Shaun Newman Podcast - #468 - Jon Hromek

Episode Date: July 24, 2023

Husband, father of four, graduate of University of Regina with a degree in Petroleum Engineering and is the first ever candidate for the Saskatchewan United Party in the upcoming Lumsden-Morse by-election. Let me know what you think Text me 587-217-8500 Substack:https://open.substack.com/pub/shaunnewmanpodcast Patreon: www.patreon.com/ShaunNewmanPodcast

This is John Ravaki. This is Simon Esler. Hi, it's Heather Prozac. This is Tom Romago. This is Alex Kraner. This is Steve Kirsch. This is Dr. Pierre Corey, and you are listening to the Sean Newman podcast. Welcome to the podcast, folks.

Happy Monday. We get another one coming at you today. Before we get there, let's get to today's episode sponsors. Canadians for Truth, nonprofit organization consisting of Canadians who believe in honesty, integrity, and principal leadership in government. I'm talking about Joseph Borgo, Theo Fleury, Jamie Saleh. Of course, they just had another show in Calgary with Dallas Alexander. That's the Canadian sniper. His team had the longest shot ever in military history.

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uh, uh, I don't like to think I'm putting places on the map, but maybe I am. I have no idea. I don't think Prophet River needs Sean Newman. Uh, I think I'm, I'm much more grateful to have Prophet River on this side. But in saying that, I've introduced them to a few different folks that, you know, driving through or ordering their firearms online, etc. I think that's pretty cool. Of course, they, uh, are the major retailers of firearms optics and accessories serving all of Canada. You heard that right. All of Canada. So you don't need to be driving through Lloyd Minster to go see their showroom. You can just go to Profitriver.com.

There you can get access to everything they do. They service, once again, all of Candace, wherever you're sitting at. If you're looking for firearms, optics, accessories, et cetera. If you've got a hunter or a sportsman in your life and you're looking for gift cards, etc., go to Profitriver.com. Mitchco Environmental, that's Tracy and Tyson Mitchell. They're looking for equipment operators, farming, experience is a bonus. They're also looking for laborers and seasonal or full-time help.

They're wrong. You know, like this, this is welcome to Alshanxi, I guess he's thinking of the lake coming up this week or something. I don't know what I'm thinking, folks. It says they're also looking for laborers, seasonal or full-time. Anyways, there you go. Mitchcoe Environmental, if you're out of work, you're looking for a good family-owned operation that'll put you to work, make you some good coin. Let me tell you. Give them a call 780214, 4,0004, or go to MitchcoCorp.ca, for all the information. All right? Once upon a time, this guy worked there, and I was laughing, not laughing. I was kind of like chuckling, I guess, which is laughing. They said you could earn 20,000 a summer now working

for them at the beginning. Like, as a student, I'm going, 20, I remember working for you guys. I don't remember we're making that much. Do I? Like, I feel like it was less than that. Anyways, I feel that's some pretty good money. Hey, that's just me. Carly Clossin, the team over Windsor Plywood, builders of the podcast studio table. When it comes to wood, these are the guys, whether we're talking mantles, decks, windows, doors, sheds. Of course, that patio, uh, patio, like what is going on today? Monday, I guess. Or a podcast studio table. When you're looking for wood, head to Windsor Plywood. Give them a call. 780, 875, 966, 6,000.

I tell you what, you will not be disappointed in the wood selection there. It is fantastic, and they can do some amazing things with it. I also want to bring up Patreon. We've been pushing it here the last little bit. We've decided to, I don't know, get back. Like, I don't even know what to tell you all. Once upon a time, I opened it up. I started out of thought, oh, yeah, this is pretty cool.

Then a whole bunch of people got canceled on it. I went, well, this is probably going to place for me. As you all know, my track record, I'm like, I'll be gone off of here soon enough. Of course, I never did anything with it and carried on with life and whatever. or, you know, this guy named Tom Luongo walks in and says, you know, I think you got the wrong view of this. You need to get back on it. And I respect Tom, so I decided, okay, I'll get back on it.

So I'm back on Patreon. You can find it in the show notes. If you don't want anything to do with it, you know, it's a paywall. I get that. But if you want to help support the podcast, that's the way to do it. We've been doing a couple different things. You know, me and twos, the Tuesday mashup, this will be the second week where we give you a little bonus coverage of the mashup.

So the first week, we, the first week, we, and kids are walking in, folks. You know, this is holidays, you know, this is holidays. So the first week, the Tuesday mashup, we did the cutting room floor. What didn't make the actual Tuesday mashup? We put it into Patreon. This week, me and twos are working on probably one of the most ridiculous stories that Twitter has to offer. We're searching that out. We're going to talk about that.

We're going to have a little bit of fun. We're going to change it up and see how that goes. So if that so inclines you, of course, there's going to be more and more of guests where they do a little bonus segment that'll only be aired on Patreon as well. So if that entices you, so be it. And if it doesn't, so be it. Either way, I appreciate having you guys here. Nothing's changing on the podcast. Don't worry about it.

But Patreon, we're trying to fire it up here. We're trying to add some cool things in that'll entice hopefully a few of you. And yeah, I hope to see you there. And I hope to see your comments. I hope to interact with you there and all that good stuff. Now, let's get on the tail of the tape brought to you by Hancock Petroleum for the past 80 years. They've been an industry leader in bulk fuels, lubricants, methanol, and chemicals delivering to your farm, commercial or oil fuel locations. For more information, visit them in Hancock, Petroleum.combe.

He's a husband and father of four. He graduated in 2003 from the University of Regina with a degree in petroleum engineering. He's going to be the Sask United's first ever candidate in the Lumsden Morris by-election August 10th. I'm talking about John Rumick. So buckle up. Here we go. This is John Rumick, and you're listening to the Sean Newman podcast. Welcome to the Sean Newman podcast today.

I'm joined by John Rummock. So first off, sir, thanks for hopping on. Hey, thanks for having me, Sean. This is, you know, I was saying to a couple of your team members, I'm like, I'm rather excited about this. You know, I, you know, what is it? A couple of years ago, I didn't do anything politics. and then I'll like flip that on its head

and now I'm like anytime I get the opportunity to speak to a first time candidate a first time you know a new political party starting up I'm like well this should be interesting because it isn't going to be the you know you know the standard answers that you hear from a lot of the politicians today so before you know we get to why on earth you're jumping into politics maybe you could we could just start with you know a little bit of John's background on who you are and, you know, and we'll get to why you're putting your hat in the ring. Yeah, no, that's good. Let's go there.

So I was born in Saskatchewan. We, my family lived on a family farm just outside of Regina until I was school age. And then we moved to Three Hills, Alberta. And that's basically where I grew up through, you know, elementary and, and, and, and high school. And when I graduated high school, I wanted to go into petroleum engineering. So I moved back to Regina.

It was either go to Regina or go to Edmonton. Edmonton was too big for a boy who grew up in rural Alberta. So I figured I'm going to move to Regina. So that's why I came here and I had a lot of family here. And went through engineering and got into the junior oil and gas field here in Saskatchewan, that industry and been here ever since. So that's my background. I've started and started oil companies and grown them and sold them to, you know,

bigger companies, that junior oil model. You being in Alberta, you're probably familiar with that. That's my career. So I've managed teams, you know, gotten investment and, and that's my background. of course being in the oil industry, we're really, you know, exposed to regulations, both federal and provincial. And so, you know, it's my job, of course, being an executive in that industry to have my hand on the pulse regarding that. And so I basically met every energy minister with the exception of the latest one here, Jim Reeder, in my career. and of course, you know, premieres or most premiers.

And so I've been, you know, involved in that. And so I have an intimate understanding of, you know, the effects of policy as it relates to business investment and, you know, how it affects everybody's daily life. So that kind of is a bit of my background. And, yeah. Do you, you know, I already know the answer to this. but I think listeners will be interested to hear. Do you have kids? Are you married?

And if so, how old are your kids? Yes. So I am married and I have four kids. And one of them is in high school in Lumsden. And the other three kids are in elementary school in Lumsden. And my oldest was in Great Dan. You're a busy man. Yeah, it's a, yeah, it's.

It's crazy busy, but, you know, this province is worth it. So that's why, you know, it's time to, this province has given me a lot of opportunity. And, you know, I want to give back. And, you know, we have a lot of challenges and I want to get into it. So, yeah, my wife is, you know, she's an R& by trade. And after our last child, she, you know, is at home and running the household. And it's quite a household. and how younger how younger your three you got a grade 10 and then and then how old are your

youngest three yes so our grade 10 is uh we'll be 16 here in a couple days our uh our next daughter is uh will be 14 here in September and then and then the two boys are eight and six so it's keeping everyone on their toes that's for sure I'm always curious about the the you know, because Sean once upon a time has, you know, toyed with joining politics because, you know, the more conversations I have, the more things I see, the more, I'm just like, and so, you know, then I go and I blurt that out to my wife, and we got three young kids, seven, five, and three right now,

turning six and turning four right away. And the look on her face every time I've ever brought it up is like, are you insane? And I'm like, yeah, you're probably right. Never mind, that was a stupid idea, right? Just carry on it, you know, like, as we like, chase our, you know, chase our tail every single day. You know, here on holidays right now, it's a, it's at work to get them outside the house

so that I can sit and have a quiet room for, you know, hopefully an hour or whatever it is. You know, we're not rushing anything, folks, but I think they kind of get the feel of how loud it was here, you know, before we started. I'm curious, you know, when you're sitting there talking to your wife, you know, you've got four young, four kids, all, none of them graduated, right? all in busy years and we could probably have a long discussion about what year is the busiest whether it's high school or whether it's the six-year-old and i'd be certainly open to your thoughts but before we get to any of that i'm just kind of curious you know like was this like

a push from your wife or you took it to your wife or was like a combined decision of like you need to do this yeah it was definitely a combined decision and i mean if if we don't get involved now Like, where are we going to be at by the time our children are, you know, adults and, you know, developing their own careers and starting their own families? You know, I'm really blessed because my wife is so supportive. And even when I was toying with the idea and we were discussing it, she said, like, well, you have to do this. You have to do. And I mean, I think that's pretty rare, you know. but she came out and said, no, you have to do this.

And I mean, she comes from a ranching family, and her father was involved in cattle politics for years, and her mother is no slouch and was, you know, covering on the ranch while he was busy in Regina and Saskatoon and, you know, go and even in Ottawa and different things, representing the cattle industry. So, I mean, I guess you could say, you know, we've got a pretty good team. We've got, we're very like-minded in this, and we think it's important.

And, you know, there's no time like the present, right? Well, I think it's pretty cool to hear that, you know, I mean, there's always two, right? There's always somebody standing behind the other person, and they're either encouraging or they're not. And I think it's good for Iowa, I guess happy to hear that it was a combined effort and she's pushing not going, you're an idiot, right? Like, you know, like that's, that's awesome to hear. What is it about now? You know, you say like before our kids are adults, you know, like, I mean, you got an election, by-election coming up August 10th for Lumsden and, what is it, Morse? Lumsden Morris, correct?

Lumsden Morris, that's right. That's the best. What is it about now? Like, John, what is it that you and your wife are sitting there looking at and going, like, we got to get involved? Like, we can't just keep letting this carry on. Well, I mean, it's like driving, you know, it's like driving a vehicle. And, you know, the check engine lights coming on. And, you know, it's first, it's amber.

And you're like, ah, whatever. And then you turn it off and then it goes away and then it comes back on again. And, you know, basically we're getting to a place where, you know, it's, it's amber. there's air codes coming all the time and it's flashing red and we're getting to a place where it's about ready for the vehicle to be shut down if things are not addressed and that's where we are here in this province i mean it doesn't matter whether it's related to the education in this education uh file or oil and gas or now agriculture you know the carbon tax carbon tax to nitrogen tax, aka fertilizer emissions, you know, our way of living,

who we are in Saskatchewan is under attack. And so that's why we need to bring new voices into the legislature. I believe that, you know, the people's voices are not being represented there. And we need to start addressing some of these issues because if we don't address it now, well how much worse can it get like you look at this issue at lumston high school i mean those cards those sex cards were absolutely you know atrocious i mean i i don't even know those words you probably you can't even say those words on this show i mean we certainly can and we certainly have and i hate to bring it up with a with a new candidate but me and charlowe walked through him and me and two's on the mashup we walked through all of them um and uh you know i i was saying you know in media

certainly I notice a problem in media even just on that story right the CBC frames it one way and I don't think anyone's going to plotting these cards but the CBC picks out and I was saying to Charla I think it's bisexual or you know kind of that type of thing and frames it like the right doesn't want their kids knowing about that and then the Western standard picks you know one of the one of the more derogatory ones the one we kept bringing up was felching and certainly don't go look that one up that one's a rough one but you get you guys get the point, everybody kind of picked what they thought their audience could handle and frame it and whatever. And, uh, you know, on this show, no, we, we talk about it, John, because at the end of the day,

what was presented to a grade nine class, uh, would make even, even the, the, the, you know, the, a group of adults would blush at a game of cards against humanity. That's what it looked like to me. Like, some of those things, like, why would you ever even think of that? Like, That's the most odd term I've ever heard. So for it to land in small town, Saskatchewan, yeah, it's eyebrow raising for sure. Yeah. And to have it be that extreme, I mean, I hear from parents all over the province, not even just in the riding of Lumsden, Morris.

And, you know, they don't have a say in their kids' education. They feel that they've been pushed out. And they're not happy about it. And they're like, well, what do we do about this? Where did it come from? How does it stop? And, you know, what can we do? And, you know, then you listen to Minister Duncan address it.

He basically says, well, this is Planned Parenthood's fault. And so, you know, it's them. And then when Mo finally addresses it, well, then he's going out to the media for even bringing it up. And I'm like, no one's taken responsibility for this. I mean, Minister Duncan, he temporarily suspended him, Planned Parenthood for a week. Well, I mean, what is that? And then we're going to do a review over the summer while everyone's on holidays, basically saying, well, I hope everyone forgets about this because come September 1st,

we're just going to move forward. I mean, this has been going on in Saskatchewan, not just in the education file, but this, this pattern of when there's an issue, you know, there's a, there's a bit of a reaction. It's kind of things are downplayed or it's the minister involved with the file is, well, I'm unaware. I'm unaware of the issues, but we'll have a review in it and we'll get back to you. And they never get back to you. They never come with any action items to change anything. And, you know, there's no accountability and there's no transparency. And so to me, I mean, I've been, you know, in the forefront on the oil and gas sector, of course,

We've seen the creep. We've seen these regulations coming out of Ottawa, you know, and and and and and and and and and our government here has done really, you know, nothing to mitigate. I mean, they'll say, well, we, we, we, we, we took the, you know, we took the, you know, we took the feds to the Supreme court. Yeah, okay. But at the end of the day, you know what matters is actually stopping. something. It's actually, you know, tangible where, you know, I still go to the pumps here in

Saskatchewan and I'm paying, I'm still paying that, you know, 14 and cents plus in carbon tax. And that's what affects me. So you can say it all you want. You can say, well, we're trying. We're trying our best all you want. But, you know, you're known, you're known by your fruit, not your suit. So am I hearing John a vote for John, Rumick, on the 10th? And And actually, it's open, if I'm correct, it's open for the week. So it's open from the third to the 10th leading up all the way to there. So if you're in that area, vote for John. And I don't mean to put words in your mouth, but this is kind of what I'm hearing.

And you can clear this up. But it's like, right now we see no accountability. We see no transparency. And we see no resolve to change things. So John's saying, what you're going to get out of me is I'm going to be accountable to the people. I'm going to try and provide as much transparency on all the difficult subjects that nobody seems to want to talk about. And we're going to try and resolve some things

so we can get things changed. Wouldn't that be nice? And I hear that. And if that's what you're saying, I go, well, that sounds pretty good. I don't know. Am I wrong on that? No, you're not wrong at all. That's exactly what it is.

Like, I'm a problem solver by trade. That's what I do. And, you know, in the corporate world, Sean, like, let's pretend, you know, I run an oil company. And I go to my shareholders and I say, you know, this was an issue and I tried to solve it, but it didn't solve. You know, I'm sorry.

You're on your ass and you're out the door. Yes. I say this all the time. When it comes to the oil and gas sector, if I, if I just got to go, oh, yeah, we'll maybe look at that someday. It's like, no. Like that, that isn't the way it works. No.

If you don't deliver on what you say, you're out the door. You're out of the door. You know? And why should this be any different? I mean, these are elected representatives are supposed to represent the people. They're supposed to bring the people. issues or what's important to the people to the house. And they're supposed to actually solve problems. They're not just supposed to be, you know, taking pictures on Twitter and being, we sent a

letter to the feds. Okay, great. But so what? What, you know, and maybe you got to quit doing that because every time you're asking the feds for something, you get these deals. And they're full of strengths. And, you know, and that's not a surprise. You know, like that's not doing something. that's not protecting the autonomy of Saskatchewan. So, no, I bring to the table, put me in the ledge, and your voices are going to be represented. And I'm going to challenge the government every day to be like, okay, here's the issues. What are we doing about this? What tangible benefit or what tangible solution can I bring back to the people of Saskatchewan?

And, you know, because you have to actually deliver on something. You can't, it's not just rhetoric. You have to actually deliver on something. Like I look at Daniel Smith and I mean, she's delivering, like, you know, so they have a carbon tax as well. Well, what does she do? She goes and says, well, you know, I'm going to deliver results to to my people by cutting the provincial component to the fuel tax. And that's something tangible. So in the meantime, while we're pushing back on the carbon tax and, you know, and carbon tax to the Clean Fuels Act, by the way, I'm going to deliver this for you.

That is something tangible and that is something real. And so, I mean, we can work. We should be working with her on that. We can be, you know, developing these regional partnerships. And, you know, because Saskatchewan, Saskatchewan packs a huge punch. in Confederation. I mean, we have a small population, just over, you know, 1.2 million people. But yeah, we're huge in exports of, of course, you know, agricultural products, oil and gas,

you know, uranium, potash. Now they're into lithium, helium. Like, we pack a huge punch. We want to be a senior member at the table of Confederation. Not a junior member. We're not okay. Well, we're just Alberta's little brother. No, no, no.

We're a senior member with Alberta. and with the other provinces, because people forget, like, you know, confederation is a confederation of the provinces. You want a strong Canada, have strong provinces. You know, a strong Saskatchewan is good for Canada, and that's what we're demanding. We're not asking for it. We're demanding it because we're packing, we pack a big punch, and that's what we want. I'm curious.

You know, I don't know, I shouldn't, like, Sask United. Why Sask United? you, you, you know, I have three older brothers. We get in this argument all the time. And I'm talking now, I'll go to Alberta. So I'll take the focus off Saskatchewan just for a sec, because we all grew up in small town Saskatchewan, and now three of the four brothers live in Alberta.

Just across, Lloyd's a weird place, Saskatchewan, Alberta, border, you get it. Right. So in the last election, UCP, while over the course of 20 years, you had the Wild Rose and you had the UCP, right? your two conservative parties. One was a little farther leaning right. One was a little more mainstay right. Heck, I don't even know. Was it centered by the end, folks? Was it left? It doesn't matter. At the end of the day, we had arguments about do you join the new party, which is the Wild Rose, or do you go with the mainstay, which is the UCP? In Saskatchewan,

you have the SAS party, and now you have the SASC United Party. What was it about SASC United that you're like, this makes sense, and I'm joining this, and I want to be the first candidate ever for them? Well, number one, the SAS United Party is Saskatchewan's true conservative party. And you can see it in their platform and in their constitution. So to me, that was very important. The SAS Party has moved to, you know, to more to more the middle and to, you know, as, as forgotten its roots of where it was. And I mean, remember that the SAS Party originally was the liberals joining with the conservatives.

Okay. So that now they definitely move to the left. Think about that for a second. Because, I mean, Saskatchewan's history, this is where I need two sitting shotgun with me. you know, because he knows Saskatchewan politics inside and out. But I mean, you had the NDP for years and years and years, so the conservatives joined with the liberals.

I mean, think about that, folks. Like, in today's age, like, they're sworn enemies. But that is the history of the SAS Party. So then secondly, but to me also very important, is the people involved with the SAS United Party. We have, like, some of the top physicians. We've got some of the top agricultural producers. We've got people in oil and gas.

We have very competent people involved and want to be more and more involved with this party. Because, you know, at the end of the day, Saskatchewan does not have a money problem. It has a management problem. So we need to get competent people elected to the legislature in order to manage this province. And I, and me looking at it, I'm like, well, here's Saskatchewan Party and here's the Saskatchewan party. I mean, the people involved with Sask United, top lawyers, top physicians, just top people, people that have a track record and know how to like deliver and execute on results. So to me, it was, it was a no-brainer. I was like, wow, I feel very privileged to be part of this party.

And I feel very privileged to be the first, you know, the first. candidate put forward. So that's how I view it. To me, it wasn't even up for debate. You make it sound like your options as a free agent was the Vegas Golden Knights or the Arizona coyotes. That's correct. That's, that's, that's a, that's a good analogy shot. Yes. Yeah. Absolutely. Talk to me a little bit about, you know, I guess I'm always curious about this, right? First time politician, right? First time candidate, until you're elected, I don't know how that works, folks is he a politician now or is it we got to wait until he's got the official title probably um but have you had a background like do you uh were you a you know a member for years and years and years and

years or you just voted and that's it and and you're like you know because i know myself included lots of us are always curious about the backgrounds of people of did have they been doing this have they ran before is this like the 10th time they've ran or is this truly the first time john stuck his hand up and said, okay, it's time. You know, I've been in the private sector for long enough. I'm seeing the problems. They're all, you know, coming at us all at once, and it's time we did something. Absolutely. Yeah. No, I have never ran for anything. The only, like, I ran, I was acclaimed on the board of my church. That's it. That's the only thing that was ever voted on for me in my my entire career. No. So this is the first. This is all new, but it's exciting. And I think

it's worth it. The reason I'm doing this, because I'm still running an operating oil company in the province. And the reason I'm taking time away from that is because I believe that this is important. And I believe that now is the time to do it. You know, I'm talking to people, not just in my writing, but all over the province. And people are, people are, you know, they're, they want change. They want, they want, they, you know, they want accountability. They want, there's so many different areas. I mean, inflation and everything geopolitically going on.

And, you know, we need, we need to, you know, cut foreign interference and all of these things. Like, because the people of Saskatchewan, they're hardworking people. You know, they want to raise their families, the way they want to raise their families. I, you know, this is a conservative. ideologically a conservative stronghold in Canada. I mean, look at federally, like, how we vote is like strong, you know, conservative. And we're just not seeing, it just feels like we've got this open sieve, like it's, you know, like what you use to drain your pasta.

And it's just like everything outside just keeps like sieving in. We're not blocking anything. We're not protecting our livelihood. here and our families. Everything's just coming from all over. So, you know, I had tried to lobby the government, our elected officials, you know, in past years to be, whoa, we got to, we got to stop this. Do you see what's coming down the path?

You know, we've got to, you know, we've got to be, we've got to be proactive. We can see what's going on. And it just falls on deaf ears or I'm unaware or that's just your opinion or what do you know anyway, John? And so finally it just comes to the place where it's like, you know what, I'm just going to throw my hat in. Now's the time. Let's go do this. And let's bring about some change.

And let's bring about some real management. Some something, some tangible benefits. So, you know, our constituents can look and be like, you know what? I brought this issue to John. He took it forward and he's championing that issue. and he's going to bring about a tangible result. And he's accountable to me on that. So, I mean, as you know in the corporate world, like, I'm accountable to my board.

I'm accountable to my shareholders. Like, I'm used to accountability and I'm used to transparency with it. Whereas, you know, our current crop of elected representatives are, wow, like, oh, you know, just it's almost like they're playing hall monitor rather than, you know, getting in and and leading. if you know what I mean. Certainly do. Yeah, it, uh, it, it, you know, I, you know, I, I wish I could, um, kind of look over a hundred years, you know, and you probably can, uh, some way, because I feel like it's just kind of a cycle of governments, right?

Like, they just kind of go through where they know better than their constituents and we know what we're doing, just listen to us. We're all smart and blah, blah, blah. And eventually the people just get annoyed and out they go and the next party comes through. Because, you know, when you talk about a list of, you know, a list of, issues. I mean, I don't know of a single area right now that isn't pissed off about something, right? Like, there's a lot going on that's really attacking private businesses, you know, the oil and gas industry. You mentioned farmers, ranchers. Like, it's just on and on and on.

The list goes. And I'm hearing more and more. I used to ask this question, John. Honestly, this was a question I asked for probably five years before I started the podcast. And certainly when I was talking to hockey players, I didn't talk a whole lot of. about it but the question it always was like why aren't the best of us in politics or why do the best of us wait until they're retired and their kids are all gone and everybody always used to say money I'm like I don't think that's it like I think politicians these days get paid a boatload to do what they're doing honestly like I mean they get a good wage they get you know pension after it's all

said and done if they go back-to-back terms and all these different things like I'm looking at I'm going like that's it does the money part isn't it's a why isn't it and now what I'm seeing more and more of is John's of the world starting to transition over because they're like, listen, if we don't do this, industry is going to be destroyed. You know, from an oil and gas perspective, what concerns you the most? You know, you mentioned being in that industry, you went to school to be a petroleum engineer, like you've been around this, you've managed things.

You know, when you're looking at the current government, whether we're talking, well, I mean, sticking to Saskatchewan as much as we can, I mean, the federal government certainly. pushing a lot of things down. What concerns you the most as a business guy, business manager? You know, oil and gas is investment driven. And I mean, as some of your other guests you've had on, eloquently put it, capital is liquid and it flows globally. And it always goes to where it's treated best. When you have a federal government that is very anti-anty oil and it's anti-resource development and they're out there with their rhetoric doing that. I mean, Capital's kind of like, okay, okay, whoa, whoa.

So they're looking and then they're going to go down to the provincial level and be like, all right, so what are the provinces? Because Capital knows that Canada is a confederation of provinces. And so that's why they're looking at the provincial level and they're saying, all right, so what are the provinces doing in order to, you know, to protect this anti-oil sentiment out there? And when you're not strong in actually delivering results for producers, then the capital will go away. So that to me is the biggest issue because at the end of the day, if you can't have capital investment coming into this province. And if you can't create and foster an environment that gives it that profitability, capital just goes away.

So that, to me, is a big issue. So whether it's carbon tax one, carbon tax two, now nitrogen, now, you know, federal minister of the environment comes out. And, well, I'm going to cut this by 75% on fossil fuels that don't have carbon, you know, capture and storage. I mean, that's your lawnmour, by the way. There's no carbon capture on that. You know, these are big issues. That's why, I mean, I look at, you know, Daniel Smith. being in Vancouver, you know, champion LNG and working that way.

Like this is very important. That shows the world, it shows the world that, yes, come here. We're doing everything that we can to ensure that Saskatchewan is a great place to invest. Because we're putting Saskatchewan and the people of Saskatchewan and this province and its jurisdiction ahead of what's taking place in Ottawa, ahead of what's going on in Davos, ahead of what's going on in Beijing. We're protecting it. And we're ensuring that our entrepreneurs

and our small businesses can thrive here. And my job as, you know, an elected representative, I'm just putting myself in that place. My job as elected representatives is to protect that and to foster an environment such that, you know, our people can thrive here regardless of the turmoil that's going on in the world. As you know, like we can't control the price of oil.

We can't control the price of potash, all of our, you know, agricultural products, helium. We can't control that. But we are controlling what we can control. And what we can control is what we have jurisdiction up in this province. And we're actively doing it. We're doing it in such a way that it creates that, that opportunity where, you know, people want to move here.

Innovators and entrepreneurs want to move here and they want to be part of what we're doing. And to me, to me, that's very important. And I look at our current government and they're not doing that. They might say they're doing it, but it's not resulting in anything tangible such that, you know, investment dollars will will flow more freely. So as it relates to that, that's a big deal. That's a big deal because, you know, there's a reason why the feds are always go after or are going after resources. Like the resources in the ground or on the surface, our resources are the monetary wealth of a province. If you can cut that, if you can strangle off that investment to that, that is like cutting the wealth, the monetary wealth of the province.

And that way, then they force you to turn. They're trying to make you turn to Ottawa and be like, can I have some money, please? And they're like, sure, here's some money, but here's all the strings attached. Not only do we want you to, you know, we're cut emissions by, you know, X percent, but now it's going to be X plus X squared percent or X plus Y percent. And it's all meant to stagnate and to drink and to stop the wealth of our province. And that's what we're seeing, you know, in Saskatchewan. That's what we're seeing in Alberta.

So we need leaders that, number one, recognize that and number two be like you know what i'm here to serve the people of saskatchew i'm not here to serve ottawa i'm not here to serve beijing i'm not here to serve davos i'm here to serve the people of of of saskatchewan and if that means us saying no this is the way we're going to go and this is what we're going to do then that's what it is here's a question for you john you know i i've watched a lot of politicians um speak openly and then as they get into the political ring, uh,

I don't know if it's lose their voice, but certainly, um, you know, media is going to do you no favors. Uh, people are going to do you no favors. Political part, you know, political opposition is going to do you zero favors.

Yeah. Um, when you look at, you know, when you, when you take a step back and you realize, you know, okay, let's say I win.

Okay, let's take the first step. Now I've won. I am now the first ever Saskia United candidate representative in you know

representing and being surrounded by people who pretty much want me to not literally die folks but they're not going to be happy to have you there are you going to meet

do you think you'll be able to continue to have such I don't know passion and and talk openly about the things like I assume you've thought lots about this

because of the uphill battle you face just from a media standpoint point. I'm like, maybe I'm wrong. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe they're going to be like, oh, John's the greatest and give you all the time in the world. But you know, like I know, I know Ken constituents and the UCP, which is the government in Alberta that can't get their voice heard, right? That's why they come to me. And that's why they go to different alternative avenues. That's why the Western standards, the rebel news, all these different

true north, you know, I could probably rattle off a few more. That's why they've become what they've become is because they're giving some voice to them. It doesn't mean they won't be a attacked, they certainly will. But have you, have you given that some thought? And how, you know, are you, I don't know, not up to the task, but at the same time, it's like, you know, you win, that's just like, that's just the entree. That's just the start, right? Yeah, no, I have. And, you know, this, this isn't the best paid, if I was to be an MLA, it's not the best paid job I've ever had. I'm not there for the, I'm not there for the pay. I'm not there for the rubber chicken dinners. I'm there for the graph. I'm not there for I'm not there to you know make myself feel

important and be yay I get I get an office at the legislature. No I'm there for the people. I'm there to represent the stakeholders and that's the attitude I've always had in business. Like I'm there to represent my stakeholders whether they're shareholders of course and then you have you know mineral owners and working interest partners you have that I'm I'm used to that. And, you know, I'm there to do and bring a voice and more importantly to manage things and to bring issues forward and to hold the government to account. Because I mean coming in, you'd be coming in from the perspective of opposition, right? To hold them to account and not to compromise who you are. I know who I am.

And I'm there to hold the government to account. I'm there to represent my people and my constituents, and I'm accountable to them. And that is a great thing about the SAS United Party. Like within their constitution, they even have recall legislation. So that if, and that's at the constituency level. And it's the first, I believe it's the first in Canada to have that. So I represent, I get elected, I represent the people of Lumsden Moors. And if I go all rogue, which I'm not going to go rogue,

But, you know, the constituency association, that's who I report to. They take me aside and they say, John, you're not representing us anymore. You're fired just like it works in a corporation. If management is not representing the stakeholders at the legislature, you're fired. You're gone. And we'll put in someone or will bring in someone for the people to elect that will represent them. And so that way, you know, because, you know, further to your question, we know party solidarity is it can really hurt democracy. And that's why, that's why that it's built right into the Saskatchewan United Party's constitution, recall legislation.

Very similar to in the United States, you know, the impeachment for any public office, right? The Wild Rose folks who are listening to this on the Alberta side would say they know all about recall legislature. And, you know, I think there's a lot of us that wish it was a little easier for constituencies to do all across the country, right? I don't know the ins and outs of every different spot, and I'm sure my text will blow up a little bit about it because I'll be getting a few different, giving me all the ins and outs of it. But recall, yeah, I mean, you know, it's just, if somebody's doing a shitty job anywhere else in the world, you boot them. Yeah, or you just, you know, you transition them out, right? You just, that's, that's the nature of private business. That's the nature of, you know, like where we all come from.

It fosters accountability. If you don't have that, I mean, it's just a matter of time before, before, before compromise takes place. And I mean, like going back to what you said before, you know, this party's been in power a long time. Change is going to happen. where do you want the keys to be thrown? Do you want the keys to be thrown to the NDP? Or do you want a conservative party that's going to represent you to come in and represent you? Because the change is going to happen regardless.

It's interesting. When you go right to your guys' constituency of Lumsden Morris, I was a quick little bit of digging. you know, there's only been two elections because before 2016 it was not a constituency. So you've had two elections. Lyle Stewart of the Sass Party has been the representative until he now is no more. This is why you're having an election. He stepped down, citing health concerns is the way it read.

But up until this point, Lyle Stewart in 2016 had 75% of the vote. Last time he had 73.4% of the vote. Now, I should also point out that of the total voting population, in that area, only 63% showed up the last time. When you do the numbers, because I know Ken is a part of the SAS United team, and me and him have talked numbers all over different areas, right? Because when you walk into election, you just, to me, if you pull it back to just like a game of hockey or a series of hockey, it's like, okay, so what do we actually need to do to win?

It's like, well, right now the SAS party has held 73% of the vote. last election. So that's a juggernaut. That is about as big as it gets, you know, that's going into an absolute stronghold. But you live in the area. You've been, you know, I'm sure you've been on the pounding pavement, talking to different constituents, everything else. When you look at the numbers, what do you see and what have you heard from your area? Well, anyone who's asking about, well, we don't want to split the boat or, you know, that narrative is out there. And I, and I, And I ask people, I'm like, well, where do you hear that from? Well, I'll tell you where you hear it from.

You hear it from the SaaS party. They're the ones that are propagating that narrative. They want you to think that, well, you better vote the SaaS party, if not, the NDP is going to sneak in and they're going to win. You could take the SaaS parties, like you had pointed out, numbers from the last election, and cut it in three, and you're still going to beat the NDP. So vote splitting is just not a thing. in this riding. And then, you know, further to your point as it relates to, you know,

this huge majority that the SAS party has had in the last election, basically the SAS party has been a uniparty in Saskatchewan for many, many, many years. They had 48 out of 61 seats, Sean. My question is, what have you done with it? Like, if that's, that's not just the majority. That's a super majority. But what have you done with it? They haven't done anything. They're still just taking pictures of letters that they're sending to Ottawa. They're not doing anything that is tangible to the people to, you know, to further, you know, our conservative values and to keep these, the Ottawa's influence and foreign influence at bay

and out and out of our province. So, you know, what people are saying is they're frustrated with that. They want change. They're like, wow, like I don't understand what these guys. do. Like, you know, I think, you know, what I'm hearing a lot too is disillusionment to be like, well, what is the government, is the government even supposed to solve these problems? Because it just seems that our elected representatives have delegated their authority to the bureaucracy. And it's the bureaucracy that's running government. So people are even questioned,

well, is it the minister's job to actually, you know, know what's going on in his ministry? Or does he manage it? Or is he just there to, you know, look good and show up. cut a ribbon and, you know, hold a check up or, you know, yay, SaaS party. You know, like, what is even the role? Like, I thought that's what we're supposed to be electing here. I thought we're supposed to be electing, you know, someone that, you know, I'm, I'm Dustin Duncan and I'm the CEO of the Ministry of Education. Okay.

Well, how did sex cards get in the classroom if you're the CEO? Like, if it was me and I was like, I'm John Rumick and I'm the CEO of Adonite Resources Two Corporation. And, well, John, how come, you know, how come you drilled on wrong minerals? I'd be like, I don't know. It's a driller's fault. Not my fault. I'm just here.

You know, I'm just the figurehead. Sorry. You know, when you come back to vote splitting, John, the one thing that I will say, you know, I assume by now all the listeners understand it, you know, because it's been a, since I had the Mavericks on, you know, talking about vote splitting, I would say back then I was kind of like eh you know like and I guess I shouldn't jump over it you know what John's pointing out with vote splitting is like there's going to be two conservative parties that's how it's going to be labeled Sask versus Sask United and the big thing that's

being pushed is if you split the vote the NDP can come up through the middle and what's pointed out is you know you split 73% and two and folks you know it's you can easily see that's 30 some percent and that's more than even remotely the NDP's gotten the first two times and it didn't going to change. Like it just isn't. So one, that that should be no concern on anyone because if you vote for John, you're not all setting voting out to SASC party. You're not. You're voting for change on a conservative side and it's a constituency that is heavily, heavily conservative. Two, one of the things I discussed about, you know, we just had an Alberta election, right? The UCP got back in, you know, what was it, folks? Fifty-51, 53 seats in total. And one of the things I'd told

a couple of independence running, you know, that's a different type of vote splitting because my brain looked at that is like, listen, there's a chance, and this is way that it was built, it was built by this all across media is that the NDP we're going to win. And I'm like, if we vote you out, and now you don't have a majority government, and the NDP squeak over, right, let's just say it was closer, because I mean 51 to, what was it, 30, whatever, and all of a sudden they lose a couple, and now they're down into the 40s, and, you know, I'm just, you know, I'm just, I'm just, you know, and they had their arguments to it. I was just like, that's really tough for my brain to like, oh man, what happens there? What you just pointed out once again is

you don't have that problem in Saskatchewan either because their majority is like so healthy. Yes. You would actually have somebody in opposition who might actually push on them to actually have to do some difficult things and actually get some time to push on them to actually force their hand to the right side of thing instead of just always bending towards the left. Exactly. Exactly. And that's how we see it. I mean, like, this voice, like voting for me and this by-election, your voice will be heard every day during question period. This constituency's voice will be heard every day during question period. And for me, like, I would love the opportunity to be able to go into the legislature and to go to question period and to support, you know, our. leader, Nadine Wilson, who's been doing a fantastic job of bringing up issues that the NDP is not bringing up. And the SaaS party hopes that, you know, no one's read about. Don't get brought up.

Yeah, exactly. So to have two of us in there would be fantastic. Then in reality, yeah, these, these issues are going to be brought up and they're going to be held to account on it. And they can't run away from it because it's going to be brought up and brought up. Well, one of the, one of the, One of the things I think a lot of us are understanding is that, you know, like Daniel Smith getting elected, although amazing and great and everything from a certain perspective. If she's the only one, eventually the onslaught of the mob, just, you know, she's a politician. I hate to break it to people. You know, she's just going to get swayed and that's what the people want and all the pressure and all the money is pushing this one way. In order to stand up that, you need people.

You need, and in this case, you need other elected people to go battle with Nadine. Can you imagine how much Nadine would enjoy having somebody that actually has her back? I'm sure there's a few people in there. I don't mean to say that there's not an elected official that doesn't have Nadine's back. But I would think it's a pretty lonely place to be right now. And to have somebody to start to work the numbers towards like, hey, we can change the narrative. We can change the direction. That takes numbers in office in order to do that.

That takes cooperation. that takes changing, you know, some of the thought process and then having different voices in there. Yeah. Certainly, you know, when I got offered to have you on, I'm like, oh, man. Like, I'm not in Lumsden, right? I'm not. You know, I'm, and I don't even vote Saskatchewan. So it's an interesting spot for me to be.

Right. But I do like shedding a light on people that are going to try and create some transparency, some, you know, accountability. Just speak open to the difficult problems we face because by just acting like they don't exist, they still exist. And they're still going to propagate into the future and we need to change that. That's right. Yeah. And the sooner we start, the better. I mean, things, we're on slippery slopes.

Things just, things don't get better unless we sit down and we address it and we start calling it out and saying, you know, what are we going to do about this? But let's bring that power back to the elected officials rather than offloading it to the bureaucracy. And no, and I really appreciate you having me on, Sean, you know, and giving me this opportunity because you're right. I mean, you're, you know, you're from Alberta or you're in Alberta. But the issues that we're talking about don't just. Go across borders. They do. Yes, they do.

You know, and, and we've been, a lot of these issues, we've been talking. about for years but nothing ever seems to get solved and that's why I think it's time to bring in bring in people sector outperformers bring in people that you know have a history of delivering on on the goals that they set out for them that the goals of the stakeholders they set out and you know well it comes all the way back John if you want things to change you have to get involved I don't know how many times I'm going to quote David Parker on this politics is not a a spectator sport. If you want things to change, you need to get involved. And if you really want things to change, a whole bunch you need to get involved. Because one person certainly can change

the world. I'm not sitting here saying they can't. But it would be a heck of a lot easier having a bunch of people alongside that one person to help, you know, defend and push and because it's going to take a ton of energy. It's going to, like, I can't imagine the uphill battle you face. It's funny. Lumsden is becoming this weird little, you know, once upon a time, and Henry was on, this is, him and Jamie, Henry Sidelis, Jamie Sinclair, like, geez, how long ago was that now? Like, that seems like a lifetime ago. And then, of course, now Charleston and now John, I'm like, yeah,

Lumsden's becoming this little spot that the Sean Newman podcast seems to come back to, you know, every couple months. So, you know, Lumsden's doing a lot of things that's making a lot of people pay attention. Obviously, the school isn't, you know. The kind of attention you want. You want. Thank you. You know.

But I mean, bring things to, bring things to a head, right? Yeah, exactly. Well, before I let you out of here, you know, is there anything else you want, when you're talking to the voting people who are sitting there who are hopefully going to listen to this, you know, I hope that a lot of people in that constituency tune in to hear what John has to say. If you're sitting there and you're, you know, I'm going to assume, I'm going to assume I should never do this, but I'm going to assume you're talking to the people that don't vote, right? They're like, there's no point in voting. It's the same thing every time anyways.

So that's one. The other one is voted for the Sask Party for the first two elections. They're part of the 70% that have voted in, you know, Lyle Stewart, who is no longer there. What would you say to those folks here before we let you off? Well, you know, I'm running to bring that transparency and that accountability back. You know, to put parents back into the schools, they've been shut out and to have their voices back into the education system and heard and have them be the most important voice in that. As well as, you know, Saskatchewan, we need to focus on autonomy within our province and building that moat from foreign, interference and federal interference.

And, you know, to, you know, to cut these strings that on all these deals that are being done with Ottawa, we've got to focus on that. Our resource and our agricultural sector, I mean, that is close to my heart, of course. And that is critically, you know, that is the monetary wealth of our province. you know, we need to ensure that we have a thriving sectors, both in resources and agriculture. So, you know, that is a tremendous focus for me. And then, of course, in our health care, I mean, our health care system has a lot of problems. There's a lot of wait times.

There's a lot of overmanagement. And, you know, we're here as we're supposed to as the government, you know, to be supporting our frontline workers in delivering the service of health care to two people like a lot of people forget that health care it's service it's a service industry and you know our frontline workers are working as hard as they can and uh but they're being you know just being run down with bureaucracy and red tape and you know we we need to set we need to we need to deal with a lot of those issues and um so what i bring to the table i'm a problem solver that's what I do. I solve problems and and I'm looking forward to to you know hopefully having the opportunity to be able to get into this and roll up my sleeves and get to work and actually bring about

some tangible, tangible changes and and good things for my constituents and for this province. So, you know, again, Saskatchewan does not have a money problem. We have a management problem and that is and that's something that we need to get in on and change. And I believe that people are wanting change and, you know, I'm, and I'm, and I'm ready to get in there and give it all my, give it all my attention and all my, and all my energy. And I'm an ADHD guy and I got lots of energy. So, you know, so that, that's what I, that's what I want to do. Well, I appreciate you hopping on, John, and best of luck here in August with the upcoming election and we'll see how things turn out for you. I look forward to, you know, well, seeing what comes of here.

It's not that far off, you know. It's only a couple weeks and it kicks off. So either way, thanks again for joining me this morning and best of luck to you. Thanks, Sean. I really appreciate the opportunity. Thank you. Hey, thanks for tuning in today, guys. I hope you enjoyed it.

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