Southern Alberta Council on Public Affairs (SACPA)

Inspired by, or at least imitating, the protests of France’s Gilets Jaunes, a Yellow Vest movement has similarly made headlines the past few months, especially in Alberta. In what ways does this movement echo the one in France – or even past movement in Canada? How, more broadly, should we understand the Yellow Vest protests? On the surface, the concerns seem clear enough: stalled pipeline projects and fury over a federal and provincial the carbon tax. Economic concerns are understandable. Canada, one of the world’s largest oil exporters, has been hit hard by the slump in oil prices and a lack of pipelines to move its product to markets. Several companies have layed off workers and fears of widespread job losses in oil-rich province like Alberta and Saskachewan is growing. Close to 50,000 jobs were lost during the last oil market crash of 2014. However, will those jobs ever come back? But the Yellow Vest protests, while focusing on energy issues like pipelines, Bill C-69 and tanker bans, have also included