“I’ve made a lot of decisions in the past 22 years, but this was the toughest. My family has stood by and watched me through all this. I eat it, I talk it, I dream it. Hopefully now I can get some sleep.”
He delivered Northern Alberta’s contractors’ story onto the national stage, became the poster boy for those who’d been run off contracts on Crown lands, met with municipal and provincial government representatives in an effort to get a fair shake for himself and fellow contractors.
But last week Kelly Persson bowed out, stepping down as president Emil’s Right-of-Way Clearing — a company that’s been in the family for more 30 years – and as spokesman for Northern Oilfield Contractors Association.
The company will continue, he says, as will the Association. But Persson leaves a frustrated man who sees no hope for resolution in the foreseeable future.
“The government is not dealing with this issue,” he says matter-of-factly. “And it wore me down. I’ve invested a lifetime, but I’ve had enough and can’t see any resolve in the near future.
“The government has years to wait, Pearl (Calahasen, Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and MLA for Lesser Slave Lake) can drag her high heels through this until she retires.
“But we don’t have that kind of time,” Persson said Tuesday, announcing his family has endured the struggle, watched him plead for fair treatment long enough.
In fact, the dilemma has resulted in three or four oilfield contractors closing their doors, and several more are hanging on desperately as they wait for the province to bring the various stakeholders together for meetings and resolve.
Emil’s doors will still swing open at 5:00 or 6:00 every morning and stay that way until the same time in the afternoon, says Persson. But it’ll just do it without him.
His dad Emil “spent a lifetime building” the company, he says, and is not about to bow down.
“It’ll continue to operate whether I’m there or not,” says Kelly.
The company has been an integral thread in Slave Lake’s business fabric for many years, he says, donating time and machines on several community projects. And it’ll continue to operate, even though Persson says he’s disappointed that the community hasn’t responded in kind when the company needs support.
“We need the whole community to step up to the plate and say how this issue is affecting them. All we want is a level playing field for the oilpatch, nothing more nothing less.
“But the government doesn’t give a s—t, and the community doesn’t either.
“We’ve supported them for all these years and now when we’re looking for support, it’s not there.”
Companies like Emil’s have lost millions of dollars over the past decade when they’re run off contracts on Crown lands. In several cases, First Nations groups have set up roadblocks, or complained to lease holders, laying claim to the contracts because the work is on what they consider ‘traditional lands’. Leaseholders have relented, and contractors who’ve won the job fair and square are left without jobs.
“All we wanted was equality in business,” says Kelly, but the province has failed to respond.
“We’re not discriminating – we’re Metis too.”
And while it’s oilfield and forestry companies that are being affected now, Persson predicts the issue will continue to spread.
“The First Nations will soon have full control over the fishermen, hunting, guides and outfitters.
“They (First Nations groups) want it now, and the way government is dealing with things” it’s just a matter of time until that control trades hands.
“Put it in your archives,’ he urged The Leader.

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