What Matters to You – Be a Builder

Peter Was A Builder

The Honorable Mr. Peter Trynchy passed away recently at the age of 91. He had served eight consecutive terms in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, held several ministries, and was on numerous committees. He was on the town council for six years and many local not-for-profit organizations. Always busy, always helping.

It was said at his funeral by more than one speaker he was one heck of a ball player too, and he had inspired many to take part in the game and get involved in their community. 

Above all, he was a family man. His family had to share him and their time with him with the rest of us for many years.

It was also said that Mr. Trynchy was never given the credit he deserved for his part over the years, being part of the original Lougheed caucus that put so many things in place to allow for the wheels of progress to move forward for our province. The thing that I took away from all of the speeches was the validation of what one of our local councillors said who had known Mr. Trynchy over the years, “Peter was a builder!”

Alberta’s Legislature

Our province and country are young! What we have for history and what has been spoken was mostly recorded in that house. Since the early 1970’s, Hansard, as it’s called, has been recording every word spoken. In addition, it has been for some time now, all recorded on video and live broadcasts. I stalled off for a while before making my maiden speech to give myself time to get a feel as it were of those who represented our area before me.

The Fight for Much Needed Infrastructure

The constituents of our area have chosen some strong and passionate people to represent them over the years. Some of them made it to be Ministers and even long-standing Speaker of the house. It is always interesting to hear our current speaker reference Speaker Kowalski on a ruling from days gone by to allow him to make a ruling of his own. What struck me from the reading of the speeches of past MLAs was that of a pervasive theme. Bringing attention to the house, the need not for a handout but to recognize that given the tools for the job, not only would our corner of the province survive, it would thrive and be part of an economic engine for years to come!

Back in the day, rural electrification was a pressing issue, as was getting in the phone lines. We still see some of that today, but now the push is more to close the gap between the Digital Divide and cell phone coverage. The same arguments for another much-needed utility and the infrastructure that drives it. Widening and paving roads, twinning highways, and allowing for the connection between regions to grow the economy in a safe and sustainable manner, the regulations required to allow for the natural gas distribution to heat many of our homes and businesses. Recognition of the valuable contribution of our agriculture sector, irrigation, rail service, terminals, and responsible resource development. The need to mine coal responsibly to provide the much-needed electricity for our province.

Right Infrastructure or Logistics Readiness?

We have a ton of backbone when it comes to infrastructure, but most of it was designed to move trade and commerce from the North down to the South and, for the most part, hug our southern border. We have experienced a significant logistics impact on our supply chain because of this.

1. Firstly: it was forecasted for years, and now it’s on top of us. I believe the mayor of Vancouver had stated it succinctly, they had planned for years for “Just in Time Service,” and when the storms hit and cut off one of their main highways, the need shifted to a “Just in Case” model. We have choke points and overuse on old corridors, in some cases with limited growth potential.
2. Secondly: if you don’t have the corridors to connect regions, and if you don’t grow your Northern ports, we will miss out on the next biggest boom in history. Simply put, we are in the right place and the right time to become the solution to so many of the world’s food, energy, security, supply challenges, and logistics challenges.

To do this, we must re-look at how we have done things within our province. We need to be more self-reliant and produce refined, near-finished, or market-ready products again. We need to be able to feed ourselves, be self-reliant, define our key infrastructure needs, and make sure we don’t lose what we already have. We need to connect regions in the North to one another, create a regulatory environment where the rules are known for the development and have anchor tenants defined in the Economic Corridors.

We need to collaborate with our own Albertans, but moreover, we must ensure that we collaborate and work together with our provincial and territorial neighbours, and we all flourish when our access to tidewater is achieved.

It meant a lot to me at Mr. Trynchy’s service to be able to speak not only at the front of the room but to folks for a few hours afterwards, like the gent who challenged me on what I had been up to, too. When I explained that our area was key not only on the Yellowhead Corridor that gets us into Prince Rupert but an inland terminal for the many cars heading North or East into Churchill, I believe he had seen what I did. Several generations of sustainable growth. I was humbled to receive words of encouragement from Mr. Trynchy’s family and his former colleagues that I was on the right track. As a Major Projects guy, I’ve been a builder my whole life.

I’m very happy to know that our new Premier is a builder too, and the new ministry created that I’m the parliamentary secretary. I have been directed to collaborate with the new minister for Transportation and Economic Corridors. The Premier is forward-looking and bringing forward legislation that will give us the tools to remove the blockages, traps, or debris that could be thrown our way. Others are not builders who want us to fight one another rather than work together. I’m all for speaking softly and carrying a big stick, but we must have that big stick! The days of appeasement are over. It’s not working!   Over the years, and most noticeably in recent history, the federal government, since 2015, has been targeting Alberta and Saskatchewan.

Bill 1 gives us a stick to shake when we need it and gives a wrap on the knuckles when required so that the Federal Government respects our rights and authorities granted by our constitution as the province of Alberta in our country of Canada. Leaders like Premier Lougheed and his ministers like Mr. Trynchy worked way too hard to set us up for success, for us now as members of the Legislative Assembly to let the advantages they gave us be taken away by the P.M. of the present. Bill 1 adds clarity and puts on notice that Alberta is part of the country. We understand our rights and authorities and will no longer put up with the antics, behaviors, or poor policy that contravenes the constitution and negatively impacts our province’s people. We need to let the business community have a stable regularity and predictable, growth-oriented environment.

We have a province and a region to build, so let’s work together, be “CANadian”s again, and leave the “Can’t Nadians” in the dust.

Sincerely,

Shane Getson