Pro-oil convoy makes stop near Regina on the way to Ottawa

Despite their smaller than planned numbers and a biting, extreme cold, drivers in the United We Roll truck convoy banged on their horns all Friday morning, east of Regina.

The fleet of seven semis and about 50 trucks and SUVs rolled out of Emerald Park on their way to Ottawa. They were protesting the federal carbon tax and keen on bringing a host of other issues to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Estevan farmer Jason LeBlanc emphasized the carbon tax is the starting point. He said if the federal government imposes it, it’ll have negative spinoff effects on other sectors in his city.

“It’s too hard hit. And agriculture goes, oil sector goes; coal, oil — it’s all gone.” Leblanc said, giving an example of how the oil sector is connected to other industries across the country.

After that, he said accountants and lawyers who normally handle files from clients in the energy industry would pack up shop and leave town.

Once sectors start drying up and people start moving to larger cities like Regina or Saskatoon, it kills smaller communities, “the long-term effects are, once you lose a town, it’s hard to bring it back,” he said.

LeBlanc has a grain truck set up and ready to join the convoy when it hits Moosomin, Sask.

Edmonton-based realtor Les Michaelson was driving a black SUV with the phrase “Make Canada Great Again” in silver decals on the side.

He said his city’s real estate market has dried up recently because oil production cuts and a lack of options to get oil to market have killed jobs there.

That affects the housing market, he said.

“I just had a house that got willed to me by mother, and it took me almost 2.5 years to sell, because of a slump in the housing market.”

In his mind, the government-owned Trans Mountain pipeline needs to get built.

“You can’t make things with windmills and solar panels. Oil, you can make plastics, you can make an awful lot of things we use in daily life, not just fuel and things for our vehicles.”

Michaelson said he’s going all the way to Ottawa with the convoy.

Organizer Glen Carritt said the smaller fleet of semis isn’t a concern, because they expect more drivers to join up in Moosomin, and Kenora, Ont. later on Friday.

“Even if they just come out and drive with us for as long as they can, to show support, that’s really the main thing,” he said.