OUR FIGHT CONTINUES
I just sent this letter to every MP and MLA who hasn't answered yet. This is what I told them.
Hello,
I am following up on my letter of October 7, 2026.
My name is Dave Hawke, and I am the owner-operator of Bloodhound Trucking & Services Inc., a family-run trucking business based in Calgary, Alberta.
I am writing again because I need you and your colleagues in the chambers to understand that what is happening to small Canadian trucking businesses is not simply about financial statistics or companies closing their doors.
It is about hardworking Canadian families losing their livelihoods, their independence, and everything they have worked so hard to build.
My family and I are living through that reality.
Our family business and what we lost
Bloodhound Trucking & Services Inc. wasn't just my business. It was something my family and I worked incredibly hard to build.
Yes, I was the one behind the wheel, driving the truck, hauling loads, and spending long days on the road. But I wasn't doing it alone.
Whenever I needed help working on the truck, whenever something broke down or work needed to be done, my family was there.
They gave their time, their effort, and their support because they believed in what we were building together.
Every early morning, every long day, every mile driven, every repair, and every sacrifice was part of trying to keep our family business going.
We weren't building some large corporation. We were a family trying to make an honest living through hard work, determination, and helping one another.
And then everything started falling apart.
In May 2024, I paid for a full engine rebuild on my 2015 Kenworth T800.
Less than a year later, on March 20, 2025, that engine suffered a catastrophic failure near Hinton, Alberta.
The truck had to be recovered at a cost of $6,136.49.
It went back for another engine rebuild, and I lost 26 working days between March 21 and April 24, 2025, with no trucking income during that period.
My estimated lost revenue was $55,809.82.
But those figures only tell part of what happened.
While the truck was out of service, the bills didn't stop coming.
Truck payments, trailer payments, insurance, fuel accounts, credit cards, business loans, and other financial obligations continued piling up.
We tried to recover. We tried to keep the business going. We tried to find financial assistance.
But the financial damage had already begun.
Eventually, we lost our truck and trailers to repossession.
What this has done to my family
I cannot properly describe how heartbreaking this has been for us.
We were devastated.
We were sad, upset, frustrated, and angry.
We couldn't understand how something we had worked so hard to build could fall apart after everything we had already been through.
It wasn't just the loss of a truck and trailers.
It was the loss of our independence, our income, our livelihood, and the future we had been working toward together.
I think about all the years of hard work, the money invested, the sacrifices my family made, and everything we tried to do to prevent this from happening.
And one of the hardest things I have had to live with is knowing how much my family gave to help me, only to watch the business we built together fall apart.
I feel like I've let them down.
Even though I know how hard we all fought to keep everything together, that feeling doesn't simply disappear.
There is something deeply painful about going from getting up every morning with a purpose, knowing you have a truck to drive, work to do, and a family counting on you, to sitting at home wondering how everything could have gone so wrong.
I haven't worked in months.
I no longer have the truck that allowed me to earn my living. I don't have the financial resources to simply go out and replace what we lost.
Right now, I sit at home without the means to get back on the road.
And the hardest part is knowing that I am still willing and able to work.
I haven't lost my work ethic. I haven't lost my experience. I haven't lost my determination to get behind the wheel again.
I've lost the means to do it.
I never wanted to be in a position where I had to ask strangers for donations or write letters to the federal government asking for help.
I wanted to work, pay our bills, support my family, and continue building something we could all be proud of.
There are days when I question what I could have done differently. I wonder whether I could have prevented this and whether I will ever have the opportunity to rebuild what we lost.
It is heartbreaking. It is frustrating. And yes, it makes me angry.
Not because I believe anyone owes me a living, but because I know how hard my family and I worked for ours.
This is bigger than one mechanical failure
I recognize that every business faces financial risks. But small owner-operators have very little room to absorb a major financial shock.
Fuel, insurance, maintenance, equipment financing, interest expenses, and other operating costs can consume a substantial portion of revenue. When freight rates are weak and profit margins are already thin, an unexpected engine failure or several weeks without income can threaten the survival of an otherwise productive business.
For an owner-operator whose truck is the business's primary income-producing asset, losing that truck means losing the ability to generate the revenue needed to recover.
That is the financial trap my family and I found ourselves in.
The bills continued, but the income stopped.
And by the time we could get back to operating, the financial damage was already too great.
A national issue that deserves attention
According to figures from the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy, Canada's transportation and warehousing sector recorded 392 formal insolvencies during the 12 months ending June 30, 2026, including 300 bankruptcies.
That represents more than one formal insolvency filing per day.
In the second quarter of 2026, the sector recorded 136 insolvencies compared with 100 in the same quarter of 2025, an increase of 36%.
Although the annual total declined from the preceding 12-month period, the quarterly increase demonstrates why the financial pressures facing transportation businesses deserve closer examination.
These statistics cover the broader transportation and warehousing sector, not exclusively trucking owner-operators.
And formal insolvency statistics do not necessarily capture every business that stops operating, loses equipment through repossession, or closes without filing for bankruptcy.
How many other drivers are sitting at home right now, looking at bills they cannot pay, trucks they no longer have, and families who depended on those businesses?
How many families have watched years of hard work disappear?
How many are too proud or embarrassed to ask for help?
These aren't just numbers in a government report.
These are real people. Real families. Real livelihoods being lost.
My family and I are one of those families.
Why existing financing programs may not be enough
I recognize that Canada already has programs designed to support businesses.
The Canada Small Business Financing Program, for example, helps eligible small businesses obtain financing through participating financial institutions.
However, loan approvals remain the responsibility of lenders. For an owner-operator already experiencing serious financial hardship, damaged credit, or equipment repossession, obtaining conventional financing can be extremely difficult.
That is the gap I am asking Parliament to examine.
Canada also recognizes the importance of helping businesses in certain sectors manage extraordinary financial shocks.
Agricultural producers, for example, have access to established business risk management mechanisms, including AgriStability and the AgriRecovery framework, subject to their respective eligibility rules and circumstances.
I recognize that farming and trucking face different risks and that these programs are not directly interchangeable.
But the underlying principle deserves consideration:
When a productive Canadian business experiences an extraordinary setback, should there be a structured opportunity to recover rather than simply allowing that business to disappear?
I believe that question deserves serious examination for small trucking companies and owner-operators.
What I am asking Parliament to do
I am not asking the federal government to give me a free ride.
I am asking for a realistic opportunity to rebuild through repayable emergency financing that could allow eligible owner-operators to return to work and repay the assistance they receive.
Specifically, I am requesting three actions:
1. Identify available federal assistance.
Please identify any existing federal financing or recovery programs that could assist owner-operators facing major mechanical failures, prolonged downtime, equipment repossession, and financial hardship.
Please provide the eligibility requirements and explain whether businesses in my circumstances could qualify.
2. Examine repayable emergency bridge loans for owner-operators.
I am asking the federal government to examine the feasibility of a dedicated emergency bridge-financing mechanism for otherwise viable small trucking businesses that cannot access conventional financing following a serious financial setback.
Such a program could include financial viability assessments, documented loss requirements, reasonable repayment terms, and safeguards to ensure public funds are responsibly administered.
This would not be a request for unconditional debt forgiveness or a handout.
It would be a request for an opportunity to work and repay the assistance provided.
3. Bring this issue before the appropriate federal departments and parliamentary committee.
I am asking that the financial vulnerability of Canada's small carriers be raised with Transport Canada, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, and the House of Commons Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities.
I would appreciate a written response identifying which department or parliamentary body could examine this proposal and what steps could be taken to bring it forward.
I am prepared to provide documentation
I am not asking anyone to accept my story without evidence.
I am prepared to provide supporting documentation relating to the original engine rebuild, subsequent engine failure, recovery expenses, estimated lost revenue, financial hardship, and loss of equipment.
I can also provide available court records and documentation concerning the civil litigation arising from the engine matter.
I understand that a documented individual case does not establish the circumstances of every Canadian owner-operator.
But it can provide a concrete example of how one major mechanical failure, followed by prolonged downtime and mounting financial obligations, can contribute to the collapse of a family-run trucking business.
I am willing to speak directly with Members of Parliament, departmental officials, or parliamentary committee staff who wish to examine our experience.
I would also be willing to appear before a parliamentary committee if invited.
I am not simply asking someone else to do the work.
I am prepared to participate in finding a solution.
A challenge to Parliament
I challenge you and every one of your colleagues in the chambers to stand up for Canadian truckers and owner-operators and have our backs.
Because we have yours.
Every day, Canadian truck drivers move the goods that keep our communities and businesses supplied.
Owner-operators also play an important role in regional and resource-based transportation, including the movement of freight serving Alberta's forestry, energy, agricultural, and other industries.
When a small carrier disappears, it can affect far more than the business owner. It can affect families, customers, local suppliers, and the communities that depend on those services.
When we are the ones who need help, we should not simply be forgotten.
I don't want to hear another general response saying, "Sorry, there's nothing we can do."
I want this issue examined seriously, and I want meaningful action considered.
I haven't given up
I am not writing this letter because I have given up.
I am writing because I haven't.
Despite everything that has happened, I still want to work.
I still want to rebuild Bloodhound Trucking & Services Inc.
I still want to get behind the wheel and earn my living again.
I want my family to have the opportunity to see the business we worked so hard to build get back on its feet.
I cannot change what has happened.
I cannot undo the engine failure, the lost income, the financial hardship, or the loss of our equipment.
But I am asking for a chance to recover from it.
I don't want to spend the rest of my life looking back at everything my family and I lost, wondering whether someone could have helped us find a way forward.
We have spent years working hard, contributing to our communities, and helping keep this country moving.
We weren't asking for an easy life.
We were willing to work for it.
We are not asking for a handout. We are asking for a fighting chance to get our livelihood back.
Our petition and documented story
I have started a public petition calling for repayable emergency bridge loans for Canadian owner-operators.
At the time of preparing this letter, the petition had reached 98 signatures, and I continue encouraging Canadians to read and support it.
Petition: https://c.org/69sgfZKkN9
Our family's fundraiser, which explains our financial hardship and our efforts to save Bloodhound Trucking & Services Inc., is available here:
I am asking you, as an elected representative of the Canadian people, to look beyond the statistics and recognize the families behind them.
Please don't let families like mine be forgotten.
I respectfully request a written response addressing the three actions outlined above.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Dave Hawke
Owner-Operator
Bloodhound Trucking & Services Inc.
Calgary, Alberta