Weyburn, Regina 鈥� The day after the Regina Rally Against the Carbon Tax, Dennis Mainil was very disappointed with the level of national coverage of the event.
Mainil is president of Jerry Mainil Ltd., a Weyburn-based oilfield earthmoving company that was instrumental in the planning of the event. The organizational meetings were held at their offices, and many of the company鈥檚 senior staff were key organizers.
Asked why the were so heavily involved, 鈥淚t鈥檚 something the owners and Jerry Mainil Ltd feel, for the betterment of Saskatchewan and all the people in Western Canada and Canada deserve a better deal than what we鈥檙e getting. Putting a carbon tax on is not going to solve any problems. You鈥檝e got to create incentives to promote business and energy efficient procedures. The technology that we have in this province has proven to be a leader. We鈥檝e got to continue going that way, and taxing it is prohibitive, going forward.鈥�
鈥淚 was very disappointed in with the national coverage,鈥� Mainil said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 very sad, when the only way Saskatchewan can get publicity is when 16 young people are killed in a bus crash a year ago. That goes across the board like wildfire, but we have the biggest convoy in the world, and it doesn鈥檛 even hit the radar screen. That ticked me right off.鈥�
鈥淲e didn鈥檛 get any national coverage. That was pretty sad, I thought. I got home, and my wife was so excited to see this on TV, and there was nothing. It was really bad.鈥�
That wasn鈥檛 for lack of media present, however. The press scrum at the end of the rally had the premier surrounded by a semi-circle of tightly packed cameras and microphones, with journalists and camera operators behind them, but it didn鈥檛 get much beyond Saskatchewan鈥檚 borders. The National Post app had stories like 鈥淯.S. federal government in search of experts who can roll and joint,鈥� and 鈥淎ccountant buys $6 million in Apple iPhones and iPads on company credit cards and nobody notices for five years,鈥� on its main page, but nothing on the convoy and rally.听
鈥淵ou can tell how important we are in Western Canada. Not only do the politicians ignore us, but so does the national media, and it鈥檚 pretty disgraceful to be treated like that. Really, we don鈥檛 even exist. It鈥檚 very frustrating.鈥�
Mainil took his airplane up over Weyburn. While he was flying, Kevin Cooke was shooting photos and video. The lineups in Weyburn, waiting to join the convoy, were nothing short of incredible as seen from the air.
Beyond the convoy, his company how had to figure out now to live with the carbon tax in Saskatchewan, implemented a few days earlier. While Jerry Mainil Ltd. has not yet determined what the impact of the carbon tax will be, they have determined that oil companies don鈥檛 want to see it tacked on.
鈥淭hey aren鈥檛 going to pay any more than they are paying on March 31. They won鈥檛 pay any more on April 1.鈥�
鈥淭he oil companies, flatly, it doesn鈥檛 matter what our costs are, they don鈥檛 want to pay any more. I don鈥檛 want to pay any more to SaskPower. Do I have a choice? Yeah, but then they shut my power off. And if I say to my oilfield customers you鈥檝e got to pay it, they鈥檒l just hire somebody else,鈥� he said.
So at this time, they are likely going to have to eat it.
鈥淗ave we got plans? yeah, I鈥檝e got a lot of things going in my head,鈥� he said, noting they鈥檝e talked to other companies about their strategies.
Beyond the dirt moving company, Mainil, like much of his family, also farms. And the farm will also be affected greatly. 鈥淲hen I try to sell my canola, it鈥檚 not like I can collect more on my canola because I鈥檝e got to pay carbon tax. Viterra, Richardson, nobody鈥檚 going to pay me more for my canola because there鈥檚 a carbon tax. There again, the farmer is going to eat it, too.
鈥淥ur costs are going up in many ways. Every bag of seed that comes in, maybe, as a farmer, there鈥檚 exemptions we鈥檙e up for, but all the product delivered to us, he鈥檚 not exempt,鈥� Mainil said.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 mind investing if there鈥檚 value. But there鈥檚 no value. It鈥檚 just a tax.鈥�
That tax will also double in two years. 鈥淚t鈥檚 scary now, it鈥檒l be really scary, going forward. It鈥檚 going to kill our economy. It鈥檚 going to ruin our economy, and it鈥檚 going to take the entrepreneurial ship out of it. Our country is already being killed by bureaucracy. No one wants to invest in Canada. If I鈥檓 a billionaire sitting in China, and I can invest in the United States, which has got a really hot economy now, or Canada, where they don鈥檛 want pipelines, that鈥檚 an easy no-brainer. I鈥檓 going to take my billion dollars and invest it where I can make money,鈥� Mainil said.
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