Grande Prairie is showing support for the troubled oil and gas industry with a rally on Sunday followed by a convoy of trucks.

The event is being organized by Cole Murphy, Taylor Howarth and Andy White, who work at 10K Rentals Ltd, a local oilfield company.

“Basically, we came into work and just realized how we’ve been backed into such a critical situation and how we’ve always just ran with the punches and took it on the chin,” Murphy said. “But we just realized that we need to stand up and start fighting for ourselves.”

A main subject of protest for the rally is Bill C-69, which would change the rules for pipeline project approval and reform the National Energy Board, renaming it the Canadian Energy Regulator. The bill is currently before the Senate.

“If it does get passed, it will make it tougher for us to build the pipelines we desperately need to get off of foreign oil,” Murphy said. “We’re obviously not experts in the bill by any means but we know that sending Canadian products to Canadians is better than buying foreign oil that’s not regulated, that has no human rights.”

Murphy emphasized that the challenges facing the oil and gas industry don’t just affect Grande Prairie and other oil communities but Canada as a whole.

“The Canadian people are getting taken advantage of by selling our oil at a huge discount and buying it back at a premium,” he said. “It makes no sense. I wish someone could explain it to us.”

The rally will feature multiple speakers, including Grande Prairie-Mackenzie MP Chris Warkentin and Grande Prairie-Wapiti MLA Wayne Drysdale. Rob Petrone, head of the Grande Prairie Oilmen’s Association, will act as emcee.

Over 1,200 people are expected at the rally and over 4,000 are interested in attending, according to the rally’s Facebook event as of Thursday. Murphy described the upcoming rally as peaceful and family-friendly.

“We’re happy obviously that we’re creating some awareness but we believe we should have 10,000 people if not 20,000 people down there,” he said. “Without oil and gas, I think it’s going to hurt a lot of other industries up here.”

Jarvie Dawson, sales lead for JDA Oilfield Hauling, is also organizing a convoy and is aiming to get more than 250 trucks to take part. Trucks are also encouraged to have signs and decorations.

“My background is trucking so the guys that are really being hit hard right now is the trucking industry,” Dawson said. “We’re not working right now, a lot of us, so everybody has lots of time to come [to the convoy].”

The convoy will begin at JDA Oilfield Hauling between 2:30 and 2:45 p.m. and turn north onto 108 Avenue at the Staples intersection. It well then turn south onto 102 Street and later go west along 100 Avenue before the trucks return to their respective yards.

“It’s really important to our community that we do stuff like this to make sure our voices are heard,” Dawson said. “If we’re not a part of the solution, that’s a problem by itself.”

The rally lasts from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. this Sunday at Muskoseepi Park. The convoy will later drive past the park at around 3 p.m. Attendees are asked to bring food bank donations.