Estevan 鈥� A global phenomena of protests by people wearing yellow vests came to Estevan on Dec. 15.
Yellow Vests Canada, a that started only a few weeks earlier, called for protests at city halls across the country at 11 a.m. By noon, over 50 people were present in front of Estevan City Hall, nearly all of which were wearing the high visibility vests that have become eponymous with the activism.
Jason Riedel organized the Estevan protest. He works in communications in the oilfield.
鈥淲e鈥檙e basically demonstrating on behalf of most of the Canadians that are frustrated with the Trudeau Liberals that are trying to implement a job-killing carbon tax on us. And with our UN migration pact, we鈥檙e kind of losing our sovereignty with all the people coming in right now. It seems like Canadians don鈥檛 have a say in what happens in our country. We鈥檙e frustrated with everything that鈥檚 going on right now,鈥� he said.
Asked if those were two entirely different topics, carbon tax and migration, Riedel responded, 鈥淭hey are. This is about everything, though. This is about everything that鈥檚 going on right now. We have no control over our borders. We have no control over what鈥檚 going on with the work in the west right now. The carbon tax is killing us. The people coming in illegally over the border is killing us, and it鈥檚 getting to the point where there鈥檚 no money for Canadians, anymore, even though we鈥檙e the ones paying the taxes.鈥�
He noted the Yellow Vests Canada Facebook page started Dec. 5. Ten days later, it had 55,000 members.
Specifically, they鈥檙e angry with the federal Liberal government. Riedel said, 鈥淭hey don鈥檛 seem to listen to what Canadians want. They seem to make the rules up as they go. Canadians should have a say in what changes happen in this country.鈥�
Regarding the carbon tax, he said what happens in Ottawa is totally different from what happens in Saskatchewan. 鈥淭hey just don鈥檛 look at things here, from our perspective. People have been out of work for so long in the oilfield, and there鈥檚 nothing really happening to try to alleviate the problems here now.鈥�
With the prospects of various units of coal generation being shut down due to federal greenhouse gas policies, he said, 鈥淲hat are they going to do to replace it? Solar and wind is going to work? Look at today. It鈥檚 cloudy and there鈥檚 no wind. So where are you going to get your power from?鈥�
He suggested moving towards more carbon capture projects instead of carbon tax.
On migration he said, 鈥淚t鈥檚 not really a matter of race. If you want to come to Canada, it doesn鈥檛 what your nationality is, or where you come from, if you do it through legal channels, you do the proper paperwork to get across the border, it could take months. It could take six months. But to come across the border illegally, and you鈥檙e on our health care system and we鈥檙e having to put you up.
鈥淢y mother鈥檚 a senior. She got a 50 cent raise in like two years. There鈥檚 a lot of people that are struggling now, that have lived here their whole life, that have paid taxes their whole life, for them, it鈥檚 not fair for people to just walk across the border and the government just hands everything over.
鈥淚f you want to come to Canada, no problem. Do it the legal way. That鈥檚 the best thing to do. And it鈥檚 fair for everybody,鈥� Riedel concluded.
Bobby Kyle worked six years on service rigs and one on drilling rigs. Now he鈥檚 working in construction. Carrying a sign that would not be considered complimentary to the Trudeau, he said, 鈥淭his immigration policy, I think, personally, is going to start destroying my life and my kids鈥� lives, just by bringing in all these extra people. We don鈥檛 need it.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not about race. At this point, it鈥檚 about we鈥檙e opening our borders to a foreign entity that can totally, absolutely destroy our country,鈥� Kyle said.
He sees the common cause as this: 鈥淲e all hate Trudeau.鈥�
Over the sound of honking horns from passing traffic, David Grass said, 鈥淚 am a coal miner.鈥�
He hopes to keep mining 鈥渁s long as we can keep it going.鈥�
Grass said, 鈥淚t鈥檚 sad to see. With the advancements they made with carbon capture here, it鈥檚 sad to see it鈥檚 getting ignored by this Liberal government鈥檚 environmental policies.鈥�
鈥淚鈥檓 here today to protest the fact they鈥檙e implementing a carbon tax. It doesn鈥檛 do anything for reducing emissions. We鈥檙e showing that you apply the technology instead. Instead of taxing the people, you put the money into technology.鈥�
He said the current federal government is not promoting carbon capture, while the previous Conservative government put $240 million into the Boundary Dam 3 (BD3) Integrated Carbon Capture and Storage Project.
While Saskatchewan has long sought a fleet-wide equivalency agreement which would allow it to spread emissions reductions from BD3 across multiple coal burning units. The federal Liberal government has offered no movement on that front, and time is running out for Boundary Dam Units 4 and 5.
Grass said, 鈥淭hat equivalency agreement is part and parcel the same thing as what they鈥檙e doing in Quebec, when they share carbon credits with other states. So they okay it for them, but our own agreement, to do it intraprovincial, they say no? It鈥檚 hypocritical.鈥�
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