What Matters to You – Trolls, Moose Ticks and Spring

I know the topic headline is a little strange, well stranger than usual, but a few things that became clear over the last while have helped me in conversations and put things in perspective.

Thank you, God, for trolls! But…

Trolls are not the most favourable mythical characters out there. They conjure up mental imagery of nasty beings living in dark places, unhappy with others’ existence, and have not had the ability or the fortitude to change their state. Instead, they gather with other trolls and squabble among each other until there is someone or something else on which they can take out their hostility. Misery, indeed, loves company. I now see why they call folks that exhibit this kind of behavior on social media Trolls.

Many may not know it, but I have some outstanding office staff! They work their backsides off helping folks that need it every day. They literally do everything they can to make someone else life better. They also take on the burden of sadness when things do not move as fast or turn out as well as they would have hoped.

We are all fortunate to have them.

My staff can also not engage on social media other than posting an article or items I’ve asked them to do. They are some of the hardest-working and most conscientious people I’ve met in my time as an MLA.

So… when I hear of a small group of local folks taking a run at my staff’s integrity or their commitment to our community, I absolutely take exception to that type of behavior. My staff are at an extreme disadvantage and are unable to respond directly. They have to turn the other cheek, as it were. If you can’t change your nature, I would ask those who want to cast stones, act like trolls, and direct your attention at me. I have no problem responding and dealing with you directly; ironically, many of you already have my cell phone number. You have never been shy about using it in the past, so please, let my staff do what they need to do in peace because you are only tearing down good folks trying their best to help others.

One tick too many!

When I was about 13, it was late spring, ponds and rivers were still frozen over, snow on the ground, we were still feeding the cows in the pens, and we were just wrapping up the calving season.
Out checking the cows, I came across a young moose trying to jump into the water trough and trying to stay in amongst the cows for the feed. The young moose looked sick and skinny, acting funny, and had one terrible-looking coat, all blotchy. We called Fish and Wildlife; they said there wasn’t much we could do and to let nature take its course. The moose was probably trying to get into the water to drown the tics feeding from it. They had similar calls, but we were prohibited from treating the animal. We had to let nature take its course.
The moose died a few days later, which was heartbreaking. The animal didn’t deserve to die that way, killed by parasites. It died in the corrals, and it was up to me to burn it, making sure that the cows didn’t come into contact with it. Diesel fuel and a tiger torch… I know cowboys aren’t supposed to cry, but I wept, sadness, frustration and anger all combined, thinking of how that poor animal had suffered.

That memory came back to me recently in the wake of the harmful effects the NDP / Liberals have had both Nationally and Provincially since 2015. I can’t rationalize why the Alberta NDP still supports it.

It wasn’t one tic that brought that moose down; it was thousands. The culmination of radical social justice, eco-utopianism, a “self-balancing budget”, defunding the police, and anti-freedom fear-mongering have indeed taken their toll. Taxing people to change the weather, breaking people financially to punish them for not buying into the ideology in the process… it should be criminal.

It’s all too clear now: we have more power than the Liberal ticks!

I am hopeful, however, that even though the Liberals’ cruel April Fool’s Day joke has taken another swing at all of us by increasing the carbon tax another 23%, spring is just around the corner.
I believe that with 70% of Canada’s Premiers pushing back and voters nationwide who are seeing these hypocritical policies for the lunacy that they genuinely are.

Although our country is in a weakened state like that young moose I encountered in my youth, we can intervene, and people across the country see things for what they are!

I believe that they are indeed tired of the “Whack a Do Woke”, eco extremist socialist policies. Spring is right around the corner, open water and the ability to shed ourselves of these parasitic policies.

Sincerely,

Shane Getson

digital art Powered by DALL·E 3