About 1,100 Calgarians answered the call to “empty the towers” in a downtown march on Monday to encourage voting in support of the oil and gas industry.

The coordinated action with the Calgary Police Service occurred less than 24 hours before the opening of Alberta’s 2019 general election, but speakers at the end of the march at Calgary City Hall were non-partisan, stressing only the need to support oil and gas.

“The soft-spoken majority is starting to speak up; we are all here representing that," said Cody Battershill, founder of Canada Action, which organized the event with Rally 4 Resources.

"Since Keystone XL was delayed, the world’s oil demand has gone up by more than 12 million bbls/d. Here is the fact: when you block Canadian pipelines, you are harming the global environment because other countries will take our market share, and our families have seen the repercussions of this economic downturn.”

Mark Scholz, president of the Canadian Association of Oilwell Drilling Contractors, congratulated the crowd for participating and told them to “keep up the pressure.”

“We’re making a difference, and tomorrow we’re going to have an Alberta government that stands up for people, for working families across this province, and we’re going to get that pipeline built,” he said.