‘I Love Pipelines’ worker a hit, but put off by PM’S response
REGINA Courtland Klein was scheduled to work overtime at Regina’s Evraz steel mill on Thursday — but he had to cut it short.
He had an appointment with the prime minister.
Klein was uncertain he’d get into the University of Regina gym where Justin Trudeau was set to speak that evening — and knew there was no guarantee he’d get to share what was on his mind.
“I just showed up as a regular worker who’s just aggravated with the decision making of our prime minister,” said Klein. “And I just wanted to give him a little hell over it.”
But after the prime minister pointed to Klein, calling him “you sir, with the I Love Pipelines T-shirt,” he had a moment of hesitation.
“I couldn’t get over how people were clapping and cheering for me just for him picking me,” said Klein. “It threw me off. I thought, ‘Oh boy, here we go. I hope I don’t suck.’”
Since then, videos of Klein challenging Trudeau’s pipeline politics have been viewed more than two million times across Facebook and Youtube as of Sunday. Klein, a millwright at Evraz and union rep of USW 5890, said it feels “awesome” to get so much love on social media.
“Whatever I did, I touched a lot of hearts,” said Klein. “I resonated with a lot of people and for some reason I just put a big smile on a lot of people’s faces, so it’s pretty cool to be part of that.”
But he was less than satisfied with the prime minister’s response.
Klein came to question Trudeau on U.S. steel and aluminum tariffs, and on the Trans Mountain pipeline. As he took the mic, he noted that Trudeau had twice visited Evraz last year and promised steelworkers he’d fight for their interests.
Despite signing on to the United States-mexico-canada Agreement (USMCA), the U.S. tariffs remain in place and the pipeline remains caught up in a court-imposed consultation process.
“Why would you sign on to the USMCA while the tariffs were still active? Why didn’t you walk away?” Klein asked. “When in that part of the negotiations did you decide that we here in Regina weren’t good enough?”
He then took aim at the federal government’s decision to buy the Trans Mountain pipeline, saying the $4.5-billion purchase pleased precisely no one.
“You can legalize marijuana, but you can’t twin a pipeline to the coast?” Klein said, to applause.
“We’re just getting hosed on our oil something terribly,” he added. “Get this pipeline in the ground. Get it out to the coast and you’re going to have a whole bunch more money that you can spend like a drunken farm wife after harvest in New York City.”
Trudeau responded that he continues to urge President Donald Trump to reverse the steel and aluminum tariffs, while working with state governors to create pressure from within the United States.
But he said that it was clear the president wasn’t going to give way. The risks were stark: play hardball on the tariffs, and Canada could jeopardize its chance of preserving a trade deal with the United States.
“I know here steel and aluminum is extraordinarily important, but so are our agricultural exports, so are the billions of dollars worth of trade that every part of the country does with the United States,” Trudeau said.
On the Trans Mountain pipeline, Trudeau said Kinder Morgan was ready to walk away from the project due to the “political risks” and “complications.” He said Canada can’t behave like it did in the days the railroads were laid down across the Prairies, when “nobody checked in with the locals.”
For Trudeau, those times are over.
“We are working with Indigenous people, we are working with environmental scientists to make sure the impacts are minimized,” he said. “We are going to be moving forward in the right way.”
The prime minister’s answer was not featured on the two most popular Facebook videos of Klein’s question.
But Klein had the chance to hear it. He said Trudeau’s explanation left him feeling “madder after he answered me than I was before.” He said the whole thing felt scripted, noting that he didn’t feel like the prime minister was even speaking directly to him.
“It didn’t matter how I asked it,” Klein said. “He already had a pre-rehearsed idea on how he was going to answer that question.”
He said that he felt like Trudeau was at least truthful when he explained his decision to separate the tariffs from the broader trade agreement. But he said the people of Regina “need to understand … we’re getting left behind.”
Klein was less forgiving on pipelines. He took issue with Trudeau’s claim that Kinder Morgan was ready to give up the Trans Mountain expansion. He blamed the federal government for creating the situation in the first place.
“Trudeau could have played some tough negotiation and politics with the NDP government of Horgan out in B.C. and he chose not to,” said Klein.
But he said his experience Thursday was still worthwhile. He left the University of Regina that night with “no regrets.”
“I made people feel good, you know?” Klein said.
“I got to say things that are on my chest — that’s why I showed up that night.”