Due to a combination of rugged conditions, high wages, and the fact that burning petroleum represents a kind of local virtue, truck and ATV sales are noticeably higher in Fort McMurray than in other comparably sized Canadian cities, but so are rates of assault, spousal abuse, drug abuse, STDs, COVID-19, alcoholism, and suicide. The same steroidal earning power that astounds the folks back home—and gladdens the hearts of truck dealers and tax collectors—burns holes in workers’ pockets, and also in their noses. “Fort Crack” is another nickname Fort Mac has earned, and it is a real place, too.
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