Carnduff, Virden, Man. 鈥� 听After immense growing pains, the United We Roll! Convoy for Canada kicked off in Red Deer, Alta., early in the morning on Feb. 14. It made Regina, actually Emerald Park, that night. The next morning they set out again, stopping in Moosomin, then Virden, Man., before spending the night in Kenora, Ont.
Their destination is Ottawa, where a rally is planned for Parliament Hill on Feb. 19. The key issues for the participants include pipelines, carbon tax, and energy policy.
Glenn Carritt, owner of OP Fire & Safety in Innisfail, Alta., has been the leader of the convoy in more ways than one. Much of the effort has been due to his leadership, despite a falling out with other organizers in late January. That falling out led to the dropping of the Yellow Vests moniker, and the renaming of the effort to 鈥淯nited We Roll.鈥�
His truck, a big red industrial fire truck, is number two in the convoy, following a pilot car. At each stop, he would pop the hood of the fire truck, allowing people to sign it, which they eagerly did.
Speaking to Pipeline News in Virden, Carritt said, 鈥淵ou know, I can鈥檛 believe the support. We just pulled into Virden, here. And it鈥檚 been like this everywhere we鈥檝e been going. We鈥檝e got another 10 or 15 trucks going to join us. Some big rigs. Jason LeBlanc鈥檚 got his truck all decked out with the farmers.
鈥淭his is about everybody. This is about everybody that鈥檚 got a disconnect with our current government. You know, veterans. This is fantastic.
鈥淲e went through Strathmore, yesterday, and we had 200 people. Medicine Hat, another 200. Everybody on the side of the road, they鈥檙e just supporting us like crazy. On the overpasses, it鈥檚 fantastic."
This was evidenced as the group pulled out of Virden, with several groups of vehicles, as well as individuals, parked along service roads and at intersections, delighting to the blaring of horns as they waved the convoy on.
A substantial number of those waving, both there and in various online posts as the convoy progressed, were wearing yellow vests. A substantial number of convoy participants did, too.
At the Virden A&W, participants were able to grab donated bagged burgers, made for them, ready to go. A couple came up to Carritt in front of his truck and made a donation. The previous day at Maple Creek, a man provided free fuel for several vehicles running on diesel.
鈥淚 can鈥檛 believe the amount of support,鈥� Carritt said, wearing his flame-themed toque to ward off the frigid -30 C (and colder) temperatures that characterized their entire trip across the prairies.
鈥淣o matter what the walk of life is, we鈥檙e just trying to band together and get the oil and gas industry and all of the issues back in order in this country,鈥� he said.
Earlier that morning, ten vehicles 鈥� five smaller trucks, and five big rigs, departed Carnduff. As far as Pipeline News听was able to determine, that group was the bulk of the Saskatchewan content going forward from Virden.
As the convoy passed through Saskatchewan, several times people joined the convoy, travelled for a while, and turned back. This was something the organizers encouraged, as they understood many people couldn鈥檛 make the commitment to travel all the way to Ottawa. In Swift Current, the service road was lined with pickers from Dynamic Heavy Haul Ltd. On Day 2, a lowboy hauling a mammoth sideboom, manufactured in Regina by Brandt, joined the convoy up until Moosomin. (Brandt also provided a sideboom for the rally in Regina in early January.) In Moosomin, Carritt estimated 40 or 50 people came out to see them.
How many?
鈥淲e had 159 trucks leaving Red Deer. The core is 60 or 70 trucks. This is going to put us over 80,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e got probably another 50, 60 trucks joining us in Ontario and a few in Winnipeg as well. So it鈥檚 growing. This is fun.鈥�
However, those numbers did not jive with the count Pipeline News听conducted just a few minutes later, on the east side of Virden. They are also substantially lower than the close to 300 Carritt said on Feb. 6 that they were expecting. Our count of clearly identifiable members of the convoy came in at 57 vehicles, plus or minus two.
Additionally, the vast majority of vehicles leaving Virden were not 鈥渢rucks,鈥� in the sense of heavy trucks. Several other media outlets reported that the convoy was composed of semis, but that was not the case. The addition of the five semis (including two highly decaled grain trucks) from southeast Saskatchewan brought the total count of semis departing Virden to 15.
The rest of the convoy was principally light vehicles, cars, vans, SUVs, minivans, a few medium duty trucks, and a passenger bus which was largely empty. Except for the flags, decals and signs, the convoy was nearly indistinguishable from the common traffic on that stretch of highway.
A couple men who farm just east of Virden were parked along the TransCanada Highway near Pipeline News, waiting for the convoy. When cameras were being packed up, they asked where the convoy was, and were told it had just passed by. They couldn鈥檛 tell the difference.
The cost of going is significant. One person, driving a decaled pickup, figured it would cost him $4,000 in expenses for this trip to Ottawa. Three people who sent semis from Saskatchewan estimated their total cost at around $10,000, and that didn鈥檛 include lost production from those vehicles or their drivers, either.
The convoy, which was largely organized through a Facebook page, had some difficulty in getting the word out on social media, as that Facebook page was a 鈥渃losed group.鈥�
鈥淲e cannot put out any of our videos publicly on our site,鈥� said Pat King, in a video he posted to the page while in Emerald Park. Despite this, the convoy received coverage from major media outlets, and several reporters road along with the convoy, one from The Star, and another from PostMedia.
Warm reception
Where they expecting the warm reception they got in Virden?
Carritt said, 鈥淲e鈥檝e been talking to the folks here in Virden for quite a while. They鈥檝e been anticipating us coming out. This is oil country. Our company does lots of work down here for Corval, Corex. This is just fantastic. I can鈥檛 say enough about this community,鈥� Carritt said. 鈥淚t shows that everyone鈥檚 hurting in the oil and gas industry, and they want to get behind what we鈥檙e doing, and behind the issues we have going on in this country.鈥� 听
The stop in Virden was significant, in that, as the oil capital of Manitoba, it鈥檚 the home of the last significant oil production eastbound in Canada until you go to offshore Newfoundland.
And as the last pumpjacks faded in the convoy鈥檚 review mirrors, the convoy trekked across Manitoba into Ontario, running into their first counter protest just outside of Winnipeg.
As seen by numerous live broadcasts to social media, the convoy generally received a warm reception as it trekked across the prairies. Small knots of people, individuals in their cars or trucks, larger groups waving flags; this was seen throughout their journey across Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. It was only as the sun was setting that the convoy came across a group of less than a dozen counter protesters. most of those counter-protesters were wearing scarves or balaclavas across their faces in the cold evening air, as were the RCMP members present.
The counter-protesters, blocking the right lane of the TransCanada Highway westbound on the edge of Winnipeg. CBC was there with the counter-protesters, as were several RCMP members and cars. Their sign said, 鈥淕reat Plains Resistance. No Line 3 expansion. Shut it down.鈥�
Many in the convoy declared it was 鈥淎ntifa鈥� in their social media posts; counter-protests by a left-wing group who have stirred trouble at other protests and commonly wear masks. Many participants of the Facebook group have expressed concern to the point of paranoia about possible Antifa action in their online posts. This was also indicated in some conversations Pipeline News had with participants.
Participants
The dashboard thermometers at the Carnduff rally point early Feb. 15 showed -34 C.
Guy Mehler of Estevan is travelling with his cousin, Ken Mehler, who had decorated his pickup with numerous pro-energy slogans. Guy said, 鈥淚鈥檓 a welder. I鈥檝e been in this for a lot of years. I鈥檓 on my way out, but I鈥檝e got a son and two grandsons on their way in. So there鈥檚 got to be a future for them, too." Asked what his issues were, he said, 鈥淏asically the same as everybody: pipelines, carbon tax. The two big ones.鈥�
Kent LaCoste with Jerry Mainil Ltd. in Weyburn, along with Joshua Mainil, was driving a decked out semi with plenty of signs and flags. LaCoste said, 鈥淲e鈥檙e going down to try to get the people down east to understand we鈥檙e looking for work. We want to work. Our industry is suffering because of policy and our federal government.鈥�
LaCoste supervises lease construction. The number of people he鈥檚 looking after now is down substantially than it was a few years ago.
Mainil worked for several years with Panther Drilling, starting as a roughneck and working his way up to derrickhand. These days he spends most of his time with Mainil Farms. 鈥淲e just want our message to be heard. It doesn鈥檛 seem like Ottawa wants to listen. We want pipelines built. We want this carbon tax scrapped. It鈥檚 hurting agriculture. It鈥檚 hurting oil. It鈥檚 hurting literally every industry in the west. If they鈥檙e not going to listen, and the national media won鈥檛 report the rallies that are going on here, we鈥檙e going to take the fight to them,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e going to Parliament Hill. The truck鈥檚 loaded, and we鈥檙e on the way.鈥�
Brett Bedore had his 11 year old daughter riding shotgun in his pickup. The owner of an excavating company in Weyburn said, 鈥淢y issues is the trickle-down effect of this. I鈥檓 not in the oilfield personally, myself. The trickle down effect effects my business, my family.鈥�
In Virden, Dick Clancy, from Vancouver Island, was in the convoy as it stopped in Virden. Asked why he was driving through a frozen wasteland in the middle of February, he replied, 鈥淭o support our hard-working brothers and sisters in Alberta.鈥�
Asked what issues he was concerned about, Clancy said, 鈥淢y issue is that Canada is importing dirty Saudi oil while we have people in Canada who are unemployed, and that isn鈥檛 right.鈥�
听
United We Roll! Convoy to Ottawa stories:
