What Matters to You – How about that?! The signing of a historical MOU!

Alberta’s Dream: Overcome the Landlock

For many years, as it turns out, I have shared a common dream with many of my fellow Albertans, along with all those hardworking folks calling the west part of our country home. That dream was to be able to join our provinces and territories through common links utilizing linear infrastructure to facilitate economic growth. These links would enable the movement of viable, rich resources from one region into another that could further refine those resources or turn them into finished products to fill a need in our country and for our trading partners. In short, these links would make Canada self-sufficient and ensure that we are resilient no matter what the markets throw at us.

The most notable extension of this idea was the Canadian Pacific Railway, which our founding fathers of Confederation used to join our nation together. Then came the Trans-Canada Highway, the Yellowhead Highway, and all the other major rail lines that tied northern provincial routes together. It seems, however, that many of us have lost our way over the years and have become “Can’t Nadians”; we have made it difficult to be able to build our nation, especially in the northwestern parts of our country.
As of earlier this week, I’m very happy to say that that has all changed.

Alberta now has a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)

After putting in three and a half years of effort as a private member, Alberta now has a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed between the prairie provinces for the recognition, enhancement, and development of Economic Corridors, inclusive of collaboration and coordination of linear infrastructure or the corridors in which they reside.

The irony was not lost on those in attendance at the signing that the federally funded national broadcasting corporation didn’t have any questions regarding the nation-building significance of the MOU. Thank goodness the non-taxpayer-funded media outlets took it for what it was: the prairie provinces taking huge steps forward to mitigate the economic impacts of being landlocked, and to grow the Hudson Bay shipping capacity, while utilizing the infrastructure and geographical attributes to move goods and services internationally. It was asked when BC would be signing onto the MOU, and the answer was certainly practical: soon. Those conversations and buy-in from our territorial neighbors will certainly allow this to gain momentum, but having an accelerated work plan for the three provinces that have the most to gain was more important to solidify in a timely manner.

MOU Benefits: What to Expect

When it comes to proof, the ripple effects were huge. Those that are in the know regarding major capital programs and investment in huge infrastructure projects took notice and reached out in a very expeditious manner.

I can’t tell you who I have been speaking with over the last few weeks leading up to the announcement this week or whom I spoke with just this morning regarding a corridor to gain access to the Hudson Bay, but let’s just say that when Wall Street sits up and takes notice, we are well on our way to putting rubber to the road.

They are not just interested in loans, they are looking to acquire assets that are in the order of tens of billions of dollars, and the windfall for our area is going to be massive.

One Step Further

I look forward to sharing these announcements with you in the coming weeks and giving some insight to the real projects and jobs it is going to bring in for several generations.

To say that I am overjoyed seeing the rapid developments once we unlocked the tumblers would be a massive understatement.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to be your MLA so I could make the changes needed to unlock our economic potential and have conversations with other leaders across the prairies to pull together and make this happen.

It’s amazing what we can accomplish when we work together.

Sincerely,

Shane Getson

Other articles on the same subject:

Calgary Herald MOU Coverage

Candian Forests Industries Coverage

Alberta Report Coverage