Grande Prairie, Alta. 鈥� Cory Yeik attended the Grande Prairie rally on Dec. 16. Idled from oilpatch work for much of the last three years, he just recently went back to work, near Grande Prairie. He also owns a clothing company fittingly called Rig Pig Apparel, catering to the drilling industry.
Yeik was 鈥渂orn and bred鈥� in Weyburn, and now calls Lethbridge, Alta., home. Speaking to Pipeline News by phone on Dec. 17, he said, 鈥淎fter working 25 years in the industry, three years ago I could see this coming. It鈥檚 like the perfect storm. Everybody hoped it would get better,but here we are.
鈥淲e鈥檝e got nothing to lose.鈥�
He added, 鈥淚t鈥檚 finally really good to see everybody starting to see the trickle-down effect in a country that got a large part of its economy from natural resources. Everyone is affected, from the top down.鈥�
鈥淚t鈥檚 nice to see everyone standing together.鈥�
Asked where he was, Yeik said, 鈥淚 was in the convoy. I鈥檝e got good friends that own trucks.鈥�
It took an hour for the convoy to go around the city. It was so long, 鈥淭he convoy touched its tail.鈥�
In all his time working in the oilpatch, he said he had never seen anything like it.
鈥淚t really tugged at my heart really hard,鈥� he said, noting he s, posted on Facebook, about the "."
鈥淭hese rallies need to continue."
Yeik is not the type to frequent protests. He said, 鈥淭hat was my very first protest.鈥�
The downturn and the policies of the federal Liberal government have hurt his own company and livelihood. 鈥淭here鈥檚 not much left in the tank,鈥� he said.
鈥淚 can understand, but I鈥檝e never seen anyone hated as much as Trudeau,鈥� he said of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Regarding the rally, he said, 鈥淚鈥檓 very vocal. I was at a loss for words.鈥�
