge polluter–it’s the manufacturing centre of the world. All the crap that we buy for cheap in Canadian Tyre is made there. So if we want to judge them, well we need to moderate our consumption habits first. It’s no secret that per capita energy consumption in the Western/ so-called developed world is way, way ahead of China and India. I also think it’s misleading to look at overall emissions b/c Canada’s population is so much less than these other countries. Looking at per capita also raises the issue of our personal responsibility in this. So Torontonians looking down on Albertans for their oil industry need to check themselves too–how much crap do we buy that we don’t need. Why do we all have to live in McMansions with huge energy bills? Why drive when we have perfectly good transit? No one person or industry or province shoulders the blame for this.
Jessica: This. Totally agree.
@Jessica: I totally agree with you. Alberta is going through the ringer, and much of the information put out re its oil industry is scaremongering.
Tell that to the Indians who live downriver and are dying of various diseases namely cancer.
Maggie, they are called First Nations people. I assume you are referring to Ft Chipewyan. There are 81 reported cancers amongst the population of 1200. Average would be 79 for that population in the rest of Canada. And as they are differing cancers, this is not statistically significant enough to prove anything.
Alberta is working hard to take steps to make oil sands production clean and safe, perpetuating myths and blatant fallacies helps no one. Let’s hold producers accountable by educating ourselves with the truth, so we can focus on the actual problems that are still at hand.
You are correct . I should have referred to them as First Nations,however there have been a number of programs focussing on their health issues and their increase because of the oil sands. Not all of them cancer. This cannot be denied!
@Jaded, surely you cannot compare Canada’s standards to those of China, India or Russia and say we are better since we polluting far less than 3rd world nations?
Also, above I made a typing error regarding Vancouver’s garbage collection. Vancouver has garbage collection every two weeks. We had it every week before, but now one must recycle all food waste in the green bin and recycle as much as possible. You can even toss your vacuum dust into the green bin.
The future is green and we all better get on board because we are destroying the earth for the all-mighty dollar.
I see the point where Leo Dicaprio would be the wrong person to send this message, but our PM talking about all these lost jobs is futile. Why not start training people in green jobs, harness solar and wind power, use rainwater harvesters?
Gia, I’m not comparing Canada’s standards to anywhere. Each country has its own standards and none are meeting their reduction quotas. I am pointing out that most countries in the world are polluters. The U.S. has massive coal burning plants, and a proliferation of mountaintop coal mines where they demolish entire mountaintops in the Appalachians. Whole towns have had to be relocated and have caused widespread flooding and pollution, not to mention loss of wildlife. I’m only saying that right now the most culpable countries as far as creating greenhouse gas pollution THAT AFFECTS THE ENTIRE PLANET are China, India and Russia.
Okay Gia, and where will all this magical money come from to do that? Have you even BEEN to the oil sands? Because I have. You can’t just magically switch millions of people to new industries without serious economic repercussions. But I guess you don’t care if our grandchildren are crushed by debt or not.
Jessica, thank you for your post. I’m sick of the lies too. People pick on Canada because they are an easy target. Guess where the dirtiest oil in North America comes from? CALIFORNIA! That’s right, hypocrites!
” The “dirtiest oil in North America” is not produced in Canada, but just outside Los Angeles, where the Placerita oil field generates about twice the level of upstream emissions as Canadian oilsands production”
http://ipolitics.ca/2014/07/18/how-clean-is-our-dirty-oil-youd-be-surprised/
Canada contributes less than half a percent to the world’s pollution. But yes, let’s just keep on attacking Canada’s main economic lively hood.
I’m curious how you would react if the situation was reversed (i.e. if an American told you that you weren’t allowed to have an opinion on a particular US issue). Not very well, I would presume.
No comment on the oil issue because I am not informed about it. However, I now know who the prime minister reminds me of… Prince Eric from the Little Mermaid!
I can’t take advice from someone who routinely travels around private planes and yachts, neither of which reduce his carbon footprint.
However, I don’t see how much influence he truly has. This is part of his “serious” image as an actor, to counterbalance his less appealing one. But perhaps Trudeau’s government could start looking into ways to replace one industry with another.
We do, actually. But as I have posted above (and Jessica, thank you for adding details), we live in a global economy not a bubble. The issue is far more complex than asking Canada to switch to green energy. Everyone needs to do it, otherwise you just replace Canadian oil with, for example, Kuwait or US oil. How is that cleaner? How do you think every piece of product comes from China? On a ship fuelled by, you guessed it, oil. What do you think powers your home and car and office? Some oil or gas product. People all want clean solutions but only as long as it comes at no cost or hardship to them. The car industry had a stellar year. Only a fraction of the 16M new cars are green. And the old vehicles on the road? The older they are, the more polluting. And so on and on.
Leo’s a complete hypocrite. His own industry is abundantly wasteful and polluting.
Trudeau is just an opportunistic, myopic politician who will say whatever is most expedient.
Team no one.
Trudeau didn’t say anything mind blowing. I don’t understand all the fawning.
Wow, I had no idea there were so many fellow Canadians here on CB. Good to see, eh!
Thanks BeeBee – have a donut and Tim Horton’s on us 🙂
But not idling your engine in the drive-thru at Timmie’s!
So, no political agenda but, MOAR Justin Trudeau. GOD HE IS HOT. I’m a political science major and OMG had I not been limited to US politics I’d have written my thesis on the sexiness of this hot man. I’m glad I’m done with school or I’d embarrass myself!
As a Canadian, I don’t want a leader in Ottawa who is “hot”; I want one that delivers the goods…well, you know what I mean! LOL! I have no desire to want to jump Justin’s bones, though; he does nothing for me. But, to each their own re taste and what they find attractive.
I just can’t get past his quasi lisp when he speaks!
I don’t see this hot you speak of. To each his own.
Nor do I. But it hasn’t stopped others close to PMs over the years from achieving an ideal standard of hotness I suppose.
Check out CBC archives re- Mila Mulroney feeding Caroline in her high chair. It’s plain to see Mila (see her most recently at Rene’s funeral (Dion), has had all kinds of work done comparable to the Kardashians, beginning of course, with a nosejob.
Citresse –
I noticed Mila’s “work” too (who couldn’t?). Why can’t people just grow old gracefully. The work she’s had done is obvious and not flattering. Lips, pulled face, etc. Even her daughter in law Jessica is getting in on it and she’s only in her 30’s. Shame.
@Citresse, speaking of the Mulroneys, maybe Ben should run for the Conservatives. What do you think? 😉
misha
All the Mulroney children need to disappear. It’s bad enough I want to throw my tv set out the window when Ben’s mug appears (his gossip rag show) but then I’m subjected to Brian Mulroney pimping his own daughter to replace Rona.
Citresse- doubt that’s gonna happen. Unlike her brother, Caroline is low key and doesn’t court publicity the way he does. Don’t think the scrutiny would be her cup of tea either.
I am sorry for anyone who loses a job, but society changes, needs and demands change. We don’t need people to make armor anymore. We don’t need people to make powdered wigs anymore so both jobs go away. When something as precious as the health of the environment hangs in the balance, it is incumbent upon us to change. That said, Trudeau reminds me of Eric Bana a little bit. Wherever did he go?
NO, but someone is needed to make “wiglets” for our future Queen Catherine.
Remember Canada is still a Constitutional Monarchy and remember Duchess Kate likes her wiglets.
Another case of “nice hair though.”
😉
Meanwhile, the US just keeps buying up oil from the middle east. Supporting and propping up countries with the worst human rights record on earth. The worst. Religious, sexist and cultural oppression of all kinds and Kerry has the nerve to say Canadian oil is dirty? Canadians are the problem? Why don’t you look at your friggin fracking industry? More like the Cartel is looking to put Canadian and Us production out of business by dropping the price. I’ll pay more for gas gladly knowing it’s not going to prop up the Saudis.
I and PM Trudeau for that matter and completely in favour of the development of alternative forms of energy and I believe you’ll see that R and D happen in Canada.
If you’rejust saying your preference is Saudi oil to Canadian and US oil, give me a break.
I agree with all comments about hypocritical celebrities…. private jets, yachts, giant houses with require massive energy to heat and cool, massive wardrobes, etc… why do people who have the biggest foot prints get to stand on a throne and lecture everyone else? ughhhhhh I cannot stand it.
First of all, given the problems in the middle east and some people have pointed out that Saudi Arabia might have a hand with ISIS and a whole load of other problems (their horrible treatment of workers for one) United States shouldn’t even purchase oil from there. This would make the prices higher and also encourage green initiative but there is also the problem of fracking, oil spills, etc. United States’s oil companies are horrible and states like Texas and Florida have suffered and will suffer even more. As far as Canada my heart goes out to them. I haven’t heard corruption from them as much as I have heard from United States and Saudi Arabia. Please correct me if I am wrong. Frankly, I think our planet is screwed either way and no offense but I think Canada plays a much smaller role compared to China, India, Venezuela, the middle east, and even United States. The men who want to make quick money in Texas. That’s pretty interesting… It’s harder to be sympathetic when they are so reckless. But sometimes you get stuck in the now and forget about the future. When you are comfortable that happens really easily. I read this interesting thing that a therapist said. And it was about how depressed, anxious people despite all their anguish end up staying in that environment, instead of changing their lives so improve their mental states.
I just love that we’re on Celebitchy totally talking about Canada! 🙂
Canadians love their gossip!
@Gia who do you get your widespread knowledge on Albertas dirty, filthy oil sands from? DiCaprio and his celebrity friends probably. Lack of true knowledge is a total lack of knowledge. Taking hypocrites words as knowledge is like negative knowledge.
Question: why exactly are Leonardo di Caprio and Bono considered “experts” on environmental and other global issues? Hypocrisy aside (and they are both huge hypocrites), one is an actor, the other is a musician. So why are they invited to conferences such as Davos where they get to express their opinions to world leaders? Can you imagine if FDR and Churchill had a meeting at which decided they would consult Clark Gable and Glenn Miller on the pressing issues of the day?
I don’t get this either. Despite his donations, I also don’t think Leo has much individual influence over how politicians choose to structure their policies, so I don’t know why the Canadian PM is calling attention to his words. I don’t think anyone would have noticed his speech if we hadn’t heard that Justin Trudeau had had a word with him. Leo may possibly be a hypocrite, but because of the controversy between the two, I went and read the text, and was all “well, that sounds like common sense. Why is Justin Trudeau calling attention to his speech if he doesn’t want anyone noticing what was said?”
Politicians are just as much starfuckers as the rest of us (General us, not CB us.)
Just wanted to jump in and say it’s so wonderful to see all of my fellow Canadians engaging in discussion and laying down some fantastic opinions and assesments. I am team Canadians on Celebitchy👍🏽
One of the few people on my FB timeline who constantly posts about Environment, organic foods and all that stuff is the same woman who regularly takes private jet to go on vacation with her husband and posts those pictures. Urgh.
I am having secret sexy thoughts about your prime minister Canada.
and leo can go to hell with his hypocrisy and double standards.
Whatever, Trust fund baby. Stop with the selfies and travelling. Do something about the economy and quit calling out hypocritical hollywood idiots. You’re just as bad for the west as your daddy.
To think all of this started as he was campaigning to win for The Revenant ( I was shocked at his speech at the GG).
Good Lord Leo, do you need a bottle of water. I say this as someone who likes you.
Whodathunk I’d see the PM at Celebitchy? Then again, hot former ski and French instructor…
One of Canada’s dirty little secrets is that it used to be at the forefront of green technology, but a decade under Her Majesty Stephen Harper gutted the industry here. We had the best electrical battery system in the world, Tesla was looking at it, and then poof, all the tax breaks went to the gas and oil companies and all the green tech died. It remains to be seen what Trudeau will do to bring it back, and he HAS to bring it back. Oil at less than $20 a barrel isn’t going to dig Alberta out of its hole.
Considering there’s a giant gas leak in California that the gas company seems to be doing nothing about, I’m with Leo on this one. We love jobs, but at what cost? My parents and thousands of other families are sick and suffering from this.
*Waves from the edge of a group.*
Lots of comments, especially from people not affected/effected by the Oil sector.
I am a Mother of two. Married to wonderful man, who supports my career (Even too a leave for me to work a steady contract) I am a Petroleum Geologist, working mainly in SE Saskatchewan (Go Riders!)
I have not worked in 13 Months. I was one of the first to be let go, as I’m a young woman, working relief in the oil field.
We are lucky my husband is not in the same field. Where I grew up (SE Sask), to live there, you work the Patch. It’s life. You have grain farming, cattle, and oil. Farming isn’t great. Low yields. Sandy soil.
People can be environmentalists and still be be pro for oil. It’s a necessary evil, used in many ways. Nothing is even more upsetting than someone in a cushy job setting, snearing down at you, because you “chose” the oil patch. Tell that to the kids.
This is a terrible time for Western Canada. Eastern Canada will feel it soon. It has nothing to do with the refugees (who ARE welcome, we are Canadians, albeit a bit stressed!) it has nothing to do with Alberta livin “High off the Hog when times are good” as the forked over the eastern equalization payments as a non-issue. It’s down to family. It sucks right now. End of.
Excuse my crap grammar.
Most industries need to look at their future and the communities that depend on them should look at how they are dependent or too dependent on them. As for rhetoric, the questions some see:
1. how long can one continue down a path that in part contributes to their economic survival but works against their long-term environmental survival
2. how come it’s taken so long to find other economic means, if any others exists, and what’s the failsafe if that fails or outsources or doesn’t provide nearly the same economic sustainability
3. when does advocating for the environment become rhetoric vs concern or effective and
4. is it viable to flip the economic resource, making green industry products verse non-green, is there enough industry in solar/geo-thermal/wind to augment if not supplant oil/gas? Can both be done to bolster economy or is one industry set to never work with or allow others to do both simultaneously?
Fighting is about as product as rhetoric seemingly. Is it a matter of waiting for better economic times. And if Leo being Rich is the problem for posing the question, do people listen to the impoverished any better, has it become a class issue to entertain the questions? But then would any of the science be taken seriously by the homeless or the car mechanic or such?
I commented above and just wanted to say it was good debating with everyone. I think that’s the once piece missing. Healthy debating Although I work in oil and gas it doesn’t necessarily mean I oppose green energy. I just think we need to do it the right way. With a plan. You can’t just shift gear. I think we are under estimating the people who work in ol and gas. I find it frustrating that our media never reports the good things that have come from technology. They only ever show the same picture of the mining. We have moved past that. They use steam now and it’s changing everything. We have amazing people who are always working towards making things better. And I think If there was a plan to bring I. Other energies and balance out world markets that was presented in a reasonable and factual manner that the same people who have engineered this would also figure out how to manage more green energy. The problem is that this message is so narrow minded. Why is half our country using foreign oil that finances destruction when we could be using our own oil and continuing to grow our country? It doesn’t make sense to me. But I work in it. I am there all the time. I know what we do to prevent any spills I know our safety measures. So I don’t understand the fear. I just wish we could all get together and just have an honest talk instead of having to pick sides. This is going to affect everyone soon. I know not everyone has felt it yet. But our resource is oil. And it’s not just Alberta – we work with great people all across Canada. I hope we can get together as a country and figure out how to turn this into a positive for Canada.