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NISKU, Alta. — More than two thousand trucks drove in a convoy south of Edmonton to protest the ailing state of the oil and natural gas industry.
The convoy was part of a pro-pipeline rally featuring Opposition Conservative leader Andrew Scheer in Nisku, Alta.
Laurie Ryan, of Laurlee Energy Services, says more pipeline capacity is needed to get Alberta energy products to world markets.
Ryan says it is important to get fair market value for the benefit of families across Canada.
‘Kicked in the gut’
In a campaign-style speech, Scheer said his government would fight to get Alberta workers back on the job, but a conservative strategy would not include government-aid packages.
“We’ve had slumps before,” he said. “But what really hurts, what really feels like we’re getting kicked in the gut and stomped on when we’re down, is when it’s our own government that is putting those roadblocks in our way and pulling the rug out from under us.”
Scheer said the Trudeau government’s aid package to support the province’s ailing energy sector was not well received by most Albertans.
“In typical Alberta fashion, the message sent back to Ottawa [was] loud and clear, ‘We don’t need handouts, we just want to get back to work.’ And what a great message.
“Give a province $1.6 billion and you might feed them for a couple weeks, but let them build a pipeline to get our energy to market and you can feed them for a generation.”
The Conservative leader said if his party forms government it would stop the carbon tax and bring in legislation that better recognizes that major energy projects, such as pipelines, are in the national interest.
Scheer said he would also support legislation that further limits which individuals and groups are given standing in regulatory review hearings. Current legislation allows “literally anybody” to present, he said.
Mark Schultz with the Canadian Association of Oilwell Drilling Contractors said Alberta workers who have struggled through a downturn are growing desperate.
Wednesday’s convoy was a call for help, Schultz said.
Scheer used the event to criticize the federal government’s $1.6 billion aid package to the energy sector.
The federal government purchased the Trans Mountain pipeline for $4.5 billion earlier this year, but the expansion project hit a wall when the Federal Court of Appeal ruled Ottawa did not consult enough with Indigenous groups.
There were also environmental concerns about killer whales.
Despite the large purchase, Scheer said there are politicians across the country that don’t want the energy sector to develop or expand.
Leduc RCMP said the rally and the convoy created extreme traffic delays. (CTV Edmonton)
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