NISKU, Alta. – More than a 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.
Scheer used the event to criticize the federal government’s $1.6 billion aid package to the energy sector.
He says oil and gas workers don’t need handouts, they need a new pipeline.
“Give a province $1.6 billion you might feed them for a couple of weeks, but let them build a pipeline to get our energy to market and you can feed them for a generation,” Scheer said Wednesday.
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)