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鈥淪o build that pipeline, build that pipeline, Alberta鈥檚 lifeline.
鈥淏uild that pipeline, just build that pipeline, and bring us back to prosperity.鈥�
So goes the chorus to a song by the Spitzee Post Band, a High River, Alta. bluegrass band that recorded the song and video on Jan. 4, and by Jan. 7, had it on YouTube and various music providers.
鈥淓nough is enough,鈥� said Joe Gore, who is the lead singer and plays mandolin with the band, when asked on Jan. 7 why they recorded the song. 鈥淲e put it out there so we could get some support. We want to support the pipeline.鈥�
鈥淭he province is having such a hard time. That was our whole reason of doing it. We weren鈥檛 looking to make a tonne of money doing it. We were looking to support the proud Albertans that we are.鈥�
鈥淎s far as we鈥檙e concerned, all of the oil and gas industry, it completely supports. We know our brothers in Saskatchewan are having just as hard of a time with oil and gas as we are,鈥� Gore said.
鈥淚 worked from Hibernia to Suncor and Syncrude,鈥� he said, specializing in installing wellhead insulator blankets.
The video starts with numerous video clips from newscasts about pipelines, before breaking into some guitar, banjo and mandolin picking.
The band also includes Wayne Corner on steel guitar, Gary Kurtz on fiddle, Coralee Gore on bass and Gerry Madigan on banjo.
The song says, 鈥淲e鈥檝e encountered the objectors and we鈥檝e heard those loud protestors. But what about our starving families?
鈥淎t this rate it won鈥檛 be long before our jobs they are all gone Alberta has been brought down to her knees.鈥�
Madigan wrote the lyrics. He said on Jan. 7, 鈥淚鈥檝e got a personal interest in it. My son is in the oil and gas industry. He鈥檚 a rig welder. My son-in-law is a production accountant in oil and gas. They鈥檝e both suffered in recent years. Contracts were cancelled all over the place. Then they start again. Both of them have children, families to rear. It鈥檚 been really difficult.
鈥淲e hear people protesting about the pipelines and all. I think there鈥檚 a touch of surrealism about this. First of all, there鈥檚 a bit of hypocrisy. You see some provinces are trying to block the pipelines and curbing our ability to maximize the resources with our exports. But at the same time, they will take the equalization payments, with no qualms, whatsoever. To me, that鈥檚 a double standard,鈥� Madigan said.
鈥淭hese are the things that motivate me. I see all these things happening, and I think, the first thing we need to fix is putting bread on the table.
鈥淵ou need to fix your economy. You need to fix your basic, fundamental survival, if you like. Your basic needs. If you don鈥檛 have your basic needs, you can鈥檛 feed your family. It doesn鈥檛 matter. Nothing else matters. You鈥檙e going to starve and you鈥檙e going to die.
鈥淲e鈥檝e got housing 小蓝视频 repossessed and foreclosed. We鈥檝e got cars 小蓝视频 repossessed. This Christmas, there were some horror stories about some families who couldn鈥檛 afford presents for their kids.
鈥淲hen they鈥檙e deprived of an income, and they鈥檙e willing to work, and want to work, and we鈥檝e got natural resources that can provide that work for the people, and if we have a pipeline that can provide exports, we can rebuild the economy. But if the economy fails, we all know what it was like.
鈥淭here are people who lived through the 鈥�80s when the economy was bad. I was living in Ireland, where we had a fierce recession in the 鈥�80s, and houses were 小蓝视频 foreclosed, thousands and thousands a month. That鈥檚 incredible, when you think about it. But that鈥檚 the reality when a recession hits deeply and bites deeply.鈥�
Madigan went on, 鈥淯nless we do something to stop the economic downturn at the moment in Alberta, it鈥檚 going to eventually affect all of Canada. Because it has a huge impact. It鈥檚 fundamental to the Canadian economy and the economy here in Alberta.鈥�
Asked about Saskatchewan, which didn鈥檛 earn a mention in the song, he said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e got loads of other songs in the pipeline, ready to write.鈥�
The next one is called Kill the Bill, about Bill C-69.
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