The leader of the United Conservative Party says the economy is forcing businesses in the Grande Prairie area to close. Jason Kenney has been in the Peace Country this week and during at a stop at Trican Well Service in Clairmont said the biggest issue he’s been hearing from people is concerns about the economy.
“They’ve gone from 3,400 to 2,000 employees mainly out of this shop, a 40 per cent reduction in their workforce. I was just talking to a restaurant owner here who said he knows a lot of people in the restaurant business who are planning on closing this year because they’ve just run out of cash.”
Yesterday, I met some of the hardworking folks at @TricanWS in Grande Prairie, one of the largest oil & gas service companies in Canada. We need to bring investment back to our energy sector, so that companies like Trican can continue providing good, mortgage-paying jobs. pic.twitter.com/lZ1QGWlHRz
— Jason Kenney (@jkenney) January 25, 2019
Kenney became the leader of the UCP in October 2017. Since then he’s visited the area multiple times, most recently in December for a rally in support of the oil and gas industry. He believes that in order to improve economic conditions, his party would need to get rid of the carbon tax if elected.
“Scrapping the carbon tax will be a big help in putting money back into peoples’ pockets. We’ll be looking at other tax relief over time as well, so scrapping the carbon tax helps but the main focus is this plan to reignite the economy right across the Peace and only that will help to raise incomes.”
Kenney’s local tour continues on the 25th where he will visit Sexsmith, Spirit River, and Fairview before wrapping up in Peace River. He was also in Valleyview, Beaverlodge, and Grande Prairie on the 24th.