Vol.110–No. 15 • 12 Pages
Weyburn, Saskatchewan, Wednesday, April 10, 2019
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Ag, Oil & Business • 2
Opinion • 4
Sports • 6
Obituaries/Classified • 8
Premier tours convoy at carbon tax rally
Review Photo 9238 — Karlene Hennig
Premier Scott Moe had a quick tour of the parking lot at the Queensbury Downs, where over 700 vehicles from the convoy were parked to attend the rally in protest of the federal carbon tax on Thursday. He addressed the rally as he spoke about his government’s fight against the carbon tax. The convoy was comprised of farm and oil vehicles from all over the province, including a large contingent from southeast Saskatchewan.
Convoy and Regina Rally has a huge response By Greg Nikkel The convoy and the Regina Rally Against the Carbon Tax “exceeded our expectations” with over 700 vehicles taking part, filling the Queensbury Downs Centre in Regina to hear the premier and others speak, said organizer Dale Mainil. As one person on the 20-member planning committee, Mainil said the response was incredible, but it’s an effort that needs to continue. “The convoy exceeded our expectations, and it was a really great rally. We have to continue to keep putting pressure on Ottawa so they’ll hear us, that we’re hurting in the energy industry and in the agriculture sector.” There is a possibility the convoy, estimated at between 700 and 800 vehicles, set a new world record, but this hasn’t been officially determined yet, he noted. The planning
committee met on Tuesday afternoon, the first time they met since the rally, and were to discuss it then. Asked if the rally will make the impact they are hoping for, Mainil replied, “It’s like when we went to Ottawa. We have to continue keeping the pressure on. If one rally isn’t going to change their minds, then we’ll do more. The more we do it, and the more rallies are held across western Canada, hopefully this will drive the message home.” He added that the Trudeau government is “so out of touch with western Canada, it’s unbelievable. We’ve got to fight back.” Mainil gave a big shout-out to all of the police forces, from the Weyburn and Estevan police, the RCMP, Saskatchewan Highway Patrol and the Regina Police Service, who all worked together to ensure the convoy travelled safely and without incident
from various points in the province to Regina, and then through the city to where the rally was held. “There were no accidents,” said Mainil. “When you get that many heavy trucks going, there was so much potential for something happening, we were very proud of our people. They’re good professional people. … It went so successfully, we were very happy with how everything turned out.” He also noted the committee worked hard, putting in long hours for the three weeks leading up to the event. “They’re a bunch of good people who were passionate about getting rid of this destructive tax.” As the keynote speaker at the rally, Premier Scott Moe paid tribute to those who took part in “one of the largest convoys in the history of the world”, noting the participants were from every sector of Sas-
katchewan’s economy. “The fact you are here tells me a lot about your values. It tells me something about your character, and about the communities you live in. It tells me that you care about the future of this province, and you care about the future of this great nation that we live in,” said the premier. The group gathered needs to send a message that will be heard “from coast to coast to coast”, that they came together to defend Saskatchewan’s world-class resource industries, he added, and to tell the federal government they need to roll back the carbon tax “that will do nothing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions”. The premier noted that Saskatchewan started out being the only province in the country to oppose the carbon tax, but that has now grown to include Manitoba, Ontario and New
Brunswick, and depending on how their election goes, possibly also Alberta soon. These five provinces represent 60 per cent of the population of Canada that oppose the carbon tax, which will make everything more expensive and will hurt the agricultural industry as well as the oil and gas sector. Premier Moe said pipelines are not getting built, and on top of that they are imposing the carbon tax on these four provinces. “Just try to tell me this is a government that supports people in this country. You try to convince me they care about what happens to you, what happens to your community, to your family or where you work,” said the premier, adding that the leader of the province’s opposition, Ryan Meili, was not there at the rally. The premier noted that Meili felt the rally was in opposition to immigrant
settlement, even though this issue had nothing whatsoever to do with purpose of the rally. On the issue of immigration, Moe pointed out that Saskatchewan has welcomed 165,000 newcomers to their communities to live and to work, residents from 180 countries who have settled into 430 communities across the province. “We need to change the conversation. We need to get our focus away from the ineffective carbon tax and see what research and science can do for us. In Saskatchewan, we’ve already done that. In Saskatchewan, we are actually making a difference in the fields and are making a difference in research labs. We are making a difference in the bottoms of mine shafts and at the top of our oil derricks, and we are making a difference on the highways,” said the premier.
City’s new reservoir project is completed By Greg Nikkel The City of Weyburn’s new reservoir has been completed and has begun to be commissioned, city council was told on Monday evening. The major infrastructure project has taken over a year to complete, and will almost triple the capacity of the reservoir available to the city’s residents and businesses. The commissioning process will take about a week to complete, then the new reservoir facility and distribution system will come on line. Council was also told that the city’s source of water, Nickle Lake, is currently at full capacity and is overflowing, compared to last year’s level when it was below full. • In other council busi-
ness, the line painting tender was discussed and approved, but not before councillors criticized the low quality of the waterbased paints involved as they fade in a short time. Coun. Winston Bailey asked if the city had looked into the plastic-based paint rather than water-based, but was told it would be much more expensive. “ We ’r e putting $100,000 into something that doesn’t last. I’d like us to see if we could a different product to see if it would work,” said Coun. Bailey, adding he has been told other cities have gone to this other type of paint. Coun. Jeff Chessall noted that sometimes the new line painting doesn’t cover the old lines but goes Continued on Page 3
Elvis tribute artist gets up close to the audience
Review Photo 7336 — Greg Nikkel
The audience applauded as Elvis tribute artist Dean Z came down to their level to sing, during his concert in Weyburn on Friday evening at McKenna Hall. He was accompanied by the Cadillac Kings as his backup band as he performed songs from the 1950s, from movies Elvis performed in, and songs Elvis performed in his comeback concert broadcast in 1968.