NOT IMPRESSED BY GOV’T; SOLIDARITY FOR ENERGY SECTOR:
Demonstrators watched and welcomed hundreds of semi and heavy truck drivers — the vast of which from the petroleum industry — drove from southeast Alberta and beyond to take part in the Brooks Rally and Convoy Dec. 22. They were protesting the federal and provincial governments’ inability and in their opinion unwillingness to get the oil industry going. They started at the Highway 873 overpass, convoyed down 2nd St. in Brooks all the way to the provincial buildings and city hall. It was part of the Yellow Vests Movement which had similar protests across Alberta including one in Medicine Hat the same day.
If you were driving on the Trans-Canada Highway Saturday afternoon — there was only one reason to lay on the horn.
Hundreds from southeast Alberta gathered with trucks of all sizes Dec. 22 morning at the Hays turnoff before lining up and driving down the highway’s right-hand lane as part of the Rally for Resources Convoy.
“The pipeline needs to get built — it’s that simple,” said one of the organizers Jerry Sabine. “These have happened in a few places around Alberta now and we want to show our support.
“We’re pro-pipeline, pro-oilfield and pro-oilfield workers.”
A similar convoy took place in Nisku, Alberta earlier this week, and Sabine says this rally is geared to show support to the cause that convoy brought awareness to.
“Bill C69 does nothing good for us — it needs to go,” he said. “We just want to get back to work and back to doing what we do best.
“From what I take of Bill C69, it’s basically banning pipelines — that’s not what we need. We need to get our natural resources to Tidewater that’s the long and the short of it.”
Sabine said the official tally was 780 trucks with the convoy running for 14 kilometres down the highway — with more than 1,000 Hatters taking part Saturday.
“The support has been outstanding — the turnout is going to be a lot bigger than we expected,” said Sabine. “We have hotdogs waiting for us in Dunmore that were donated and 1,000 doughnuts as well — people are very passionate about this.”
Sabine says the oil and gas industries are as important as every for Canadians.
“People who say we need to move away from oil and gas are out of touch —these industries make the world go round,” he said. “Carbon taxing and carbon pricing are going to be the death of Canada.”
Rob Young helped organize the convoy and says speaking up is important.
“The oilfield being down impacts everyone,” he said. “We have a big turnout and it shows that people here are being hurt by the oilfield being down.
“We need the government to get out of the way. We don’t want handouts. We want pipelines to get built and we want to get back to work — just get it built.”
Sabine says the group raised $800 for the Medicine Hat and District Food Bank Saturday and that he is very pleased with how the day went.
“It was an overwhelming success,” he said. “The whole community was behind us and stays behind us — this was a big success for us.”
The group can be found by searching ‘Rally for Resources Convoy Medicine Hat’ on Facebook.