American vets to work in oil sands

I know what you're thinking because I was thinking the same; how many vets do they need up in Fort McMurray? Don't they mostly just scare animals away or drown them in tailings ponds?

Turns out they mean military veterans. No numbers are given, but it looks like an American veterans job-placement service called VetJobs has talked about placing people in Alberta industries with the help of the city of Edmonton and gotten a lot of interest from veterans in return. They claim many US veterans could help fill Alberta's labour shortage for skilled workers, or at least workers willing to learn to become skilled. In the words of Ted Daywalt, president of VetJobs, there is "no language barrier, it’s not like living in the arctic circle and there are similar Conservative values in Alberta". "It’s an ideal situation for veterans!!! *<:)" [ed: punctuation and party-hat emoticon my own] This is a clear demonstration that he understands we don't speak French or live in igloos (at least some of the year), and while he may be disappointed to learn of the area's lackluster bible thumping, maybe the veterans will be more amenable to some of the local institutions' "Conservative values".

Overall, it looks like the Atlantan is serious about sending some vets up to the Mac!