Eric Bijeau, Ralph Boyd, and the Truckers and Drivers Association of North America
A continuing story. Here's the latest:
More than 1,000 tractor-trailers were parked on the sides of highways in northwestern New Brunswick on Wednesday as a protest against high gas prices gained momentum.
Police said blockades were up in about a dozen locations, including on the Trans-Canada Highway. Cars were being let through, but trucks were not. Protest organizer Eric Bijeau said refineries are raking in excess profits and governments aren't doing anything about it....
Ralph Boyd of the Atlantic Provinces Trucking Association said the blockades shouldn't be allowed to continue....
The protest was organized by a group calling itself the Truckers and Drivers Association of North America....
Here's what Macleans says about Eric Bijeau:
Eric Bijeau, spokesman for the protesters, estimated that as many as 1,000 trucks have been stopped in the northern New Brunswick blockade, a figure the police disputed.
He said he hopes the protest spreads to other provinces and into the United States.
"We are being screwed by the refineries," Bijeau said in an interview.
Bijeau said the group he represents, the New Brunswick Northwest Truckers Association, sent a letter to Prime Minister Paul Martin asking that the federal government step in and stop profiteering by the major refineries.
"We are asking you to intervene at the refiners' level, where it is clearly demonstrated that the refiners' profit margin has increased from .09 cents per litre to .43 cents per litre," the truckers stated in their letter.
Gas prices in northern New Brunswick are running about $1.34 a litre for regular unleaded. Bijeau said deisel costs about $1.16 a litre.
"The costs are too much," he said. "They are driving people out of business. We have to do something. . . . This is a clear case of the rich gouging the poor."...
Meanwhile, the Canadian Trucking Alliance and the Atlantic Provinces Trucking Association is calling for action by the authorities (even though that wouldn't be nice):
The Atlantic Provinces Trucking Association is calling on local authorities to clear blockades along Highways 2, 11 and 17 in New Brunswick by a group of independent carriers calling itself the Northwestern New Brunswick Truckers' Association.
The group, primarily composed of raw forest independent carriers, has been protesting low hauling rates and increased fuel prices since Monday night.
“There's a great deal of pressure on the raw forest products industry now, thanks to the softwood lumber dispute with the US and high fuel prices, and a few of our members say the independents are just not able to make ends meet,” said APTA President Ralph Boyd.
“But the carriers who are protesting aren't negotiating with their customers – they're interfering with the business of everyone else.”
Boyd said there are currently backups along the affected highways consisting of as many as 250 trucks.
Boyd called on the RCMP to re-establish order on the affected highways and urged APTA members to avoid becoming involved in the conflict.
“We're asking carriers to avoid trucking through that area until this is resolved,” he said. “And we're urging our members not to become involved in any conflict with protesters. We've already received news of some damages caused to trucks and we don't want this situation toe escalate further.”
APTA is currently meeting with provincial officials, including Percy Mockler, New Brunswick Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs and a local MLA, to try to bring an end to the conflict. CTA fully supports the APTA efforts and will continue to provide updates on the conflict.
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