SHEILA GUNN REID | Robbie Picard from Oilsands Strong is going on a national tour

The oil patch is a life-changing industry.

It gives people a way out of generational poverty without the burden of enormous student loans and the lag time between entry into the industry and earning potential. You can earn a fair income for your family with a strong work ethic and a desire to learn.

I think that's one of the reasons the Laurentian elites hate it so much. In the West, there is no such thing as “old money” and people in the path can earn as much as doctor, depending on what they do and how much they work. There are no social caste gatekeepers in the patch, as there are in liberal academic circles. It's true equality. There is no totem pole of oppression, just one of work experience.

And it's not just the people working in the patch that benefit from the jobs. Economic activity created by patch jobs keeps entire communities alive and farmers on the land.

The human story of oil and gas growth must be told, likewise the human cost when bad economic and green policies stop development.

That's what Robbie Picard from Oilsands Strong is doing with his national bus tour. He is going to visit the people and places of the oil and gas industry and speak to them to show the world who and what the oil patch is.

Robbie joins me tonight in an interview we recorded yesterday afternoon when we both visit the Rebel News Calgary HQ.