What Matters to You – Are You Effective?

The Right Question

Recently on a school tour in Wabamun, one of the students asked me if, as the MLA, “have you been effective?”

As someone who, I’m convinced, has management in her future, she was absolutely on point.

With some honest reflection, I told her that yes, I believe I have been an effective MLA. I feel this way mainly because I have managed to help folks in our constituency with a variety of issues and have helped influence and affect some very noticeable changes in the brief time I have been here.

My Answer Is My Work

The initiatives that I’ve been involved with:

• Bill 31: We managed in short order to mitigate a potential shortage of clay, gravel, sand, and marl by not classifying them as minerals and defining how they could be extracted.
• Bill 1 Carbon tax repeal: We killed the tax, and although the “ill-contrived trojan horse wealth-transfer-scheme” loved by the NDP/ Liberal socialist ideologues came back like a twisted Frankenstein monster, we did prove in a court of law how flawed it really is.
• The creation and implementation of an Alberta CFO: I was thrilled to be part of the Firearms Task Force, which engaged so many Albertans regarding their concerns as it related to federal overreach, property rights, and representation for law-abiding Albertans, in addition to our ability to own and use firearms.
• Motion 501 – Economic Corridors: The conceptualization of pulling together all Albertans and our provincial, territorial, and state trading partners through formalizing and defining economic corridors. Implementing a linear infrastructure asset as the anchor tenant, allowing the corridors to expand and grow, means that these corridors will facilitate responsible trade and commerce for generations.
• Leading the Economic corridors Task Force: having the Ministry of Transportation evolve into the Ministry of Transportation and Economic Corridors and being named the Parliamentary Secretary for Economic Corridors.
• Meeting with various groups, promoting our province, and highlighting its potential with state, territorial and provincial representatives at NCSL, PNWER, and CSG conferences.
• Helping promote the formalization of treatment and expansion of the Trikafta medication for folks suffering from cystic fibrosis, which is a lifesaving drug for them.
• Helping a man through connections with the CF group avoid needing a lung transplant while respecting his medical choices.
• Advocating for “Our-hero-Harper” Hanki and her family to have a second chance in life, thanks to the efforts of many with big hearts.
• Being there for a lady who was house-sitting in our area when she was at her wit’s end, at a low point in her life, to take her call and talk with her until first responders could see her in person.
• Helping to facilitate the return of the International Airshow out in Villeneuve and further pitching the idea of an accredited Aviation course to be taken by high school students in my area. I’m happy to report that this program is now in its second year of successful operation at Grand Trunk High School in Evansburg.
• Leading the Career Education Task Force: making solid recommendations for career education delivery for years to come.
• Listening to folks, finding out what matters to them, and articulating these ideas in the House and public, influencing change for the better.

I Felt Supported

I could only be this effective because of the party I belong to; they want strong MLAs and will listen to any good idea and act upon it when appropriate.

As my term as the MLA representing over 46,000 people in the 30^th Alberta Legislature sitting is coming to a close, it was a good time to be a little more reflective. Some events have taken place that no one would have expected or been fully prepared for. You simply do your best with whatever information you have at your disposal at the time and soldier on. As a person whose whole career was based on major projects, this is not so dissimilar. There are short-term objectives that need to be met, and there will always be a ton of issues that arise, possibly setting you off course, but you must react and get the job done… always ahead of schedule and under budget.

Sensible Results

After running two years of back-to-back balanced budgets, boasting the strongest economy in the country, experiencing a net migration into our province to rival the numbers in 1957, and diversifying our economy into growing sectors that are less commodity-based, we are seeing incredible accomplishments after weathering some very dark times. Like many, I can tell you full well that it was tough to keep moving forward and taking the hits; it was tough to see that light at the end of the tunnel, to keep the faith, and not to give up. Knowing that people are counting on you, especially families with children who are literally worried for their future, you just dig deeper. We were a team going through the same challenges and did an incredible job of helping each other along the way. I can’t thank my office staff enough for all they have done over the past few years and continue to do today.

Working  Even Harder

As many of you know, I never intend to be a “career politician”, and I believe because of that, despite it having some potential impacts on my political career or possible promotions, I’ve kept my word to those of you that gave me that job interview and marked an x on the box beside my name. I’ll be going through that process again this spring, and if I have learned anything from all my other projects over the years, it’s that a person is only as good as his last job. I have done my best, and despite any of my failings, I hope that folks in my area recognize I’ve given it my all; I’ve done what I could to be as effective as possible to represent what matters to you. I hope to hear from you over the next few months, and I intend to make sure I get as many loose ends tied up before the folks in our area make their pick for the next person they want as their MLA to represent them in the 31^st sitting of the Alberta Legislature.

Sincerely,

Shane Getson