A bunch o’ ridings were gearing up for recall campaigns before the federal election got called. A whole lot of folks were distributing literature and rallying volunteers until folks refocused on the federal election.

Once the election is done, I’m pretty confident that’ll ramp up again - the UCP ain’t getting less corrupt. Check out abresistance.ca for info.

I kinda like pet-chem if we’re going to do more upgrading - and sure enough we’re seeing activity in the space.

Refineries produce gasoline (for old cars), diesel (for old trucks), and oils (there’s alternatives). Refineries are for antiquated tech that were trying to phase out IMO.

Upgrading light ends (methane, ethane, propane, etc) are what I’d be investing in if I was looking at fossil fuels investment. We have LOTS of gas plants sweetening and fractionating that stuff so the product streams are there and the emissions intensity of that end is WAY better than liquids.

Dow is building a huge ethane cracker to produce polyethylene. IPL has the Heartland petrochemical complex that’s going to be soaking up immense amounts of propane to produce polypropylene pellets. I haven’t checked what Nova is up to lately, but I can promise you they’re looking to grow in the space.

I don’t love polymers, but we COULD recycle it if we were smart and unlike combustion where everything ends up in the atmosphere, a landfill full of plastic is actually carbon sequestration when you think about it.

Methane (natural gas) is worth approximately nothing at the moment, but coastal LNG exports will help China et al. ween off coal while they continue to build out renewables and Europe needs LNG for similar reasons and timescales.

Source - random internet person

I live and work downtown Calgary in an O&G related field (emissions reduction analysis - it’s a frustrating job). I listen to a LOT of anti-Smith diatribes. The UCP mostly gets elected by rural ridings. They have about half of Calgary, and I don’t know why they even bother running candidates in Edmonton.

There’s a lot similarities to BC actually - BC votes conservative (whatever they call themselves) most places outside of Vancouver and Victoria.

There’s even recall campaign talk in Calgary at the moment because people are hoping to force an early election to try and force the UCP out. (abresistance.ca for any Calgary homies who are interested in getting involved)

I think that the scale of investment involved in oil sands development necessitates MUCH longer range planning than relatively short political cycles.

There’s may be something to be said maximizing CAPEX when the commodity pricing sucks. Spending pullback from the more boom/bust centric conventional/frac operators reduces competition for trades and key manufacturers.

I think the differentiator at the moment is the lack of predictability. Normally your financial models only have to factor in modest price uncertainty. Right now the tariffs change so quickly that who knows what things will cost. I don’t have a clue how you price a project in this environment. I pitty project managers.

Steel plate and pipe is easy to source domestically - especially when the US buyers aren’t tying up Evraz capacity. Big inch valves would start to get tricky I think - but it’s been over a decade since I was working in that space. Coatings are Dupont and 3M for buried assets - so lots of risk exposure there.

Personally, if I operated any major facilities (fractionation/refineries) I’d be looking at what turnaround/maintenance work I could be pulling forward right now. When oil’s booming, you don’t want to shut down your money machine to do repairs.

Completely understand and hugs. Pets’ lives are too short.

I mean, I’d give you a hug, take you to my local pub which just so happens to be queer owned and does fundraising for amazing causes and introduce you to my friends and community. Hell, I have a spare bedroom if you want a place to crash while you get set up.

You aren’t your government any more than the turds running my province (Alberta) are me. You’ll most likely be met with sympathy for the challenges you face in making such a big move and admiration for having the conviction and courage to do so.

Like any country, there’ll be jerks, but as a rule of thumb, we’re pretty friendly.

Heck, if you want a vacation, shoot me a message and come visit and use that spare room I mentioned. Do you hike or bike? I’m in Calgary which is super close to epic mountain fun and incredible scenery. We’ve also got three cats who demand attention, and a guide-dog in training who is a goofy/genius puppy, so there’s lots of pet-therapy available too.

I’m in my 40s. The standard vaccination protocol when I was a kid was only two shots. The recommended course now includes a second round of two boosters later in childhood if I’m not mistaken.

I’ve booked an appointment with my local community health vaccination clinic to discuss getting some boosters. I get to sit down with a vaccine specialist and discuss the pros as well as any potential for side effects (would have to be worse than GETTING MEASLES to talk me out of it).

If anyone in Alberta isn’t clear on how to check their vaccination status, how to connect with their community health network, or is looking for information, please feel free to reach out. I’m not an expert, but I can help you connect with qualified health resources.

COVID was a wake up call for me. As we struggled to get masks, ventilators, and vaccines, I realized that we make incredibly little here in Canada.

I now do my best to EXCLUSIVELY buy Canadian. I’m admittedly privileged to be able to afford to, but it isn’t that much more expensive if you approach it from the perspective of buying a few quality products rather than tons of crap.

For footwear, Boulet Boots makes great summer and winter weight boots for about $300. Made just outside Trois Riviere. It’s a lot of money - but they can also be resoled, repaired and still look new in their second winter.

Most of my pants and shirts are from Common Manufacturing out of Winnipeg. $150-$200 for a shirt and $170 for a set of chinos. I used to buy Banana Republic type stuff for about half the price but I would destroy them within a year. Common offers free repairs for life but I haven’t needed to use it yet.

My belts and watch straps are from Popov Leather in Nelson, BC.

Pots and pans from Meyer in PEI.

When I tossed my black plastic kitchen tools, I replaced them with beautiful hand carved wood replacements from a local craft fair.

Every time I need something I go looking for who is making it in Canada. It’s fun, I get to support small business, and I enjoy the higher quality - even if I have less shirts.