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Under the Canopy
On Outdoor Journal Radio's Under the Canopy podcast, former Minister of Natural Resources, Jerry Ouellette takes you along on the journey to see the places and meet the people that will help you find your outdoor passion and help you live a life close to nature and Under The Canopy.
Under the Canopy
Episode 109: Update with Garett
A torrential downpour transforms into a months-long nightmare when Garrett's Calgary townhouse floods during roof repairs, leaving him battling property managers, mold remediation, and "livable" conditions in a half-wrecked home. But this construction worker's story runs deeper than personal housing woes – it offers a fascinating window into Alberta's explosive building boom.
From his vantage point on construction sites across Calgary and Edmonton, Garrett reveals the scale of development reshaping the province. Hundreds of homes, multi-story apartment complexes, and commercial spaces are sprouting across the landscape, transforming the "Blue Sky City" that paradoxically experienced a "Vancouver summer" of near-constant rainfall this year.
The conversation ventures into the engineering marvels hidden within modern buildings as Garrett explains the complex mechanics of "transfer slabs" – specialized structures designed to distribute weight and accommodate seismic activity between commercial and residential sections. With 18,000 "hairpins" connecting top and bottom mats in a single building, these unseen elements exemplify the overengineering principle Garrett describes: "We build stuff in Canada to 100 times its capacity."
Looking northward, Garrett shares his applications for mining projects in Ontario's "Ring of Fire" and potential gold operations in Canada's territories, where soaring prices are making previously unprofitable deposits economically viable. The unpredictable nature of his profession means opportunity could call at any moment, sending him to a remote diamond mine in Nunavut with little notice.
Join us for this revealing glimpse into the construction frontlines, where personal resilience meets professional expertise, and where Canada's future is being built one transfer slab at a time.
Hi everybody. I'm Angelo Viola and I'm Pete Bowman. Now you might know us as the hosts of Canada's Favorite Fishing Show, but now we're hosting a podcast. That's right. Every Thursday, ang and I will be right here in your ears bringing you a brand new episode of Outdoor Journal Radio. Now, what are we going to talk about for two hours every week? Well, you know, there's going to be a lot of fishing.
Speaker 3:I knew exactly where those fish were going to be and how to catch them, and they were easy to catch.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but it's not just a fishing show. We're going to be talking to people from all facets of the outdoors From athletes All the other guys would go golfing Me, and Garth and Turk and all the Russians would go fishing To scientists.
Speaker 3:But now that we're reforesting and laying things free. It's the perfect transmission environment for life.
Speaker 2:To chefs If any game isn't cooked properly, marinated, you will taste it.
Speaker 1:And whoever else will pick up the phone Wherever you are. Outdoor Journal Radio seeks to answer the questions and tell the stories of all those who enjoy being outside. Find us on Spotify, apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 4:As the world gets louder and louder, the lessons of our natural world become harder and harder to hear, but they are still available to those who know where to listen. I'm Jerry Ouellette and I was honoured to serve as Ontario's Minister of Natural Resources. However, my journey into the woods didn't come from politics. Rather, it came from my time in the bush and a mushroom. In 2015, I was introduced to the birch-hungry fungus known as chaga, a tree conch with centuries of medicinal applications used by Indigenous peoples all over the globe. After nearly a decade of harvest use, testimonials and research, my skepticism has faded to obsession and I now spend my life dedicated to improving the lives of others through natural means. But that's not what the show is about. My pursuit of this strange mushroom and my passion for the outdoors has brought me to the places and around the people that are shaped by our natural world world. On Outdoor Journal Radio's Under the Canopy podcast, I'm going to take you along with me to see the places, meet the people that will help you find your outdoor passion and help you live a life close to nature and under the canopy. So join me today for another great episode, and hopefully we can inspire a few more people to live their lives under the canopy. Okay, as always, we want to thank our listeners across Canada, the states all around the world, you know, switzerland, saudi Arabia, trinidad, tobago, ghana, bahamas, you name it. We're there. We really appreciate you listening and if you have any questions, don't be afraid to reach out to us. And I did have one question that we're going to do a little bit of an update on this program. But just before we get to that now, the program last week that you heard with John the John Snell the tea guy. I don't know what happened. We had some recording issues and stuff like that, so we didn't get a full and complete program. We only got about a little over maybe a third of it and then something happened to the production. So when John gets back from Pakistan because he's over in Pakistan helping that country set up their tea industry, he's working with the United Nations I'll get John back on. If you have any tea questions, let us know in the meantime and I'll make sure I get an update from John and we can talk about it there.
Speaker 4:But, as I mentioned, a little bit different, we're giving some updates and I've got Garrett on the line with us. How's it going, garrett? I'm good. How's it going? It's going, you know it's. I'm wearing wrist guards today because I've been pushing it too hard and and that's what happens as you gain how shall I say this experience in life, and you push it a little bit too much, but you pay the price. So last night it was one of those sleepless nights because the uh, the pain in my wrist was so bad from all the work I'm doing, whether it's splitting wood, cutting wood, hauling logs or building stuff was adding up. But what's happening out in Calgary there? Give us an update of what happened to the place you're at and what happened a couple of months ago with the weather that put you in the position you're in now.
Speaker 5:Well, we had a big rainstorm back in June I think it was June 19th or June 20th there, so roughly three months ago now and the forecast called for about 45 to 55 millimeters of rain and it caused complete flooding in the streets. You were driving your car and it was pretty much past your tires kind of thing. Not so high it was, um. And because of that rain we had a flood in our uh place that we're renting out here in calgary and they were doing a roof uh repair or rework or whatever because of the hail damage from the the year before. So they came in they're probably about a week or so into the job with the roof and that big storm hit us there and it flooded all three floors of our townhouse that we're renting there. So it's a three bedroom townhouse and it flooded the two bedrooms upstairs. It went through the interior walls and the exterior walls. It was going through the ceiling fan. On the bathrooms upstairs it was leaking through the washer and dryer and then on the main floor it was pouring out above the kitchen there, above the stove and the island. It was coming through the kitchen window there. Pretty good, probably the worst was the kitchen window there. It had to remove all the drywall around all the windows, some interior walls. They had to take out some drywall there as well, insulation.
Speaker 5:And that was three months ago and I've been dealing with issues ever since of, he says she said back and forth conversation of who's responsible. The roofing company says it's not our fault at first. Then the catalyst, which is our property management, went after them and then our property manager was Truman Rentals, or contract manager was Truman Rentals and they were getting involved and they were following through. And then Truman, their contract ended on August 1st and the landlord took over August 1st and he was blindsided. He said he had no idea what was going on. So he got involved and today they're finally starting to actually do some work on progression, on fixing it. But it's been about three months of back and forth conversation and then when they originally took out the walls that they had to take out, they found mold and so it's been back and forth with molds and, trying to get that tested and dealt with, had to call Alberta Tenant Services to get them involved. So it was quite the ordeal. It's still going on but you know, hopefully things are looking up now.
Speaker 4:But where are you staying while all this is taking place, or how do you do that when everything's in turmoil there?
Speaker 5:well, all this has taken place, or how do you do that when everything's in turmoil there? Well, myself I was working in Edmonton and then back and forth there, but more or less we've been told to live in the situation, because half the house was wrecked and half the house was fine, so the master bedroom didn't have any damage. So they said, oh, it's still livable. I've gotten Alberta Health Services involved and so we were still living in the house, and now we're probably going to be looking at some kind of a settlement here coming up because we were living in an unlivable condition.
Speaker 4:Now how many units in your complex there?
Speaker 5:now there's how many units uh in your complex there. So there was um, I believe it was. It's either 12 or 24, because I can't remember if the uh other half of it was affected. But in my direct one all 12 units were uh were damaged there um three of them were deemed unlivable like right away because how bad it was for them. A couple of them were very unlivable right away because of how bad it was for them. A couple of them were very minor. Ours was one of the worst ones as well, but they didn't deem it unlivable because I woke up at 4 o'clock or 3 o'clock in the morning, as I normally do to go to work, and it turns out that I was able to catch, probably I think one of our flowerpots was this seven gallon flower pots. I mean, that's like cat. It was over seven gallons in the one flower pot, kind of things that empty out three times. So Wow.
Speaker 5:So it was coming down pretty good.
Speaker 4:Yeah, so the rain. You've had quite a bit of rain out there for a while, haven't you?
Speaker 5:Well, it's uh it's been a very wet summer here in Calgary. Everyone's like you know the new slogan in Calgary was Blue Sky City and everyone's like are we sure about that, because you know we were having a very Vancouver summer. It was rain almost every other day. I think we've only gotten other than this week now. It's been nice weather, but before that we had maybe five days of just clear skies, of sunniness for the last couple of months there.
Speaker 4:Right, and right now you're into a bit of a heat wave there.
Speaker 5:Yeah, so it's reaching temperatures right around 30, just over 30 degrees and a bit of a heat wave right now, very clear blue skies, kind of thing.
Speaker 4:Wow, so a big change from all the rain now to all the clear blue skies and 30 plus degree Celsius weather.
Speaker 5:Yeah, it's like we're getting, you know, maybe a week or two of actual Calgary summer, and then I'm sure fall will be right around the corner now.
Speaker 4:Isn't that the truth? So what kind of projects you're working on? Are you working on a housing project or something like that coming up?
Speaker 5:Yeah, so in Calgary the housing market, or residential, is just completely exploded. Here, like almost everywhere we go in the city, they are putting up condos, apartments, houses left, right and center. I know where I'm living up in the northeast of Calgary. There they're probably putting in another, at least another six or 700 homes that are probably being started and there's probably still bagging land for another thousand or 2000,. At least in that one area and I'm in the Southwest of Calgary right now and there's I'll just take a count right now, so just at work right here. So we got 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, I would say because they're just starting to drill another one here 16 apartments or condo areas being built and they're about six stories each and they are, let's say, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. So and then probably about 16 units per floor. So they're putting up houses here left, right and center.
Speaker 4:Yeah, so, and just so people know we're recording the podcast while you're on break out there. I'm on break right now, so and what about what happened with what was happening in Edmonton? I thought you were working out in Edmonton.
Speaker 5:Yeah, so I was out in Edmonton there for just over a month and we were doing a net zero hydrogen project. I believe it's still going on, but I don't know much more details about that one. But Edmonton was, they were doing a lot of expansions, a lot of development there as well. I know that they have a new LRT system, so LRT is a light rail transit system, so they were doing a lot of highway reconstruction there. They were doing a lot of the LRT work there. And then they had that net zero hydrogen project and that was a very huge project there. I think they had over I think it was over 14 or 15 hundred workers already registered to work at that project.
Speaker 4:So when I first got there, and not only that, but there's new outlet malls being built, or you're working on those too, or those are coming up, so quite a bit of stuff happening there.
Speaker 5:Yeah, I've been a little bit all over right now, which normally is how my work goes. So then in the far East side and the far west side of calgary they're expanding across the ring road there, and the ring road is just that new highway that they built that surrounds the entire city and now they're standing on the other side of it so they're putting in new strip malls there and things like that as well as um shopping centers. So if you ever look at like, uh, those smart center places where there's like a Walmart and a grocery store, there's a dollar store, usually a couple of smaller stores in there, a lot of that's been going up around here in Calgary now. So they're developing more of those smaller zones kind of thing. And then there's another big project starting up in Red Deer, which my company I work for has a project for they're doing a new hospital out there and that one just got started, I believe either last week or two weeks ago now. So that's another big project coming up, for I guess for Alberta, for that matter.
Speaker 4:Oh yeah, and something about a new apartment building as well.
Speaker 5:Yeah, so I was on a new apartment building for and this one was right by the children's hospital there here in Calgary, and that one was a big project, I think in one week. We had over 1200 tons of steel put in in one week, which is a. We had a RAS slab and a couple of transfer slabs as well.
Speaker 4:What do you mean by transfer slabs and stuff?
Speaker 5:So a transfer slab is from, say, commercial, so for storefronts or parking garage or things like that that are going to be more commercial use, and the transfer slab from there after what we do is we have a transfer slab design, so as the shift weights or the demand for holding up a certain amount of weight and stuff like that changes, there's a transfer slab that goes in. So then once the transfer slab goes in, it goes to typical, and typical would just be your. You know, every single floor is kind of the same thing. So a transfer slab is designed to take the shifting of weight, demand and things like that. And so usually a transfer slab we had about on this one was, I think it was, 18,000 hairpins in total, which a hairpin connects a top mat to a bottom mat and that just helps ties it together. So if there's a seismic activity or weight shift kind of thing, it helps stabilize the transfer of weight there.
Speaker 4:So do they actually just sit on top of each other? How does that work?
Speaker 5:So they'll kind of hook into each other. So there's like think of a grid system or like a math kind of paper, those grid lines there There'll be a top one and a bottom one, and then those lines are what the bars are going to look like, and that hairpin will hook the top mat and the bottom mat together and that'll help stabilize for more weight shift and things like that.
Speaker 4:So you mentioned during seismic activity. So if there's an earthquake, then these two pads shift on each other. Is that what you mean?
Speaker 5:Yeah, they're designed to take transfers of weight Even, for example, like a car underneath and people up top there. You know the way the weight changes is designed to flow or time to have a bit of sway design with weight change. Like people don't realize it, but there is always a little bit of drift in some of these buildings, like when you get up high and say the CN Tower. You may not feel it but you know a one inch drift is a lot of tension all the way down at the very bottom there. So even if it's a couple mils of you know weight change kind of thing they anticipate for huge amounts of stress and pressure because that transfer slab is going to be the key point of where all that weight is going to be pinpointed, that kind of thing. So that's why those hairpins are there, allowed to stabilize the steel better and to stabilize the weight of the building.
Speaker 4:So even from, like you mentioned, like a car, like a car park, is you know if they have a car park, garage, sort of thing?
Speaker 5:Yeah, so that I meant like, for example, the one I was doing was a car garage underneath the building. So as those cars are driving, if they have a truck in there kind of thing, if the weights can be changing as they drive across, that will transfer that motion, will transfer into the slab and the slab is designed to more or less take that transfer weight of the cars going in and out, kind of thing. So from there even commercial, where there could be a lot of demand for a lot more weight to be designed on those commercials space that they're going to build there too. So they are designed to take the weight of an X amount of factors. But we build stuff inada to 100 times its capacity, so it's always well over designed just in case of you never know what's going to happen oh okay, so well, that's interesting.
Speaker 4:Yeah, so, yeah, so the net zero stuff is still moving. But uh, you're part of that. Uh, in edmonton's all finished, right?
Speaker 5:yeah, they're um, we pushed them ahead pretty good so it got to the point where rebar work was starting to get a little bit slower there. But, like, structural work will start picking up and then, for example, pipe finish will pick up because it is going to be a lot of structural steel, a lot of pipes, a lot of compressors, boiler makers are going to be involved. So there'll be a lot more of that work going on because we've done all the ground work and stability work there. So now you'll be running all your pipes, everything else there, that in in edmonton, which is not my field of work yeah, yeah, and so you've applied elsewhere, uh, for some other camp jobs.
Speaker 4:Whereabouts have you applied?
Speaker 5:so I made a phone call, uh, not too while ago, to the sudbury local there because they have the rights for the ring of fire job and that ring of fire is a big mine that's going up in northern Ontario like I think. I can't remember exact locations, but it'll be somewhere like probably more north of Timmins, I believe, or around that same scope of area there. But there's no development in that area yet, so there's no highway or infrastructure. So it would be like a fly-in and take a bush plane and probably land on a dirt road or open area kind of thing and go to work kind of thing. But they said that might start up in the fall.
Speaker 5:They don't have anything yet because projects change constantly, timelines change, so we might not have work for us this year. But I put my name on the list and I apply there and they said if something comes up they'll happen there. The guy said there's a couple of gold mines going up in Ontario again, so if they need more guys there he'll give me a call. But you never know how things go. I can wake up tomorrow morning, get a phone call and say hey, we need to fly you to Nunavut there because they're building a new diamond mine and they need guys now, so everything's different.
Speaker 4:Oh, I thought it was Yukon or Northwest that you applied at a gold mine as well.
Speaker 5:I did apply for one up there in Yukon. There that one, they were able to fill it with just local guys. There it was a very small crew. I think they only ran with five guys this time, so it wasn't like as big as anticipated. But I didn't get that one. But there is a lot of gold mines, stuff like that, happening in none of the Northwest territories and Yukon as well.
Speaker 4:Yeah, with the price of gold that's going on out there, it's certainly inspiring a lot of gold facilities to get mobile with price so high.
Speaker 5:Oh, absolutely Like. Demand is just insane. Ontario has or Canada for that matter has one of the biggest supplies, but most of our gold is all bedrock gold or hard rock gold, so it's all a harder process to get it out of the ground, kind of thing. So it's just not worth it's while, until technology is finally catching up now.
Speaker 4:Yeah, and if you remember when we were outside at Timmins and we went in to get an oil change on your truck and you walked down that trail where they had tailings, they used tailings to fill the trail in which is essentially comes out of the mine as kind of scrap rock and you found that chunk of quartz that was just filled with gold, yep. So there's a lot of things that keep an eye out. You're kind of surprised at what you can find, where and how those things work, and I know some of the mines. It depends on what the gold is in, and if it's in with iron ore it's really hard to extract. So a lot of times what they'll do is they will let the iron ore be exposed to water and start to rust. And when it starts to rust and wear out after years the iron ore is gone but the gold is left over and then they do the extraction process there because it's not quite as costly to separate the two.
Speaker 4:But gold and quartz apparently is about the easiest to get out from what I understand. But I'm far from an expert. I mean I've had a prospecting license for I don't know, 25, 30 years kind of thing, but never gotten that far into it and I know up in Timmins I had the pleasure to go down in North America's deepest heavy metals mine and we went down like 7,500 feet. They've got a train, a little mini train, that's down below, that runs, I think it's I'm not sure if it's the road or the train that goes 26 kilometers just the way it kind of circles down in the ground and it's kind of amazing to see. But yeah, working in an actual gold mine was unbelievable and it's kind of amazing to see.
Speaker 4:But yeah, working in a in a actual gold mine was unbelievable and the maintenance shed in there, if you took, you couldn't throw a ball high enough to hit the ceiling and the maintenance shed it was that high and the size of the, the, the elevators, they the elevators to go up and down in there. There was two elevators and one held like 150 people. Can you imagine an elevator holding 150 people and the infrastructure to be able to haul it up and down? It was kind of amazing. But yeah, there's a lot of different things out there and certainly what's happening with the gold market is impacting. So what else is happening out in Calgary? What are you up to this coming weekend? You going glamping?
Speaker 5:No, probably not going to go glamping, but I think plans changed a little bit. But we might go up for a hike there in the Banff area Not too sure exactly where, we haven't picked yet. But we're also going to check the weather the day before, because the way the weather goes sometimes in Banff it could be calling for sun and then you, you know you drive out there an hour later and so you're in the middle of a thunderstorm. So but we're probably going to go hiking this this weekend up in Banff, Probably in the yeah, probably Banff. We'll probably go to, like, maybe Lake Louise, something like that. Try and just enjoy the sights there, because it will be the long weekend, I'm sure it'll be busy, but it'll be nice to just get some time out and do a little bit of hiking in the mountains there.
Speaker 4:Yeah, oh, and up at the cottage. I'm not sure if I told you or not, but I'm regularly seeing a bear up there. Now it looks like we've got a resident small bear up there that's hanging in the area. It's probably not this year's but last year's cup. It looks like it's about the same size as the chocolate lab gunner and it's. It's a cute little thing, but, oh my lord, I can just imagine it's cute now. In a couple of years from now, if it stays in the area and the food forage base is there, it could be very problematic it's probably going after all the turkeys we see up there now yeah, I saw some turkeys up there.
Speaker 4:But you know, and like Pierre says, for those who listen to the podcast that I had Pierre, he says one thing with bears is in his camps that he had they never go out the same way they went in. So they'd smash a window to go into the camp to tear it up and find food or whatever, and then they would go out a different window rather than going out the same one. They went in. So and they can do a lot of damage too. But it's like anything, and I think Gunner's putting the run to this one on a regular basis, because when we do our walks all of a sudden he's taken off like crazy and I can't figure out what he's after. But I'm assuming it's the bear because it's right in the same area.
Speaker 5:Wouldn't be surprised he is a strong dog.
Speaker 4:Yeah, yeah, and you take Brittany's Doberman with you when you go for a hike as well.
Speaker 5:Yeah, belle, there, she'll be probably coming with us as well. I guess I might pick a more of a dog-friendly hike than more of a steep climb one, but yeah, she'll come with us. She's still full of Piss and vinegar, as the people say, because she just keeps going and going and going, and every time we take her to daycare where both of us are working and don't have time to be at home to walk her, let her out, we'll put her in daycare, and they always say, oh, she's just always a joy to be around, and she just goes nonstop.
Speaker 4:Yeah, yeah. Well, listen, garrett, I know you got to get back to work because you're only on break and I'm get back to work because you're only on break and I'm monitoring the time for you. So it looks like it's getting pretty close. So by the time you shut off and walk, get where you need to be, you'll be back on time, and we really appreciate the update and everything that's happening out west. Keep up the good work and we look forward to seeing you back here again and hopefully something pans out up at the ring of the fire, which is actually actually more not so much north of Timmins, but probably south of Paraprovincial Park, between there and Manitoba border, up Hudson's Bay lowlands, not so much James Bay, but that's always good.
Speaker 5:Yeah, like I said, I wasn't exactly sure where that was, but I know it was somewhere way up there. But it's a big footprint.
Speaker 4:Oh yeah, well, that's how sudbury was founded was because a meteorite hit there and the impact was so deep that it brought up a lot of minerals from the earth's core. But now they're finding that not only did that meteorite hit there, but there was probably other ones north of there that hit at the same time that brought up the minerals up there. And sudbury and the Toronto Stock Exchange was founded on the mining industry and this will be another huge boom for Ontario. So, just like you said, you got to get the infrastructure up there, because there's only winter roads, there's no regular roads, so it's a pretty remote mine and pretty hard to get into. But it'll be certainly a benefit for everybody in the province of Ontario because, like they say, you know, if you can't grow it, you've got to mine it in order to be able to use it. And I'm looking around where I'm sitting, just full of metal everywhere.
Speaker 5:Absolutely. Anyways, the boss has stepped out, so I've got to get going here.
Speaker 4:Okay well, thanks very much for the update, Garrett, and that's just something a little bit different out there under the canopy. Thanks again, Garrett. Say hi to Brittany.
Speaker 5:No problem, I will do Take care now.
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