What Matters to You – The Bare Necessities

It’s been a while since I wrote a What Matters to You article. Heck, it was last year already! Ok, my 50-year-old Dad’s humor is coming out, but I want to keep a positive tone for the first article in 2024. I hope everyone had a good Christmas and took advantage of the warm weather for New Year’s.

The danger of thin ice

I was absolutely heartbroken to hear of the accident that took the lives of a young family when they were out on the lake and broke through the ice near the narrows. I was encouraged by the heartfelt outpouring of grief for the friends and family of the folks who lost their lives in this tragic accident. I am also grateful for the folks working on putting some warning measures in place to do what they can to warn others of the dangers. I will follow up with the other local leaders to see how we can mitigate the risk and do all we can to keep folks safe.

The cost of living in U.S.

The time driving not only allowed me to catch up with my family but gave me some time to think. Being down south in the small western towns also gave me time to understand how folks were feeling in the land of the free. Honestly, they are quite happy down there. There are similar pressures, but folks are getting by and doing reasonably well. We ventured into a couple of grocery stores along the trip to replenish supplies and stretch our legs, and my wife and kids all came up with items and were literally gob-smacked by how cheap they were. To be clear, we never went to a big bulk store or warehouse grocery store. These were small-town, small franchise operations at every turn.

Makeup brushes, $2.00 for an item that I was made aware costs $30 to $40 at home. Pork chops, $0.20 per pound. Beef steaks were $6.00, and apples, not a dollar per apple… way, way south of that for prices. A $50 difference in filling up the ” Burb ” fuel tank compared to Lethbridge. We ate out three times in restaurants when everyone ordered what they wanted, no restrictions, a family of 6… not a single restaurant tab exceeded $130.00. The impacts of the carbon tax and inflationary pressures could not have been clearer when I saw how my family was reacting and noticed the substantive difference. Carbon tax and brutal fiscal policy driving inflation have a massive impact!

The trip made me realize how many things have changed in my own country over the last ten years, and heading across the western states made me feel like I had not just been driving down the highway in an old vehicle but literally back in time to how things used to be here. I can say for sure that in Alberta and Saskatchewan, we are doing what we can to hold onto the things that matter most and to make sure that folks that call our provinces home will continue to be in the best parts of the country, but, boy, it was one heck of a sickening feeling realizing how far things have slipped, from what we used to have.

The cold snap and plans for the new year

I spoke to several seniors recently about what I had been working on, what the plan was for the new year, goals and objectives locally, and what I wanted to work on provincially. I was uplifted again by the conversation, the candor, and the words of encouragement. I was very straightforward on the issues with our electrical supply and the overall affordability and warned of the issues if we were to keep on the same trajectory. The energy file, how we needed to promote the good things we do here and continue to grow that sector. The economic corridors and how they will positively impact both locally and Western Canada. What the APP could mean for Albertans, where we are at in the process, and how the feds are now crunching their numbers. I will continue to debunk the boogeyman, and I need their help to keep me in the loop when challenges arise so I can help out.

Then the cold snap hit, and for the first time in our history as a province, we needed to put out an emergency alert for folks to reduce power loads so that we didn’t face blackouts. The energy superpower of the country didn’t have enough power for its citizens when they needed it the most. The years of policy driven by ideology rather than practicality finally came to rest in this wake-up call. I, like many, was fuming as we did our part, sitting in the dark so that the bare necessities were available and we didn’t have any blackouts or brownouts in other parts of the province. As I sat there fuming, knowing full well that it was politics, not engineering, that changed the policy, it crystallized my approach going forward on a number of the areas that must be changed in rapid succession within the province.

I won’t be sugarcoating much this year: we have already compromised and apologized too much for who we are, what we have, how we make things work in our province, and how we have found ourselves in this spot. We will get back to ensuring the needs are covered, safe, reliable, and affordable. I am tired of drama teachers and environmental protesters setting the course regarding acceptable energy by their standards.

Final Thoughts

This weekend showed full well that Mother Nature does not give two shakes about feelings and that it’s up to us to be resilient and adaptable to whatever may come our way. I, along with my colleagues, will be throwing our shoulders full-on into making the changes required and won’t be apologizing for doing what is right and what is needed. This weekend should be remembered as a warning shot, and we have a chance to make it right. For the fairy tale and pixie dust crowd who want to keep pushing down this greener than though path with disregard for the risks, you may want to find a pile of hurt-feeling reports to start filling out.
Happy New Year!

Sincerely,

Shane Getson