I know quite a few high school graduates and high school dropouts that are making 6 figures working on the rigs. Sure its hard work, but that is the price you sometimes have to pay.
The HuffPost isn't painting the complete picture. Not even close. The gap between the rich and the poor has been getting larger all over the world. Is the O&G sector to blame? Is Silicon Valley to blame? Is Wall Street to blame?
A strong Alberta economy provides a lot of jobs and money in a lot of other fields for a lot of other people. How many ditchdiggers and waitresses are employed strictly to service O&G companies? Hell, how many non-related jobs to the energy industry are created by the energy industry?
The most important thing in any society is opportunity. Opportunity to succeed, opportunity that if you work hard you can also make 6 figures. And there is a lot of that in Alberta.
EDIT: That is not to say that we shouldn't help the poor. Or help those that need help. We should, but blaming the O&G industry for doing well and creating jobs, wealth and income for thousands of Albertans is rather lame. What exactly should they do? Shut everything down because there is a increasing gap between the rich and the poor?
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