By Justin Dionne

Rally in support of oil industry taking place this weekend

Dec 13, 2018 | 4:30 AM

This weekend a rally and a convoy is being held in support of Canadian oil and gas workers. 

One of the event organizers, Andrew White, says the rally is going to highlight the oil crisis the province is facing, and Bill C-69.

“The rally will bring light to the crisis we’re in in Canada with the way the oil and gas industry is going,” says White. “We’re just trying to have as many supporters out there as we can to let Ottawa know there’s a lot of people being affected by these changes.”

The organizers say the rally will include speakers from both the oil and gas industry and local government, such as Grande Prairie MP, Chris Warkentin, Grande Prairie MLA, Wayne Drysdale, last year’s First Nations Woman of the Year, Connie Greyeyes, Founder of Oilfield Dads, Chad Miller, and the Grande Prairie Oilmen’s Association’s Rob Petrone. 

Event Organizer, Tyler Murphy, says they’re expecting a large turnout. 

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“Right now we have about twelve-hundred people confirmed, and at least four-thousand interested in the event,” says Murphy.

The rally was originally planned by three organizers, Tyler Murphy, Andrew White, and Taylor Thowar, who have since received lots of support from the community. 

“It started out with the three of us, but living in a community like Grande Prairie, you get a lot of help from a lot of people very quickly. We’ve had amazing responses from different companies, people in town, and volunteers. It’s a humbling experience when people come together for a good cause.”

The three organizers made special mention of Jarvie Dawson, another organizer who is spearheading the convoy. Dawson says when he posted about the convoy on Facebook, it quickly received thousands of responses, and people from across the province have been contacting him to get involved. He notes that currently, there are about 250 trucks signed up to participate in the convoy. 

“We’re going to go up through the west side of town through the Staples intersection, then we’re going to go on the bypass, take a right to 102 Street and come right by Muskoseepi, then take another right onto 100th and then back west of town,” says Dawson. 

Dawson says the City was great to work with during the planning of the convoy and explains the trucks are going to be abiding by all road signs and traffic lights. He adds that the city worked with him to map out a route that would cause the least amount of traffic disruptions. 

The organizers say the convoy will leave JDA’s yard during the rally, and by the time the rally has finished, everyone will be able to come up to the road and watch the parade of trucks roll by. 

The rally begins at 1 p.m. this Sunday at Muskoseepi Park.