Original subtitles

You're the only town who's mascot is a dead canary.

(Laughs)

♪

There's actually a bear right there!

Holy Crap

♪

Well we're suffering but we're gonna survive.

When you grow up in small town in Newfoundland you see

that people have a sense of humour about hard times.

Check, check.

I turned that into a career and hit the road.

Mr. Johnny Harris

Now I'm on a mission to find the funny in the places

you'd least expect it; Canada's struggling small towns.

Towns that are against the ropes but hanging in there,

still laughing in the face of adversity.

Welcome to Coleman, Alberta.

It's a town as wild as the west with a past as rocky

as the mountains and its name tells the miner's story.

Coleman, nestled along the border of Alberta and B.C.

I like how the Alberta/British Columbia

border runs along the continental divide.

The cartographers came here up through the

foothills of the rocky mountains, along the

continental divide until they got here and one of

them was like this is stupid, just go north,

this is stupid.

Almost a century later Coleman's lost its

mine and other businesses followed.

I'm Lisa. -Lisa, nice to meet ya.

Nice to meet you too. -Jonny.

Lisa Sygutek here showed me around town.

I knew it was only a matter of time before

I met a cougar in this town.

(Laughter and applause)

Lisa's family runs the newspaper so she's been

digging the dirt on this mining town for a while.

All these little tiny tiny houses are all miner shacks.

Although it's bigger than my apartment in Toronto.

She told me that Coleman is a friendly town,

people don't generally lock their doors here.

Although I should lock my house because some person

snuck into my house and stole all my underwear but

you know other than that...

I get it. I get it.

Happened before I got here for the record;

for the record.

There's Crow right there.

That's crow right there.

And the seven sisters.

It's like this unbelievable,

breathtaking, beautiful view.

Full of tragedy. -Full of tragedy. -mhm

There is a history of disaster in this town

that is remarkable.

So we are going to turn left at that big sign.

That says Frank Slide -ok

I had no idea.

I was looking forward to having a go on the

Frank Slide, it sounded fun.

So this is the Frank Slide, this is what is

known as Turtle mountain and it is the largest rock

slide in Canada, 90 million tonnes of rock

came off that mountain in the middle of the night

and buried an entire town.

Approximately 90 people died and it happened

in a matter of seconds.

It's unbelievable.

What I find amazing is people's attitude towards it.

You guys don't hide it away,

it's out there, you embrace it.

You have to embrace the tragedy because it's what

made us the strong people we are.

So we may be poor we may not have a lot of industry,

we may not have a lot of things,

but no matter what's happened to us, we've pulled

together as a community and we've made it happen.

That's the attitude I'm getting at.

She was telling me all about how

everybody's getting geared up for the

Hillcrest centennial celebration.

This year is going to mark the hundredth anniversary

of the Hillcrest mine disaster which is

Canada's worst mine disaster.

The Hillcrest mining disaster was responsible

for 400 fatherless children;

that's more than Charlie Sheen.

(Laughter)

Now I'm starting to fear for my life.

Well they have called it disaster alley and I think

when you grow up here you have this sense that

what's the next thing that is going to happen?

Then I thought to myself Coleman, Alberta

it's got to be tough to get life insurance here.

(Laugher)

But I was in the mine with Ron Hrudy and Crystal here,

she's the executive director of the tours there.

This is our mine portal and we're going to go

about a thousand feet underground today 300 meters.

This piece of timber, it's been here so long

it's actually petrified.

Which means it didn't get scared,

it just turned from wood to stone over time.

Yeah I get it, everything in here is petrified.

These days this mine is only open for tours.

Miners like Ron have to go across the border

to B.C to work now.

Ron himself is a third generation

underground tough guy.

What do we got here Ron?

Okay that's called an air pick.

You couldn't use dynamite, you'd have to dig all

that out with this here.

That's got some weight to it.

Yeah they'd use two of them, one in each arm.

One of these in each hand?

No. -Yeah, yeah.

Like I can't even and I'm strong,

like really strong like.

Imagine how strong them guys were.

Ron Hruby's a perfect example of this attitude

I'm trying to get at.

Ron he's witnessed death in the mines first hand.

Yet he can still go down there.

He can take me down there.

Teach me about the place.

I got hurt underground in 1981 in the mine from

a high water pressure explosion that broke my back,

broke my right leg, cut off my left arm and

they sewed it back on it, lucky I've got full use of it.

Jesus. Did you keep working in the mine?

Oh after I healed up a come back to the mine.

You know such a dangerous profession and between

here and Hillcrest and the Frank Slide there's a

different sort of attitude towards life with people

who are you know facing the possibility of peril.

You live for the moment in those days.

It's a history of danger, there's so much danger;

the shootings during the prohibition days or the

probability of a bear attack or the numerous

mining disasters and always referenced with a

smile and a sense of pride and here you are now

out at the comedy show.

(Laughter)

Just happy to be alive I guess.

(Laughter & Applause)

I feel excited and afraid in this town.

I wasn't sure if a town like Coleman

flames out or simply fades away

Alright Jonny.

Do you want to carry the kid for a bit?

The kid's getting heavy.

I can't believe you did such a crap job of tying my tie.

Of course around here the future has a way of

creeping up on you.

Crap hold on.

Hey you guys!

There's actually a bear right there.

Go to the road. Guys go to the road!

Holy crap.

It's getting tougher for boom and bust spots like

Coleman to bounce back.

The mine closed and they were forced to join other

towns to become the Crow's Nest Pass region.

And Buddy Slapak says there's been nearly a

century of turf wars between these towns.

When I was a kid for example I wouldn't dare go

to Bellevue without a gang, you wouldn't survive,

they had one in Bellevue called the night riders.

The night riders.

The night riders, riding horses, some with capes on.

On horses with capes?

Yeah and they'd go around beating up other

kids from other towns.

But they couldn't do that underground because

everybody's life depended on cooperating

with everybody else.

But once the men went underground all that

animosity went away.

This is the guy who's going to help you make it

through the end of your shift, til you get back up

to see the light of day and then and only then you

cold cock him with your lunch pail.

(Laughter)

Buddy is 82 years old, he's still a sharp as a tack.

Lisa told me that you're the oldest editor in Canada.

She thinks so but I don't know it's hard to say.

I believe it.

But when Buddy started out in journalism,

everything he reported people believed it like it was

written in stone, because it was actually written in stone.

(Laughter)

He's got some great stories, he's had a wild run,

he's had some crazy jobs.

I used to drive for the brothel.

I did that for the girls at the brothel down there.

Are you serious?

Yes I even worked for a funeral home for five years.

How many morticians you think learned to do

makeup from prostitutes?

(Laughter)

Thanks Buddy, Nana never looked so... trampish.

(Laughter)

But Buddy joined the paper and the rest is history,

legal history.

I got sued three times.

You got sued three times?

And lost all of them, good track record.

Are you serious?

That officially makes suing Buddy the fourth

largest industry in Coleman.

(Laughter)

I branded him as a communist.

So he took you to court.

And I lost that case.

Buddy's kind of like Coleman itself, he's lived hard.

Next time I wrote a story, accused him you know

he acted like a bloody juvenile,

put it in the paper, he sued me.

He's boomed and busted before.

So what happened with the last one?

We got sued by the ratepayers, it costs us

twelve thousand dollars.

So I guess I'm paying for lunch then?

Yeah you're paying for lunch.

Doing up dead bodies, fighting communists and

driving hookers around the mountains.

Buddy could be the world's most interesting man.

(Laughter)

Well we're suffering but we're going to survive.

And like Coleman I can't see Buddy fading away now.

It would be like a betrayal of the history

of that built him.

♪

Who else did I get to oh, Joe Trotz.

I went up to Joe Trotz's place.

One of the few big events still going in Coleman is

the annual pro rodeo, 32 years running started

by a guy named Joe Trotz.

I kid you not.

Joe here he's got a riding academy, he clears roads,

does rope tricks, started a rodeo.

Joe is Alberta's answer to Batman right here.

(Laughter)

Except he's got a bigger belt buckle,

he's got a bigger belt buckle.

These boys are practicing up,

they're doing some groundwork,

taking the steers out of chutes here and waa.

He took him down pretty quick there.

Yeah he did.

You wanna give this a try?

I was a bit nervous I wasn't sure how I was

going to fit in but these guys are like manly cowboy men.

Every now and then like just for a laugh,

I'll go up like behind my cat and I'll take him by the back

legs and I'll tip him and his arse goes over and

then rest of him plops down, it's something like

that but starting with the head and slightly larger.

Animal yeah.

Yeah I figure I'm good for it.

You could probably come up to the ranch here in the

next day or two and get you practiced up.

Oh yeah?

Yeah, get some clothes on you,

you know get some cowboy boots.

Yeah I'll find something to wear.

♪

Before I wrestle sorry rastle a steer I got to

warm up with a guy who trains people to steer

clear of all kinds of wildlife.

And I went out with John Clarke.

Had a hell of a day with John here.

Due to cutbacks he's the only wildlife officer

for a huge region.

This is a corridor.

You know it has grizzly bears, black bears going

through all the time.

He's responsible for keeping the bears away

cause the restraining orders are not working.

Last week we had a cougar near Coleman.

Oh yeah? A cougar?

And we had a wolf like he was just passing through

but wow what an experience;

I got to see a wolf. -Yeah yeah.

There's bobcats and cougars and wolves and bears.

I guess in Coleman the rule is kill or be killed.

(Laughter)

You know take your walkman or iphone off enjoy

your surroundings right.

Oh crap, hold on, hey guys,

there's actually a bear right there.

Holy shit -Guys!

Alright let's go, let's go.

Come on guys, go to the road.

Guys go up to the road. -Holy crap.

You know the old question does a bear shit in the woods?

I don't know but I know if I see a bear,

I will shit in the woods.

(Laughter & Applause)

We got you.

It's a fake bear.

Are you even messing with me?

We'll go see the bear.

He went out in the woods, set this thing up so

we would happen upon it. (applause)

This guy owes me a new pair of underwear.

Yeah I got some bear spray.

Then my animal preparedness training began.

Once and a while they do maul somebody.

But I remembered Lisa told embrace the danger.

Holy cow! There's a bear, okay go ahead spray him.

Ron told me, live for the moment.

John taught me be prepared for anything.

Never point it at your face.

Whoa!

You know we've got bears, we've got avalanches,

we have trees falling on people.

I was really starting to get the hang of this place.

Have escape routes okay.

See I do that for a zombies but I should

probably apply that to out in the wild.

But I think you should come back in the fall when

all the bears are out and walking around.

Ah I don't know, I don't know.

You would have fun.

The more dialed in to Coleman I got

the more concerned I became about it's survival.

♪

I was still a bit intimidated by Coleman.

I mena,how did this fierce but struggling rocky mountain

town survive through the tough times before

and rise up from the ashes again and again?

I went to meet one woman who seemed to embody

the Coleman spirit.

Well who wouldn't say this is the best place in the world.

It's beautiful. -It is.

I got to have a lovely chat with Kay Kerr,

the crown jewel of the Crow's Nest Pass.

93 years old, making it to 93 is remarkable,

making it to 93 in this area is unbelievable.

(Laughter)

You worked with John Diefenbaker is that right?

Hard worker, we had to be at work at 8 o'clock

in those days.

I wouldn't accept that.

(laughs)

Not only did Kay survive the depression,

she went on to become an entrepreneur and inventor.

So tell me what your connection to

Kentucky Fried Chicken is?

Well I had four franchises.

In this area? -Mhm.

Kay's claim to fame was she reinvented a way of

making gravy, the gravy used to take a half hour

to make; she figured out a way how she could

make the gravy in 2 minutes.

She went down to the states and met Colonel Sanders.

And I was surprised that the Colonel met me at the plane.

Is that right?

Yeah which was nice.

So when Colonel Sanders tasted your gravy did he

have any recommendations or was there anything.

Yes he did, more black pepper.

Black pepper?

They no longer use Kay's gravy at the KFC today so

I thought she might want to try it.

You know what?

I will have to say no.

Why? -Why?

Because this is not fair.

I am going to say it isn't as good as mine.

That's fair, that's absolutely fair.

No it isn't.

Such a sweet woman, she kept talking about how

lovely the Colonel was, what a nice man he was.

I kept thinking no you need to sue him for more money

(Laughter)

and if you can't sue him at least sue Buddy,

get a few bucks out of him.

(Laughter)

If anybody should take a lesson out of it you know

when you see an opportunity, go after it.

♪

Kay had inspired me.

My Coleman opportunity had been staring me in the

face and now it was time for me to face it

- face to face.

Nice one boys, nice one.

I was starting to muster a little country courage or

at least dress the part.

What do you think Kyle, you wear that?

Them fringes might get in your way though.

Truth is I know how I look and I still feel kind of cool.

Okay and it gives you confidence.

As long as you look good that's all that counts,

that's my attitude.

Cowboys say you get the animal you deserve and

I guess I deserve a - whatever in god's name

this thing is.

This is shiver and shake.

Shiver and shake?

I got to say Joe I was worried about a broken rib

and now I'm just worried about carpet burn.

We're going to give ya the quick version

of steer wrestling 101.

Yeah.

I soon found that deciding to live dangerously was one thing;

learning how was something else altogether.

This is different cause you guys hold the reins

like this but all the horse riding that

I've done I hold onto the waist of the person in front of me.

.

It's pretty humbling when you can't even tackle a

steer who's made out of carpet and has ping pong

balls for eyes.

(Laughter)

But I guess I didn't embrace the independence

of the wild west until I talked to Joe.

You know we're luckier than a lot of people you know

we have a whole wilderness out in our back door.

Yeah we're still pretty free here to do a lot of things;

you can jump on a quad, a horse,

a bike whatever and just head out.

How long have you had the ranch here?

The property here has been in our family since 1912.

My grandfather moved up here, he come originally

from Newfoundland, I don't know what the heck..

He wasn't the first Newfoundlander

to come to Alberta.

No no maybe the second.

And then it hit me if Joe's cowboys roots are

from the rock, I should be able to do this or at

least look good trying.

Get in the hold, get in the hole, yeah, yeah Jonny!

Woohoo!

Argh! Argh!

I started to get the hang of it, the only advice

I can pass on is never try to wrestle a steer with

keys still in your pocket.

(Laughter)

The only upside is if I ever lose my house key,

I can get a spare cut from the impression

in my right arse cheek.

(Laughter)

Wooo!

Felt pretty good but then Joe reminded me

I wasn't quite a cowboy yet.

There they go.

There they go, one with your name on it.

Oh my god.

Coleman, Alberta.

You guys know you're the only town whose mascot

is a dead canary?

(Laughter)

There's this cool boom or bust, make or break,

life or death wild west attitude that people have.

I wasn't sure how I was going to fit in.

Tell my mom I died doing something stupid.

(laughs)

Tell us when you're ready.

Ready.

Go Jonny.

Go.

.

More or less, more or less We had to tag team him

but you know got the job done.

And then I realized if it ain't tough,

it ain't Coleman.

That's a bit of fun yeah.

Can get into it.

That's a bit of a rush.

Yeah it is eh, ha, yeah.

Yeah thanks Joe.

My final night in Coleman half the town's out for a

big annual event, they call it miner's curling.

Sweep it Jonny, sweep it.

I got turned around.

Line's good.

Coming in hot.

In miner's curling they actually turn the lights off

and fire up the miner's headlamps.

I got to turn my high beams on, hang on.

Only somebody from Coleman would look at the sport of

curling and be like well yeah but we can't just curl.

Alright Jonny we're going to need a little

juice out this side.

We should simulate a disaster right.

fireworks, there's got to be fireworks.

Come on!

That's right, fireworks in the friggin' arena and

then just like in a real mine disaster,

they haul ass outa there for roll call, it's crazy.

We're missing Jonny Harris sir.

Of course nobody told me that part.

Coleman I have learned a lot from you and now maybe

you guys can just sit back and take a little piece

of advice from me, okay?

Curling is hard enough with lights on.

(Laughter)

I thought it was my shot?

(Laughter & Applause)

You can't carve out a life in the rocky mountains

unless you're ready to embrace the hard.

There are big risks for the bigger rewards and

what's written on everyone's faces here,

it's worth it.

Before I came over to the hall today for the first

time since I got here I got a call from my mom,

she said Jonathan how's Coleman?

I said mom it's great, I wrestled a steer,

got scared by a fake bear, went in a mine and was

shown around town by a cougar who may or may not

have been wearing underwear.

But I'm still alive and that counts for something

in Coleman, Alberta.

Thanks so much everybody.

♪

Jonny can come work on my miner crew any day.

To go out and meet all them people and put it all

out and make a comedy out of it, it was really good,

my hat's off, hell of a job.

You betcha.

Really enjoyable, come back and see us again.

I loved it.

I thought it was great.

If he talks about my underwear again I'm going

to come to Toronto and kick him in the ass.

I'm not much of a laugher but I was laughing

through the whole thing.

♪