It was both a chance to stand up for what he believes in and an opportunity to see his mother.
Patrick King, a Sault native who has lived and worked in Red Deer, Alberta for the past 20 years in the province’s oil industry, was among a convoy of Canadians who set out Feb. 14 from Red Deer, on the way to Ottawa to take their pro-oil pipeline, anti-carbon tax message to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government.
The convoy rolled into the Sault Sunday evening, with King greeting and giving his mother Teresa an emotional hug and meeting with a throng of local United We Roll supporters in the shopping centre parking lot at 248 Northern Ave. East.
Sault-based convoy supporters were on hand with coffee, hot chocolate and hot food for the convoy’s drivers and passengers.
“It’s absolutely unreal. I was not expecting this giant outpouring of support. I couldn’t be more proud of my city,” King told SooToday.
“We set out Valentine’s Day to show Canada how much we love the country...our destination’s Ottawa,” King smiled in the bitter cold.
“The message is the government needs to be held accountable. We’ve had enough. They block pipelines in legislation. We need to scrap the carbon tax. That’s absolutely disgusting what they’re trying to do there.”
“We can produce oil in Alberta, enough to provide for the country and more, and right now we’re outsourcing that to foreign countries, they’re ramping up production to meet what we’ve reduced, and when it lands at our ports they don’t have to pay a carbon tax,” King stated.
“Build the pipelines. Build them. Enough is enough.”
Approximately 50 convoy vehicles rolled into the Sault, King estimating they attracted another six to 10 supporting vehicles as they made their approach just after 7 p.m. Sunday.
King said 189 vehicles set out from Red Deer Feb. 14, the number of convoy vehicles fluctuating along the way.
United We Roll convoy drivers and passengers planned to stay at The Comfort Inn on Great Northern Road before resuming their voyage to Ottawa Monday morning.
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