Boyd, Roosen, Quartermain: It takes grit, invention, luck to make the big time
Mining industry legends discuss the backstories on their multibillion-dollar successes.
Journalist Lindsay Bird writes about working in the camps near Fort McMurray, and comes away unimpressed:
Here, being female is akin to having a giant pair of antlers on your head and wearing neon clothing adorned with flashing, beeping lights — all the time. In my camp, perhaps 30 or 40 of the 1400 people were women. The first time I attended meal hall, I made the mistake of wearing a mid-length skirt and, while trying to swallow incredibly inedible “food,” I overheard several conversations about the possible colour of my underwear.
Some of the commentators below Bird’s article push back against her impressions:
I am a woman, trying to find a job in a work camp in Fort McMurray and your pessimistic views of camp living sound pretty rude. I have plenty of relatives and friends in camps over there, all men yes, but they assure me it’s not as bad as you make it sound.
The oil and gas industry still needs workers and has to fill 9,500 positions by 2015.
