Episode Transcript
Speaker 0 00:00:01 Good morning, Fort McMurray, wood, Buffalo, and the rest of the world. You've tuned into the Mac city morning show. I am your host Elliot Pierre, and we're going to start the show off on the same note. We start every show off with a moment of gratitude. I know you could be doing a million things with your time. So the fact that you spend with us truly does mean the world to me. So thank you on that note, Tanner hit him with the intro.
Speaker 1 00:00:19 Oh, she caught me loves you're listening to the next city morning show.
Speaker 0 00:00:28 All right. I'm excited about today's guest. Long-term long time local. I think most people in town know him, know his name. Uh, he's been in the spotlight before, so he's got no nerves coming to talk to me today. As you guys know, I don't introduce my guests. I let them do that themselves. So on that note, sir, can you please tell everybody at home who you are and what you're about?
Speaker 3 00:00:48 Well, thanks. Thanks for that. And thanks for joining us today. It's great to have everybody here. I'm Brian Jean, and I'm a 55 year resident of Fort McMurray during the sixties here. I learned how to, uh, grow up with 10 siblings and work in a family business and, uh, run dog teams. Okay. During the seventies, I grew up, my parents owned the newspaper here. So it was a delivery boy at a very young age. And since I was the youngest of those, uh, 11 kids, I was also the janitor in our family businesses. So worked in the family businesses at that stage. We had quite a few and then, uh, and then went to school here as well, elementary school, et cetera. Yeah. And then during the eighties, I was a, I was, I went to university, got a bachelor of science degree, a lot degree and a master's degree and an MBA in finance. Right. And then, um, I also worked in my family businesses.
Speaker 0 00:01:40 Um, that's a common thread, it's a
Speaker 3 00:01:41 Common thread. It continues. And then, uh, during the nineties, I came back to Fort McMurray from overseas where I got some of my education, uh, worked as a litigator, a lawyer here for 10 years, many people know me as a lawyer in town. Right. And, um, I worked in other family, businesses, owned the Xerox franchise, a printing company Quiznos during that period of time as well. And I did that until 2004 and then 2004, I had a vision and that vision was to get into politics and, um, I quit quit the practice of law and, and left my businesses in my mother's care and went to Ottawa for 10 years and fought for Alberta, I believe in Alberta and what Albertans are all about. And I, I'm very proud of my record there. And during that period of time, I was a parliamentary secretary to transport and infrastructure and was involved in Canada's economic action plan in 2008.
Speaker 3 00:02:31 And, um, I learned a lot, let's just say with politics in 2014, I'm sorry, 2020, uh, 2014. Yeah, just in January. Yeah. And quit federal politics and, uh, made the way the path for a couple of people that were interested in representing our region that I thought would do a great job. And if, uh, if they get an early start, usually they get a better chance to be a minister in Ottawa. It would have been great to see a minister from Fort McMurray and came back to Fort McMurray and started spending more time with my family. I was lonely for Alberta to be honest. Okay. Um, came back to Fort McMurray, still working in the family businesses at that stage. And, uh, my mom and I were still working together and yeah. And during the, um, two thousands, um, I was very busy in Ottawa and spent a lot of time there, unfortunately.
Speaker 3 00:03:18 And then my son got sick as I was talking to you before. And I got a passion for fixing our healthcare system. And I ran as a leader of the opposition or ran, ran for premier, but God leader of the opposition second place, unfortunately, uh, I really have a passion to fix healthcare and a few other things, the justice system, et cetera. Right. Or education system, but that's another story. Yeah. And, um, and then, you know, quit politics after I, it became very clear to me, Jason, Kenny didn't want me there anymore. Not talking to me for four months, you know, passing in the hallway, seeing him question period. Right. He obviously did not want me around. So I thought the best thing I could do is for my constituents is to leave, which I did. And, uh, came back here. And, and also my family was quite ill at the time my sister was dying from cancer.
Speaker 3 00:04:04 My mum actually died eight months later from cancer. And my son had just died a couple of years before. And then my sister died eight months after my mom and oh geez. And, uh, and I was the executor for their estates. And of course my mom's businesses were also my businesses. Right. So, um, so I came back, we have a car wash in different commercial buildings, et cetera, that we've worked on over the years. And, uh, so I came back to take that over when my mom passed away. And, um, you know, as people know who I am, I love my community and
Speaker 0 00:04:36 Yeah, there you go. That's a great story. That's a good introduction of who you are and what you're about. I'm going to double back on some of that. So as far as the schooling is concerned, where, what schools did you attend in Fort McMurray during those?
Speaker 3 00:04:50 Oh boy, I, uh, attended Peter pond, uh, for grade one and I like grade one so much. I did it again. And then Dr. Park, I was, I would have been happy to be an average student, to be honest. I, I didn't, uh, understand the power of hard work and focus. So, and then I did, uh, Dr. Clark, right grade one until grade five and then grade five, we went to Clearwater. Okay. And then from Clearwater, uh, we went to, uh, which is now just an administration building down on, on harden. And from there, I went back to Peter pond for grade eight and then a grade nine. My parents sent me, it was pretty rowdy place back in the seventies, as you can imagine. Okay. And I had, as I mentioned, uh, seven older brothers and older sisters. So my parents sent my sister and I way to a school in three Hills, which is called Prairie Bible.
Speaker 3 00:05:39 Okay. And sent me there for high school. So I spent four years in a, in a boarding school there with, you know, 50 other kids my age and we attended high school. And, um, and then from there I came back to Fort memory. I, I didn't, you know, I tended, but you know, as guys are in high school, I had, I had, we had pink sidewalks on one side and blue on the other. So men and boys and girls were segregated. And I, I tried to break that segregation. And so I left in February of my last year and graduated from comp here. Okay. I went to camp here as well.
Speaker 4 00:06:11 All I'm saying is one of our great politicians from Fort McMurray went to compensate high schools.
Speaker 0 00:06:17 So I'm never gonna hear the end of this, just so you know,
Speaker 4 00:06:21 Because like, obviously look at the alumni. How many, how many first round draft picks come from Merck? How many, uh, politicians?
Speaker 0 00:06:30 Yeah. I don't know. Let's move on. I knew as soon as Jack comp, I'm like, oh no, I was just waiting for,
Speaker 3 00:06:38 I think of us as one big family though, you know, about family. So the power together, remember a rising tides, float all boats.
Speaker 0 00:06:44 That's right. And so then you went and studied abroad. What, uh, what made you want to go study abroad?
Speaker 3 00:06:50 Um, first of all, different types of schools. So I went to Portland, Oregon for a science degree in marketing and management, because of course I was going to come back and work in my parents' businesses, which I did do. And I operated them for a while. My dad had retired and my mum needed help. And I mean, it was a tough time here in the eighties. I was selling office supplies and printing door to door to the businesses here, right. At 30 below zero to try to make a living. Yeah. It was tough. Um, so I went there and I came back and then I went to Australia and I went to a school called Cape Henry. Okay. And then after that I did an MBA at bond university. Okay. And then the Dean of the law school came to me. I was doing, I was only four classes away from a master's in law.
Speaker 3 00:07:32 I really started to like school. Honestly. I was not a good student, as I mentioned in high school, but I caught on, you know, you work hard, you focus, you get better grades. And then he suggested that I do a lot degree. I was only four classes away from my masters in. And he said, you know, you should go practice law. And so I did, I, they gave me a bursary on it. I did some work there and they gave me a 50% bursary on my, um, legal studies. And so I talked to my parents and they decided to help me a little bit. They backed a loan at the bank and, and I got another loan and I went back to school for another couple of years and got a lot of Greek came back here. Yeah. I went to the UFC and got a Canadian equivalent law degree, so I could practice here.
Speaker 3 00:08:10 Right. And I practiced here with, uh, as a partner with, uh, Campbell germane Cooper and gene was there for about 10 years and then left in 2004. So, and it was, I mean, it was great education. I went to, as I mentioned, I went to Australia. Yeah. And, um, I had friends there and I went there and I saw the beach the first week and I saw the beach the last day. And then I, in between, it was pretty hard studying. So it was great country. And I've been back many times since, but, uh, you know, you can't take me out of Fort McMurray.
Speaker 0 00:08:39 Oh, you definitely keep coming back. That's for sure. I love,
Speaker 3 00:08:41 I love this area. It's I think it's the best place to live in the world. Yeah.
Speaker 0 00:08:45 Oh, it's beautiful. I, you have no, no argument from me on that one. Now, in regards to your, uh, your history and politics though, like you've held a few different positions, your tenure there, you kind of know the lay of the land. Uh, I don't understand why anybody would get back into it. And I th I had all of the people running for council here locally. Um, and, uh, in 2021 with it's a tough gig with the internet, with social media being like, it is the scrutiny there, uh, society demands, perfection, and unfortunately with cancel culture and with everything going on now, I'm just like anybody who wants to put themselves in the political spotlight to me is out of their minds. That's fair. So just because it comes with such a heavy burden. Right. Um, so I gotta, I gotta ask, cause you've been in it, you've come out of it now you're going back in and again, what is this drive to be in it? Like, what are you trying? What are you hoping to get? What do you, I know it's changed based on
Speaker 3 00:09:42 Basically. So something has to be done or else they NDP are going to win an overwhelming majority. And
Speaker 0 00:09:50 Yeah. And so from you, I don't
Speaker 3 00:09:52 Want to see that happen. I think, I think with Justin Trudeau and, you know, I served with him for four or five years, so I know what his policies are. I know what he's thinking and with him and you know what he said, um, I think with another term of Rachel Notley, I think they'll change our province forever. And, and you know, some people may like it, the idea of no oil and gas industry here. I don't, I think that's something we're very good at. We're the best in the world at it. And, and people should know that. And I do think, you know, knocking our head against a brick wall, isn't the best approach for us with the world, right. Or with Ottawa. But certainly we have to stand our ground and make sure that nobody pushes us around and you know, my litigation time, um, you know, some people say I'm too nice of a guy. Nobody that I've been against in court has ever said that about me, but it's true. I am a nice guy. I don't believe that that has to be the way you have to do things all the time. But when you get your back in a corner, like Alberta is right now.
Speaker 0 00:10:46 Yeah. Yeah. So you've been pretty vocal about some stuff in Fort McMurray though, on a municipal level. So in the role that you're in, how would that serve the community here?
Speaker 3 00:10:58 Well, um, first of all, you know, getting involved in other political levels is not something I normally do. I don't usually pick sides and other levels of politics just because you usually get somebody angry that would otherwise vote for you. But I felt in the last period of time, I just think some of the decisions that have been made have been less than helpful for people. And up to this point, I've been Joe citizen. Remember? So I got the right, like everybody else to make comments about racism and I've done that. And I, and I'm quite pleased with our new council. I hope they're going to do well. I think I'm not saying the other counts, the other people running for the mayor's job or council wouldn't have done a great job. Right. But I think this combination might do well and a change was needed. And a lot of people ran on the idea of change. And I think our, you know, you can feel the need for change municipally and I can feel it provincially. And for sure. And I don't think the change, you know, based upon what I've seen, the change that people want is not to go back to where we were, you know, three years ago to the NDP government. I think what they want is a different idea, a different brand of government that actually works for the people. Right?
Speaker 0 00:12:01 Yeah. No doubt.
Speaker 3 00:12:02 And that's why I want to go back. I want to go back because I think I can be that catalyst for change. Yeah. I truly believe that I am one of the few people in Alberta right now that can actually go back there and make the changes necessary in order to get reelected. Because if something's not done, the UCP will not get reelected. Right. I can talk to anybody and they tell me that I don't have to just be from Fort McMurray or grand Prairie. Right. Downtown Edmonton or Calgary. They're barely right now able to win in rural Alberta.
Speaker 0 00:12:30 Yeah. Which is
Speaker 3 00:12:30 Nuts. It's crazy. The premier own seat. Yeah. Isn't jeopardy significant jeopardy. Most of the time,
Speaker 0 00:12:37 Robin's like ours. That has such a deep history in the conservative government to be struggling in those pockets that were dedicated to that for so many years. It does show that, Hey, people are looking to do something else potentially. For sure. So Tanner pointed out that his, his segment, oh, I got the wave. It's called the maxi minute. He's going to ask you some questions. I wish you nothing, but the best of luck Tanner hit him with the Mac city minute.
Speaker 4 00:13:03 All right. Question number one. What is the weirdest story you have from your time as a lawyer that you were allowed to tell us?
Speaker 3 00:13:13 No comment. There you go. I'm not, but I can tell you a weird story about Ottawa that I learned. I, I learned for a period of time, I went to my minister once and I won't tell you which minister, but I was the partial second parliamentary secretary, as I said. So that's the guy that does all the paperwork for laws and stuff like that. Tenor. And you're busy on committees and you negotiate deals and you try to get other, um, parties to be with you. Well, I found out they were spraying down for a bug, a potato bug or a bug that was going across fairies. But the bug had been extinct for like 40 years or 30 years. And they were still spraying down the vehicles before they get on the ferry. Now, I don't know if they're still doing it, but apparently that's a government job.
Speaker 3 00:13:50 And even though the potato bug or the bug that they were spraying down was extinct for 40 years, they were still spraying down because those were good government jobs. And you couldn't take those jobs away. Oh, that was one of the most bizarre things. The other bizarre thing was, if I can tell you this, many of the bridges that are owned, most of the bridges that are owned in Canada are owned by province. So they have to pay for the repairs. And you know, it's huge. If you wouldn't believe the repair bill on bridges and build, build a cost on bridges, it's significant. Well, in Ottawa, right across from Quebec, those bridges are primarily owned by the federal government. So is the main bridge in Quebec city and the main bridge in Montreal that they just spent over one or $2 billion fixing, right. Those are owned by the federal government.
Speaker 3 00:14:31 So the federal government actually pays to fix those bridges. Why would they do that? They own all the bridges going across hall to hall and Ottawa. And they, you know, they pay for those. They repair them, they do everything there. That's another weird story as is the NCC, the national capital region and the amount of money they spend in Quebec. Yeah. And in Ottawa. And I lived there for 10 years, but it just, when I look at what happens here in my home, that's the place I love the place I earn a living and that I care about. And I see what happens there. It gets me mad. Yeah. No doubt. I don't think it's fair. Yeah. Like it's not just the transfer payments. It's all the funneling off on the rest of the things they do. All the great government jobs. 87%, I think was the last stat I saw 87% of the bureaucrats in Ottawa.
Speaker 3 00:15:16 Arqiva claw. Yeah. It's unbelievable. Like, so you have to be French Canadian to get a job with the federal government. I don't think that makes any sense at all. I'm I'm, you know, I'm an old guy and I've learned a long time ago after many years of lessons that my French has never going to get. Very good. Yeah. Yeah. Um, some people have it, some people don't. I wish I had it. Yeah. But I don't, which excludes me and many, many other people that are born in Fort McMurray or other places around Canada from participating as they should, if we want a real clear democracy and representation of the people. That's right. So anyways, ax, I got off on a tangent. Sorry. That's okay.
Speaker 0 00:15:50 Well, that's sort of max anymore. A minutes all about actually. So no worries. Tanner hit him with the next question.
Speaker 4 00:15:56 Number two. What is your crazy story you have from owning so many different businesses within Fort McMurray?
Speaker 3 00:16:03 Hmm.
Speaker 0 00:16:04 Yeah. There's a lot there.
Speaker 3 00:16:06 Yeah. It's been, you know, Fort memory has been so good to me. So how about this crazy story? How about, how about you compare my businesses to other people around the world? And I say to myself, thank you that I'm here. Yeah. In Alberta. Yeah. In Fort McMurray a hundred percent. Um, you know, it's been good to me. It's been good to my family. And that's the weirdest story is that it's, you know, people here support local that's right. And we appreciate it. And that's how you build businesses. And that's how, you know, I'd like to see more family businesses, home-based businesses going out and, um, providing those services to all the community. Because I think that's what makes the community, I'd like to see a bigger community, more variety of different things that we can do here and different. Like you go to Ottawa or Toronto or Montreal and see the restaurants there or the closing shops and things like that. I'd like to see that here, there you go. What's your, when there was only 25, 30,000 people here, it was. Yeah.
Speaker 0 00:16:58 Yeah. There was, there's no doubt about that
Speaker 4 00:17:01 Question. Number three. What is one thing in Fort McMurray that you miss the most when you were out on your many travels?
Speaker 3 00:17:10 Clearwater river. Okay. Summertimes. I love summer and winter. Yeah. I think it's best place in the world. What a river, maybe I shouldn't give that secret away, but, uh, it's gorgeous. It's a beautiful spot.
Speaker 0 00:17:22 People take it for granted. I'm interjecting on a MacStadium unit for one second. It's crazy in, uh, in the best way possible. How, like I like to kayak. Right. And so I have a, the divorce model, two people kayak, and you literally can put it on top of your car and then just drive to downtown and put in water and go, like, when I used to live in other places, I haven't been primarily, if you wanted to do that kind of stuff, you have to like travel
Speaker 3 00:17:49 To go get that kind of stuff, stuff done with Marie. It's like right in your backyard, like, can I tell you a new opportunity for you? Yeah. I told you about that land that was for sale out in, on the Clearwater river. I purchased, we've talked about it a little bit. I gotta be honest with you. Is that rib Fest. And I had some adult beverages in me, so please, I wouldn't have known please jog my memory. I got an opportunity to buy 120 acres, those 120 acres, or right on the Clearwater river. And what I want to do is put a not-for-profit kids camp on part of it. I've been looking for a partner I've been talking to the salvation army and I've talked to other people that have experience with kids camps. And I'd really like to see kids camp on 10 or 20 acres down there so that people could have a place to send their children that would be not-for-profit or subsidize in part by, by some sort of recreational area beside that that would be right on the river.
Speaker 3 00:18:38 Um, and I'm hoping to be able to provide that it's only 15 minutes from downtown has paved all the way. And you know, I'm, I'm working on that with the municipality, with some partners to try to get that through council and, and through the planning department. And I think if it works out, we're going to have a place and it's not going to be for, you know, for a work camp site. It's for local families, parks and walking trails and, uh, and even a small boutique wedding facility. So people can have a wedding there with four honeymoon suites on top. So, and all of this right on the river, you got have to come and see it. It's beautiful. I'm really hoping to turn it into a gym, a diamond of Fort McMurray and the regional municipality of wood Buffalo, because we don't have anything really like that here. And that's a different way about going about revitalizing the downtown core. And I want to use the income from the other parts of the business to support the kids camp. There you go. Very cool. I think, I think it's got great opportunities. So if there's any partners out there that would like to be involved in something like a not-for-profit kids' camp, I would really, uh, appreciate that they can contact me. Awesome. Tanner, sorry for jacking your questions. Let's see
Speaker 4 00:19:45 The next one. Question number four. What is your favorite story from your time being a farmhand?
Speaker 3 00:19:53 Probably, uh, probably. Yeah, no, you didn't know that digital. Oh, did I even, you know, I was impressed. That was from a 2004 a brochure back in, uh, but uh, yes, I was, I worked on the Prairie farm cows and you do a lot of work with shovels there. Um, so it got me very prepared for politics. I was shoveling all the stuff there and then I was able to deal with it when I was an MP in LA. So, um, but yeah, no, that would be the weirdest story is shooting gophers. I love, uh, I'm a hunter. I love hunting. I love being outdoors. I'm a big outdoor enthusiast. And just like you are with the kayak, I loved being on a river. And if you want to go on a jet boat trip with me sometime we'll make a show out of it. But shooting gophers is a lot of fun, especially when the farmer wants you to and gives you free 22 shells. There you go.
Speaker 4 00:20:42 And your final question, what is one thing about Fort McMurray? People would be surprised to know you enjoy
Speaker 3 00:20:50 Hmm. Parades seeing people at parades, seeing people out at events like the rib Fest. Yeah. You know, I love the music. I love outdoor music, especially live music, but you know, just having the opportunity to see people and their actions and reactions to the events that are going on, you know, it's a good thing. I like to see people very happy and positive. Yeah.
Speaker 0 00:21:11 And those have been your five questions. We just have some bangers of events here, like the blueberry festival or what was it called? They shut down if winter, carnival, but they used to close down Franklin avenue and have, it was kind of like what Edmonton does with the fringe. But interplay interplay was a good one back in the day. Yeah. Yeah. So we used to have a lot of those.
Speaker 3 00:21:29 So my goal is to make Albertans, the healthiest, happiest, most prosperous nation on the planet. And I'm going to do everything I possibly can to get them there.
Speaker 0 00:21:39 Good to hear that, man. All right. Well, listen, the 20 minutes has flown by. I know 20 minutes. I was like 10 minutes. I know we've actually gone by already, so that's okay. But at the end of every show, everybody gets a shameless shout out or plug. So the lights are on you. The camera's on, you got the mic have fun.
Speaker 3 00:21:56 No, I just, uh, I've really enjoyed being here. I enjoy what you do for the community. I love my community. I love my province. And uh, I just think that things are going to be much better tomorrow than they were yesterday.
Speaker 0 00:22:06 Yeah. There we go. Okay. And you're running though for a position when
Speaker 3 00:22:13 I'm not going to get out. Yeah. Uh, you know, right now it's a, it's sort of a closed club, which is something that I'm not particularly enamored with because, you know, close clubs usually mean some folks run everything. Uh, but there's, there's about 1500 members or so that are currently members of the United conservative party. I'm trying to win the nomination. And only those 1500 people can vote for me on December 11th or 12th somewhere. And there's going to be two votes on the 11th, uh, here in Fort McMurray, downtown and on the 12th and Lac LA Biche downtown. Okay. And there's more information on the web, but only those 1500 people can do that. And I'm of course running so that I can have an opportunity to remove Jason Kenney as premier of this province. And I'm hoping to be able to do that, uh, over time through the UCP and the mechanism.
Speaker 3 00:22:57 I think that's the right party and the right policy, right. Policies to move forward with then. And if I'm successful there, then I'm going to run to be the MLA. And, um, you know, once I'm the MLA and if I'm in the UCP party, then I'll work from within to try to remove Jason Kenney is, as politicians do, this is politics. And this way, do you try to make sure you get the best opportunities for the people to vote for in order to win their hearts and minds? Because if you don't right, you're going to lose. And it's going to be a terrible thing because the opposite policy is going to be in place. Right. Um, but then, you know what I can use people's help. So once this is done yeah. And I'm the UCP MLA, I would really appreciate it to fill Burton's right across the province could come out and buy $10 UCP memberships, because with that membership, they get to vote for the leadership review at Jason. Kenny's going to hold, okay. As long as he doesn't open and fair contest. Right. And then what they get to do also is to decide on the next leader. And I am running to be that next leader. Okay. I would think it would be the greatest privilege of my life to be the premier of Alberta. Okay. And coming from Fort McMurray, I think I know the oil and gas sector. I think,
Speaker 0 00:24:02 You know, a little bit, well,
Speaker 3 00:24:04 I'm a lawyer. I love my community and it is all about community. And like I said to you, I want to make Albertans the healthiest and happiest and most prosperous people on the planet. Right. I'm going to do everything I can. And here we go. So on,
Speaker 0 00:24:18 Uh, December on, we say the 10th and the 12th, 11th and 12th, 11th and 12th, he got there's 1500 people that need,
Speaker 3 00:24:25 If you have a UCP membership, give me, give me a chance to get in there and do what I need to do. I'm the right person to do it. I've got the best opportunity to do it and I'm going to do it for you. Awesome.
Speaker 0 00:24:34 All right. Well, Brian, thank you so much for coming on the show, man. Really do appreciate it. Anytime you want to come back, we're more than happy to have you. Thanks, man. Cool. All right. Well for Murray wood, Buffalo and the rest of the world, and that's been another episode of the Mac city morning show, once again, thank you so much for watching. It means the world to me. I hope you're having a great day and we'll see you tomorrow. Peace.
Speaker 5 00:24:53 It just dies that this is another Mac city morning show, Don.
Speaker 7 00:25:10 Yeah. Talk about quenching your ugly thirst.
