The second day of local segment a nationwide protest got underway Tuesday near Walsh. (Jesse Gill/CHAT News)

By Jesse Gill, Eli J. Ridder

Walsh carbon tax protesters move to rest stop on second day

Apr 2, 2024 | 1:22 PM

A protest against the federal carbon tax taking place near Walsh, Alta., has agreed to an RCMP request to move down the road to a rest stop.

The Mounties asked them to move from the side of the Trans-Canada highway at the Alberta-Saskatchewan border based on the number of vehicles still involved in the Axe the Tax protest’s second day.

READ MORE: Anti-carbon tax protest kicks off at Walsh

It’s safer and allows for a shorter stretch of highway to require a reduction in speed, the police told the protesters.

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By noon Tuesday, vehicles numbers in the protest had dropped to about 30 from a high point of about 200 Monday afternoon at its peak.

RCMP from both Alberta and Saskatchewan onsite have been monitoring the location and working with the planners to allow them to exercise their right to protest.

One lane of westbound traffic was blocked off with speed reduced to 60 km/hr to help keep everyone safe.

A discussion was held with the protest organizers and police just prior to 12:30 p.m. to have the protest moved.

A number of the protesters weren’t happy with this, but they did move by 12:45 p.m. to continue their peaceful protest.

Tyler Chiliak is protesting from Sibbald, Alberta and said he understood why the protest was moved and appreciated the cooperation from the RCMP to not shut them down.

“They said, you know, there’s not really enough vehicles on the side of the road to justify all of our police presence that we need to have in order for vehicles to be on the side of the road. So they said, you guys need to move,” Chiliak said.

“Instead of kicking us out entirely, they said, let’s compromise, so they moved us here into the rest stop. They said, you can have the entire south side of the rest stop. You’re free to be up onto the shoulder of the road. We’re still going to block traffic, make sure that it slows down for you. So they’re still giving us a place to demonstrate,” he added.

“They’re still being reasonably cooperative. There are a lot of demonstrators here who are upset by that, of course, because they see it as a bit of a loss.”

Chiliak said he expected the numbers to drop after the first day, but feels a point has been made, with awareness that there are people who care and are standing up for this.

“The support that we’re seeing, I’m probably saying that more than half of the vehicles that drive by, especially yesterday, were either waving or honking,” Chiliak said.

“I’ve seen a lot more support on the road than I expected to see by a fairly substantial margin.”

The protest is expected to continue Wednesday.

A spokesperson with the Saskatchewan RCMP says they will continue to work with the protesters to allow them to exercise their right to protest in a safe, lawful and peaceful way.

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