‘Get this pipeline built!’ Protestors rage ahead of Finance Minister’s visit to Calgary
Posted Nov 27, 2018 4:35 pm.
Last Updated Dec 15, 2018 11:49 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
CALGARY (660 NEWS) — Before Finance Minister Bill Morneau spoke to the Calgary Chamber on Tuesday afternoon, another large group of protestors gathered to voice their displeasure.
Hundreds gathered outside the Telus Convention Centre on Stephen Avenue, holding signs and chanting about a lack of action in dealing with struggles impacting the oil industry.
Many police were nearby, but the demonstration remained peaceful, just as it did during Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s visit last week.
But the anger among the crowd was palpable.
“Get this pipeline built!” said Mike Courage, who also called Trudeau a “traitor” and a “communist”. “It’s not that complicated, I’ve built thousands of pipelines, and it’s just not that complicated, folks.”
He was one of the many protestors who have been personally affected by the long downturn in the industry, which has left Calgary experiencing sky-high downtown vacancy rates and one of the highest unemployment rates in the country.
“What I experienced was five years of stagnation in my pay, I’ve experienced cutbacks to my salary, and currently I’m out of work,” he added.
“Well, we’ve gone through layoffs, we’ve seen the downturn here, we’ve seen families hurt by this, and what we’re seeing going forward is the lack of income for Canada is going to affect generations to come,” said January McKee.
Another common sentiment was that Ottawa won’t be doing anything immediately to help, and this visit will not affect much change.
“I think the Canadian people, specifically Albertans, need some feedback on what their plans are for 2019 and beyond,” said Andrew Hallikas.
“A lot of people are getting hurt by not having a job, there’s thousands of people out of work in this part of the world — not just 2,500,” said Ken Hayes, in reference to the recent announcement that the GM plant in Oshawa, Ontario is closing in 2019. “This is western Canada, and we have a small population and not as vociferous as Ontario or Quebec. We’re just trying to make a little noise today.”
