GAULIN:
CAPP has started Canada’s Energy Citizen, which is a program and a platform that allows average Canadians to learn more about the oil and gas industry. And to be able to speak up in their social networks, and their public networks, and if they’re so inclined in their political networks.

GAULIN:
People can sign up for Canada’s Energy Citizens online at Energycitizens.ca. They can follow us on Facebook, or on Twitter. And they can receive regular and timely information about the oil and gas industry. The type of stuff they might have use for at the office, or in their social networks, to share information about the oil and gas industry. To give them the courage to be able to speak up if they are supportive of our industry.

GAULIN:
I believe we’ve got more than 10,000 people signed up right now. We really haven’t done a strong recruitment drive. We do know that there’s a strong support for Canada’s oil and gas sector from coast to coast. And as the program becomes more public, as the participants begin to speak out more I think you’ll see that grow substantially.

GAULIN:
We don’t have a target right now in terms of numbers. You know there’s 550,000 Canadians who are directly employed in Canada’s oil and gas industry. If we get only a fraction of them, even if we’ve got only one per cent, that’s more than 5,000 people who could speak up and stand up and support their industry. And that would have a tremendous influence on the tone and manner of conversation online, and in their communities.

GAULIN:
Social media is only one channel where we hope people will have conversations. You know they can have conversations at the hockey rink, at the company picnic. They can have it in line at Starbucks, they can have it at home at the family dinner table. There are many ways for people to begin to recognize that they’re not alone, they’re not wrong, and by speaking up they can defend an industry that has tremendous value to the community, economy, and our well-being.

GAULIN:
Absolutely. Here’s a great example. A couple weeks back there was a seismic event around Fox Creek, Alta. where people were concerned that hydraulic fracturing had potentially caused an earthquake. It was about 4.4 on the Richter scale. They didn’t know what was going on other than what they’d heard in the press. Through Canada’s Energy Citizens we were able to get them the information in a very timely way, in a way they could understand, and they understood what they could do with that information.

And that was a small example of how timely information can get out to supporters to help them feel more secure in their support, to understand what’s going on, and understand what they can say to speak up. And that’s what we’re looking to build from coast to coast.

GAULIN:
The Monday after that event I was in Toronto, far away from where the event occurred in Fox Creek. And I had someone in a business meeting thank me for giving out that information because they got it just as quickly as they got it from the news. And so we’ve had that anecdotal feedback, and we’ve seen that the volume of traffic of people who are online become more assertive. And that’s beginning to have an impact.

GAULIN:
I do think that it can counter a lot of misinformation that’s out there. Now we don’t have to be emotional or shrill about this. We can be very factual. We can be very pointed. And we can be very precise. And I think developing that support network coast to coast is definitely an effective counter to a lot of the misinformation that is spread out there.

GAULIN:
I think this can be a way where we can begin those conversations, answer those questions, be open and honest and transparent with Canadians who are inclined to support the industry. And as they learn more they will understand the significance of it so that they may in the future feel comfortable to speak out publicly, in their social networks, or even participate in the process that we have to get projects approved. Whether it’s a pipeline or the oil sands as a whole.

GAULIN:
Our research shows that most British Columbians are no different than the rest of Canadians. That when you look at the province as a whole, support for the energy sector – oil and gas specifically – is on par with the national average. What we find in British Columbia that’s a bit different is that the opponents are very vocal, and very active. And so what we need to let supporters know is that there are facts – verifiable, third-party information – that people can turn to to get the straight facts. And as they begin to learn that themselves, then they may feel more comfortable to speak up in the future. So we would look at British Columbia as a province very much like every other one, where there is a quiet majority of the population that supports the oil and gas industry.

GAULIN:
What we have found in our polling most currently is that about 42 per cent of Canadians from coast to coast support oil and gas development and about 25 per cent oppose it. Now when you look at what are the real strong supporters, the numbers about 25 per cent of Canadians are very strongly in favour of oil and gas. And only about 12 per cent of Canadians are opposed. So it’s almost a 2:1 ratio in favour.

But the real telling story for us is so who speaks out against? And the numbers are inverse for our opponents. They are more likely, three to one more likely, to speak up against the industry. So they don’t represent the majority viewing Canada. What they do is they’re very dominant, they’re very vocal, and they can be very effective at getting the message out.

GAULIN:
I think for a long time there was a faith that by just putting out the information in an objective, non-emotional way, that people would come to a conclusion that this is good for Canada, this is good for the economy, this is therefore good for my community. And we know that’s not often the case because that persuasion can be affected by emotion and rhetoric from opponents. So by communicating in a community by community basis, now we will be more effective in galvanizing support for oil and gas development and the infrastructure that supports it.