Thread by @sunnshiiny

I’m surprised by the resistance to this man’s tweet. He’s right.

In the fear induced panic to cut emissions, many have forgotten the people dependent on FF stand to lose everything. Their job, income, homes and vehicles, opportunity for their children and their dignity.

https://twitter.com/futureworzel/status/1177957415335219201

Where is the compassion from the left? These are human beings threatened by existential economic ruin. They are terrified and want to believe it’s not over. And a manipulative bunch of con men keep promising jobs and return to boom days.

Who wouldn’t be tempted by those lies?

This is an end to their way of life & they have sacrificed mightily to maintain it. Working on the rigs is not easy work. 12-15 hour days, away from your loved ones, minimal time off, often in isolated communities in bunk houses. So their families can have some luxuries in life.

Some of them are executives in office jobs that trained for years in engineering or geology to attain a good paying job and contribute to the community. Some are small business owners who built skills and became independent employers and entrepreneurs.

What about the people who don’t work directly in the oil patch or office jobs but rely on the wages being spent in their businesses and communities? I hear little in compensation or acknowledgement of the impact on them.

Stopping FF production will have a ripple effect.

Alberta’s economy especially and Saskatchewan’s could fall into a tailspin. And collapse. If this isn’t approached reasonably & compassionately.

The disregard and disdain for those affected and their families and their communities coming from the left is only surpassed by cons.

It’s no wonder so many are desperately clinging to the false hope being offered by cons. Because the left despises them. So many progressives are envious of these peoples lifestyles. It’s disheartening. And hurtful.

Remember, the grass is always greener ...

The O&G workers have sacrificed much to earn those paycheques. And so have their families who often see the breadwinner for 1 week out of 4 or for 4 days out of 21.

Did anyone think that because of these guys we have heat in winter, drive, cook on stoves indoors, have lights.

The sacrifices they make to earn large wages also keep our lights on and enable the lifestyles we all hope to maintain.

Throwing them and their families under the bus to save ourselves and our lifestyles is a piss poor way to get cooperation for them to change lifestyles.

These people are being asked to give up everything they’ve worked for, everything that just a few years ago was a difficult but lucrative lifestyle.

We all stuck our heads in the sand and ignored climate change. Not just O&G workers.

Only now when it’s become obvious and our lives are at risk are we looking for drastic change. But we aren’t the ones making that drastic change. We expect O&G workers to make all the change and be grateful we give them a job that’s probably 1/3 of what they’re used to.

This is the time that empathy & compassion are required. How would you feel if you lost your livelihood, were offered a job that meant you had to sell your home and worldly possessions and pretend you’re grateful for the opportunity to not starve? While no one else has to change.

That’s essentially what we are asking many of these people to do. And they are all concentrated in one area of the nation. So the impact on their communities is compounded by the fact they are all in one place. Who’s going to buy their house that they can no longer afford?

But we on the left are only concerned with our own lifestyles and the impacts we don’t want to experience or to impact our children. What about these guys and gals that have literally everything to lose? What about their kids?

It’s why I can’t support the Just Transition. Whomever decided on that moniker deserves a kick in the behind for the insult it is. It is not just that these people are being asked to give up everything they have worked for. It is not just that the jobs we can offer pay so little.

It’s not just that they have to pay the ultimate sacrifice while we pay a little more for gas, heat and power. And it certainly isn’t just that so many from eastern Canada have only scorn for those that are desperate to cling to all they know.

This is the alienation that Albertans feel. This is the same reaction Alberta received during the Great Depression. Forgotten and left to fend for ourselves. It hurt then and it hurts now.

The GPC plans would require workers to abandon their homes and disperse across Canada for green window replacement jobs. Devastating communities and hollowing out neighbourhoods all over Alberta. The Just Transition is not just. Not for Alberta. Not for Saskatchewan.

Until the left recognizes and acknowledges the devastation climate action will have in western Canada, you aren’t going to get much buy in.

In the mean time, Kenney is attacking education to keep the population dependent on oil and gas.

UCP is planning on using indoctrination to dumb down education and has invited an American ideologue to redesign public curriculum. Devastating cuts are planned for the fall budget. Like Ford, Kenney won’t table anything that jeopardizes Scheer’s chances at forming government.

Continuous fomenting of hatred and anger towards progressives continues unabated and encourages many to act egregiously and empty of consideration. Exactly the environment Kenney needs to sell separation and refusal to back down. He is an effective demagogue.

But the disdain from those fearing only for their own existence exacerbates Kenney’s appeal. We aren’t stupid in Alberta, and many grew up with family histories of profound poverty and Ottawa’s negligence in days long past.

Canadians often forget. It was Albertans who suffered the indignities of being forgotten and abandoned. And it was because of that Albertans brought socialism to Canada. We opened the door to socialism because we didn’t want to see anyone else suffer the way we were forced to.

Every comment from frustrated progressives, every accusation of idiocy, ignorance and foolishness driving the wedge deeper and deeper.

My grandmother told me you get more flies with sugar than vinegar.

I’m almost positive she wasn’t the only person who repeated that wisdom.

If you are a progressive, empathy and compassion is important to you. How about you extend some to FF workers & their families. Most terrified what the next 10 years will bring. For different reasons.