Episode Transcript
Speaker 0 00:00:00 Good morning, Fort McMurray, wood, Buffalo, and the rest of the world. Thank you very much for tuning in today. This is the Mac city morning show. I am your host Elliot Pierre, and we're going to start the show off the same way we start every show off with a moment of gratitude. I know you could be doing a million other things with your time. So the fact that you're spending with us truly, truly does mean the world to me. So thank you on that note, Tanner hit him with the intro.
Speaker 0 00:00:35 All right. We have my favorite type of guests here today. I don't know this woman from a hole in the wall. Uh, so I love meeting new people, but I've been chatting with her for the last few minutes and it's going to be a good one. So as you guys all know, I do not introduce my guests. I let them do that themselves. So on that note, can you please introduce yourself to the people at home, tell them who you are and what you're about.
Speaker 2 00:00:54 Sure. Um, so I'm terrible, man. I'm the cooperators owner in the thick wood area. So I've been in the air Fort McMurray since 2015. So I witnessed the fires. I was here for the floods. So just kind of here to chat about flood awareness. Cause that's coming up, it's actually going to happen a year from this weekend. Okay. Yeah. So I kinda just wanted to let you know, residents know what to prepare for what to do. Um, and I just wanted to also kind of even hat a little bit about support local because it is really important right now. So that's why I'm here today.
Speaker 0 00:01:34 Cool. Very neat. All right. Well let's just jump into the flood then. So I grew up here in Fort McMurray, same with Tanner. So I've seen like that area, um, flood a few times, especially in the waterways area. Um, never as massive, obviously as the flood that we had last year, that was a big one. I know it happened back in the seventies, but I wasn't born yet. I'm old, but I'm not that old.
Speaker 1 00:01:58 My father was here for the one in the seventies and he said people were canoeing gum, Franklin Avenue.
Speaker 0 00:02:03 Yeah. I saw those pictures and my parents moved here actually in 1977. So I think that flood happened like in 76, a year before they showed up,
Speaker 1 00:02:11 They did. And then I'm pretty sure that was the year my father showed up.
Speaker 0 00:02:14 There you go. So longtime residents. Um, but most people aren't like my parents and Tanner's parents. So when it comes to the flood and flood insurance, how does that work? Cause I have, I have no idea.
Speaker 2 00:02:26 Um, so there's many different variations of flood insurance. Cause I mean I'm a direct writer, which means I slowly only represent cooperators. So when you have a brokerage, that means that if you go to a name brokerage, they represent many different other companies that also have different wordings, different coverages, different deductibles. So I can't really speak for those companies, but I just know with myself with representing cooperators. Um, so flood coverage, what we offer it's called Lake water, comprehensive water. Okay. So what that is is it covers you for any type of water that can get from the outside of your house, inside your house. Okay. So that's flood sewer back up, um, raising what the water table, which a lot of other companies don't cover. Um, but I think because of last year's flood, there were changes in the wordings. So it might be something that they do look at, um, with us, there's just three exclusions for water it's I don't even tsunami which honest to God, I hope never would actually happen up here, uh, and continue with seepage.
Speaker 2 00:03:36 So it has to be like Senate and incidental. It can't be something that's been happening over time and then it's caused rotten. We'll do. And then they're like, Oh, sorry, it's happened. You should have fixed it then. And not let it wait. Right? Yeah. So like what I suggest for a lot of people now is if you're in doubt and you don't know your limits, you don't know your wordings. You don't know your deductible now is the time to call your provider and ask the questions, read your wordings. And if you feel you're low, like that's not a limit, that's set in stone. So like, what we're trying to do is we're trying to be proactive and we're calling our clients and asking them, like, if you feel this monk, because it's flood season, do you want to increase your coverage? So if you're at 50 because of premium, right?
Speaker 2 00:04:28 If you're at 50,000 and you want to say increase it to a hundred thousand, just for this month, you can do it. And then, and then the month after call us and say, yeah, okay. Lower it back to 50. Oh cool. Yeah. So a lot of people don't think about that or they're aware of that. So like, if you feel that you just want to have that extra protection for the next like month or so, call us and say like, I'll pay the extra premium for the extra couple of months to have that extra top of coverage. And then in, so say the flood doesn't happen, call us and then just bump it back down. Yeah. Yeah. Very cool. I didn't know. You could do that. Yeah.
Speaker 0 00:05:08 The big thing in regards to the flood insurance, where some people got burned last year was the sewage backup. Like they are covered for certain parts, but if your sewage backup because of the flood potentially you weren't covered for that. It's definitely when you're talking about insurance, it's all into details.
Speaker 2 00:05:24 It's all in the wordings. Yeah. So like it's very important to read the words and nobody wants to, I mean, usually what happens is you're going to get your big thick binder in the mail and you're going to be like, okay, these are my limits. And you put it in file in the drawer somewhere and that's it. But the only, and the one thing I always say is you only know how good your insurance company is when you have a claim. That's right. So I've talked to like many business owners in town who are still like in a temporary, we're still fighting with their companies. Um, and they're just like, really, there's just almost feel like they're defeated. So, I mean, I don't have a license to talk about claims. I can only do my part as the person providing the coverage, but I'm the mediator. So I work with you and the adjuster and claims people to get things moving and help help a client out. Yeah. Yeah. So it's really, it's all about the wordings
Speaker 0 00:06:28 And you're here too. Yeah. So if something goes wrong, people can find you and they do. Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:06:36 Yes. That's what I like about being local. Like people that are doing, you know, claims adjustments that come up from wherever, they don't know this area. They don't know what we're going through. Like I went through a fire, I went through a flood. Like I know people's stories. I know what they went through. I mean, I went through it myself. Like it was a crazy time. So that's why I just always want to re iterate, like support local. Like if you want to get a cheaper rate from someone who's in Calgary or read your or whatever, and that's fine, but like, there's always the aspect of when you need that person, are they going to be there? Are they going to like, be a place that you can take a five minute drive to and be like, I need to talk
Speaker 0 00:07:26 That's right. Yeah. That's huge. Yeah. Nice.
Speaker 2 00:07:30 So, yeah. And I know insurance is complex and a lot of people like it does get a bad rap, but, um, the thing about it, I find is like we, as a town should know the importance of it by now. Right? Like we went through two major natural disasters in the span of like four years. So us as a town should be pros at knowing the importance of it and, and also a good provider.
Speaker 0 00:07:57 Yeah. Yeah. That's exactly it. Yeah. Very cool. So switching topics a little bit, you moved here in 2015. Yes. Where did you move from? Uh,
Speaker 2 00:08:07 Originally from Moncton new Brunswick. Okay. Yeah. Um, so I'm a Maritimer um, I also was up here in 2006 until 2009, but I was a banker back then. Beaker banker. I worked at, I was a teller at Scotia bank.
Speaker 0 00:08:25 Oh Belker yeah. You said Baker. I was just going to say Tanner's a Baker too.
Speaker 2 00:08:31 No, I wish I could be a Baker, but
Speaker 0 00:08:33 A banker. Okay. So you came up for a few years and then said, you know what, I'm out for a bit.
Speaker 2 00:08:38 I got, um, I had my son, so I was just like kinda missing, you know, the grandparents for the baby. And I just wanted to go back and kind of get myself situated. And then, uh, I actually, that's when I started my insurance career and an opportunity available for a branch up here and it just all played out, but it's definitely a different port memory from 2006.
Speaker 0 00:09:04 Oh yeah, no doubt. Yeah. Yeah. The expansions are just starting to kick off in early 2006 and Eagle Ridge wasn't even. Oh no, that's right. That's right. Like the highway systems were brutal back then.
Speaker 2 00:09:17 I remember going from Scotia Bay, downtown on Franklin at five o'clock traffic. And it would take me like 20 minutes or probably almost like 40 minutes to get up the Hill to get home. And it was like back to back.
Speaker 0 00:09:34 It was so bad that I, my, my first home that I purchased in Fort McMurray was in thick wood on Simco, big shout out to Simco and thick wood. And, uh, but my office that I worked at at the time was in Gregoire and it was taking me so long to get back and forth. I was like, I'm not doing this. So I bought a house in beacon Hill. I literally moved because I was like, I'm not dealing with this traffic anymore. It was brutal. It was brutal. People don't remember that. No,
Speaker 2 00:10:02 It's like Monday to Sunday, you would have to like wait out in the lobby hoping to get a table. Cause it was just packed every day.
Speaker 0 00:10:10 That's right. I'm a big traveler. So I remember having to go to the airport like two to three hours early, like leaving your house just because the traffic was so bad. You might miss your flight because you might not make it to the airport in time. Especially if it was a morning flight, you had a flight at like eight o'clock. You're like, man, I gotta get up at five to get to the airport. I'm going to get stuck in traffic.
Speaker 2 00:10:31 I know. So it's crazy to see how like times have changed.
Speaker 0 00:10:34 Yeah. Big time, big time. So you come here, obviously you came, you left, you came back. What about the community you liked so much?
Speaker 2 00:10:43 Um, so I always found like, especially now, uh, so Fort Mac is deemed a city, but it really feels like a small community. I find like during the flood, everyone was rallying together to like sandbag the hospital. Uh, the fire happened, everybody was together to try to get everyone out safely. Like people that get sick they're on the mommy network or whatever, Facebook group, trying to get raised money for these people that they don't even know. Right. So, I mean, and I've been in other cities and you don't get that type of response. So, and I know like, and it's such a small community, um, feel, but in such a diversified community as well. And we all just have our own people that we all kind of cling to and we all rally together and it's yeah. It's just something you don't see very often.
Speaker 0 00:11:37 There you go. So prior to COVID, how often did you get back to Monkton? I love Monkton by the way.
Speaker 2 00:11:47 Um, I just, I miss Parlee beach. I don't know if you've ever yeah, so and seafood, we have a really good lobster. Like I'm actually from Hillsborough, but I just say Monkton because no one knows where it is, but it's like we're funding national park is, and it's big on seafood and fishing and all that stuff. And um, I used to get back at least once a year, times, twice if I could make it for Christmas, but yeah. Yeah. So I definitely have that homesick feel a little bit, but I am trying to make it back.
Speaker 0 00:12:18 It reminds me a lot of Fort McMurray, to be honest with you, it's like, it's a kind of industrial town cause uh, that's kind of where everything meets. You have the railways and shipping and boats and everything comes into Monkton. So like it's to me and I don't know, Emad be not be mad. I don't know. It seems like it's a blue collar type of town. Um, just like with normal people. Really nice. I don't know the name of the bar. I wish I did, but there's an Irish pub.
Speaker 2 00:12:42 Oh, I'm actually used to work right beside it. It's a banger. Um, we'll try and go like that.
Speaker 0 00:12:50 Yeah. Something like that. Something like that. I remember the first time I went, went to Monkton, this was one of my first East coast trips in general. And I've been to the East coast a lot. I sat down at that bar in the corner with, uh, my, uh, coworker, Matt and we sat in the corner and we were the first people in the bar that day, early bird, guests warm. And when we sat there, there was some patrons I came in after us and they came and sat at our table and I was just like, okay. So we started talking to these people and more people came in and basically the party started at our table and grew out from there. Unlike most places you sit at your table, I'm going to set up my table. It's like disperse. People were like, no, I came to meet people in party. I'm going to go sit where people are because I'm here for the party. I'm like, this is beautiful. And it's very indicative of all of the East coast, but that happened to me in Monkton for the first time. And I'm like, this is wheat.
Speaker 2 00:13:44 Yeah. It's kind of like up here. It's like work hard, play hard mentality. Right. So everybody kind of wants to like unwind have a good time. Um, no I don't. I, I love Monkton downtown and that's something I actually really hope. One day we can get up here is a downtown vibe because like I find our downtown is just demurred off to not, not a whole lot. And I just, and um, we are having an upcoming election too. So I'm hoping with new faces, new, you know, ideas and aspirations that something can maybe get turned around for our downtown kind of scene. But
Speaker 0 00:14:24 We'll see, we've had two potential counselors come on the show right now. That's some pretty nice thoughts. So yeah, we'll see. We'll see. Now we're at the part of the show where Tanner gets to take over for a little bit. It's called the Mac city minute. He's going to ask you a few questions. I have no idea what he's going to ask you. So, uh, best of luck here with the Mac city minute question. Number one. What is
Speaker 2 00:14:47 Business to support locally? Um, I actually, that's a good question, but I, um, so back during like when we first got shut down during pandemic, um, I did this like little initiative and it was, um, the help 10 local businesses, 10 days. And I let like the community vote on who they would want to go and do. Uh, and of course I went to like shoppers and Stony Creek because, you know, they were working endlessly like all the time. They didn't get the luxury of like staying home non-for-profits are big. Like I'm an animal lover. So, um, as PCA's one, um, and the other one, I was lucky enough to be able to help out twice, um, the Northern lights, uh, festival of trees. I was able to enter a tree and not that that's always a good, a good, uh, initiative. Cause our local hospitals are only hospital and it's four hours away. So they need as much help as they can get as well. So yeah, I can't say I have a favorite. I just like to help out as much as I can.
Speaker 3 00:15:55 Question number two. What is your favorite story from helping people with their claims?
Speaker 2 00:16:00 Um, so I would obviously say the flyer cause like that pretty much opened everyone have a claim. So I dealt with a lot of people in a short period of time cause I just came up and took over the office in 2015, our having a 2016. So I was just new, like just starting to like get to know people. Um, so one story in particular was, um, it was a guy who had a truck and it, uh, burnt. And there was, I think in the whole mix of things because he, um, he also had coverage, um, and a person he dealt with in Nova Scotia and his truck burned. And it, uh, was deemed when he called that he had no insurance and he was devastated cause like that's a big debt load to have and not have it covered. So I contacted the Nova Scotia branch and I kind of wanted to hear like, how did this happen?
Speaker 2 00:17:04 Like how did he not have coverage? And I guess it was just miscommunication and a check in the mail that I think didn't get cashed or didn't get delivered. It's kind of like a little story of how it all happened. But anyways, I advocated for him because I felt horrible for him. And I ended up going to head office. I pleaded my case. I had my notes in the other branches notes and long story short, they honored the claim. They paid him out his truck and he was so grateful because he just literally fought, he was on the hook for like this big, huge debt and then ended up getting paid. Um, and that, and that, that's just one story. There there's multiple other stories, but, um, it was just, it was just hearing everybody's stories of like how they, um, all had to evacuate and then like coming back and seeing her house for like, it was a crazy, crazy time. But I guess that's one story out of many
Speaker 3 00:18:06 Question number three. What is your favorite business in Fort McMurray that was affected from the flood?
Speaker 2 00:18:12 Um, let me see. There's a lockdown. I was gonna say like it wiped out a lot of businesses downtown. Like, well, I actually, I can give a shout out to, uh, optics, optics, uh, cause I went there the other day to get my glasses and he was really affected by the flood and he's still like temporarily out somewhere, um, at a different location because of all of the craziness of the flood and insurance and back and forth. But uh, yeah. And he's actually a really nice guy. Um, and he's um, so yeah, I would say optics optics there's um, North point's gallery, but that's no longer she retired. Yup. Yup. Yeah. There's lots of them.
Speaker 3 00:19:06 Question number four. What is the biggest change you noticed in your return to the math?
Speaker 2 00:19:13 Oh, well we kind of talked about it. Just like traffic, the, I guess the downtown scene. Um, I find it's more family oriented because back in the day the nightlife was pretty intense. Like there was tears, the oil can, it, it was yeah. And now I find it's more family-oriented it's calmed down a lot.
Speaker 3 00:19:39 And your final question, what is your personal favorite local menu item in Fort McMurray
Speaker 2 00:19:47 At a restaurant
Speaker 3 00:19:48 Restaurant, fast food place anywhere
Speaker 2 00:19:54 I do like, um, I think it's like vermicelli noodles that sweet Bazell I love Vietnamese food, so there's this really good. Um, and not Joe's, I'm a big lover of nachos. So 57 North has really good nachos and EVP does too.
Speaker 3 00:20:16 Those have been your five questions.
Speaker 0 00:20:18 There you go. Very nice. Very nice. I like the F we love food here. Yeah. We love food at the Mac city morning show, but one thing that you said, which is true and I feel bad for the youth coming up now, Fort McMurry was a party town back in the day. And I was lucky to be in my twenties when that was all going down. So I took full advantage of it, but yeah, it was crazy. Yeah. It's very much family oriented now. And sometimes I feel that it's because I'm getting older, but then I go out still and I'm like, yeah, nah, it used to be crazier. Oh yeah. 10 times crazy. Yeah. So on that note, that's 20 minutes. We're wrapping up now. So I know everybody gets surprised. So we definitely want to have you back again again and again again.
Speaker 0 00:21:02 Um, you and I were talking before the show, we could talk about so many other topics, but we hit the main one set. Uh, we wanted to cover today, but before you go shameless plug, please, one more time, tell everybody at home who you are, how they can support you. Um, and yeah, sure. Um, so yeah, I'm Sarah. Um, I own the cooperators branch with liquid and if you're just looking for even just simple questions about your flood coverage, or even want to go over your policies, just to make sure everything's protected and give us a shout and we'll be able to see what we can do. There we go. All right, well Fort McMurray, wood, Buffalo, and the rest of the world. Thank you very much for tuning into another episode of the Mac city morning show. I really do appreciate it. Cause like I said, I know you could be doing so many other things with your time. And on that note, I have a great day and we'll see you tomorrow.
Speaker 4 00:21:54 <inaudible> talk about quenching your ugly thirst.
