When Suzanne Plamondon confronted Jane Fonda in Fort McMurray last Tuesday it was not for an autograph, it was for some answers. But when Fonda’ s security guards quickly lead her away from the pro-oilsands activist, she received an earful.
When Suzanne Plamondon confronted Jane Fonda in Fort McMurray last Tuesday it was not for an autograph, it was for some answers. But when Fonda’ s security guards quickly lead her away from the pro-oilsands activist, she received an earful.
Fonda, a long-time activist and critic of the oil and gas industry, was in the area taking a helicopter tour of Alberta’ s oilsands and afterwards stopped for an interview with CBC in the parking lot of a Fort McMurray Moxie’ s. During the interview she described what she saw as “like someone took my skin and peeled it off my body” and that it made her “body ache to watch.”
In a video of the interview, local activist and founder of “I Love the Oilsands” and “Oilsands Strong” Robbie Picard can be heard in the background trying to ask Fonda questions. After being told the actress was too busy for his questions, Plamondon, a friend of Picard’ s, stepped in.
Plamondon began shouting at Fonda, asking if she had flown over the reclamation area and saying she hoped she was not only in Fort McMurray to bash residents, as they were still hurting from the fires.
Recently, the POST spoke with Plamondon about her actions. She said originally, she had held back to let Picard ask Fonda some questions but decided she would do so herself when he was not given the chance.
“I wanted to know why she was here,” said Plamondon. “I didn’ t want her bashing our city of Fort McMurray and our oilsands. And that was totally her intentions and she basically lied to me saying she was not here to bash the people of Fort McMurray or the oilsands. But come on, that’ s exactly what she was brought here to do by Greenpeace.”
Plamondon believes that Fonda had no interest in hearing the side opposite of Greenpeace and that she should have taken the opportunity Picard was providing to educate herself on the whole issue.
“They’ re just not interested to just listen to the people,” she said. “She was confronted by these questions by me and Robbie Picard and they don’ t want to hear the other side of the story. They’ re in denial, they’ re here for one agenda and that’ s to make us look bad and shut down our oil and gas.”
After the confrontation with Plamondon, Fonda was quickly lead away by security, which Plamondon described as cowardly.
“With her running way, to me she’ s a coward. She wasn’ t going to take that time out and listen to the people and this is what it’ s all about.”
Plamondon thinks that her actions may have brought hope to Albertans by speaking up and holding the elite, along with the Canadian government accountable for being overly critical of Alberta and the oil and gas industry.
“We’ re going to keep on pounding whoever is going to be bashing our oil and gas industry in Fort McMurray,” she said. “We’ re not giving up. We’ re going to keep on pounding and holding our government accountable. They’ re there for the will of the people and they’ re supposed to be here for the will of the people. Not themselves. It is the taxpayers’ dollars they are spending. A lot of people are really upset.”
Plamondon thinks the timing of Fonda’ s visit was also very bad given the community is still recovering from the devastating forest fires last May.
“To come and attack our city when we’ re already down...Shame on her,” she said, but added she would be willing to educate Fonda given the chance.
“If I could sit down with Jane Fonda I would probably educate her on our commitment to the environment and what we have done for reclamation. And that was one of my questions to her: did you fly over the areas that have been reclaimed?” said Plamondon. “We are not the evil of the world, Alberta leads Canada in technology, we have for years. We have high standards, we have high environmental standards, we’ re constantly improving our environmental standards.”
