What Matters to You – Tying-up Loose Ends and Looking Back

When it comes to tying up loose ends and looking back on what has been accomplished thus far, I’m full steam ahead with bringing my major projects to a state where I can let them go on their own in good faith for the next couple of months.

The Economic Corridor

This file is in decent shape, and there are department leads in place and one heck of a Deputy Minister to ensure we don’t lose any momentum there. We managed to get all three prairie provinces to sign an agreement to develop and designate Economic Corridors of mutual interest. This means that we just obtained access to Hudson Bay and are making plans to align our rails, roads, right of ways, transmission lines, communications, and pipelines for years to come; the positive ramifications of this are huge. We are aligning our policies and infrastructure as it relates to economic corridors. Read more about the Memorandum of Understanding here.

The Career Education Task Force

I managed to wrap up the Career Education Task Force, and the Minister of Education formally announced this week that she is immediately implementing 5 of the 21 recommendations. This will ensure that our kids can get onto their chosen path much quicker and that post-secondary institutions and future employers will receive a motivated and enthusiastic crop of young adults that will positively light up the future. Read more about this project here.

Critical Files

I’ve instructed my staff to ensure that any critical files that we have in the office that need my attention get wrapped up this next week and that we ensure, if and or when the election is called, that we don’t stop working on getting people the help they need.
I won’t be in the office and may not have the MLA title, but that does not mean my staff will stop. We may be a skeleton crew here, but what matters to you most will be taken care of. I don’t want the next MLA to be starting from scratch like I had to four years ago. If needed, I’ll ensure a smooth transition and that outstanding files won’t be left in limbo. One of the least professional things I have ever experienced was having no hand off from the previous MLA. The MLA works for you, and regardless of political stripes or personal feelings, anything less is a massive disservice to our constituents.

My Secret Wish List

If given the chance, I’ll be back to ensure we complete all items on this list:

• I want to have all the western provinces, northern territories, and the adjacent USA states, including Alaska, signed up under an economic corridor agreement.
• I want to ensure we get the healthcare we deserve in our area, which will require some meaningful reform.
• I want to ensure the items brought to light by our career education task force get fully implemented – ensuring our kids can have all the doors opened to them.
• I want to ensure that our rural Alberta advantage is fully realized. I want to ensure we collaborate with our friends, neighbors, and trading partners locally and internationally.
• I want to make sure Alberta’s best interests are always put forward.

Carring for Our Seniors

Over the past few Sundays, I have been spending time at the constituency’s senior homes. I want to understand if there are any outstanding items that I can lend a hand with if they have heard any troubling things on the news, or if they have questions I could address to the best of my ability. The other reason is to seek advice and wisdom. I missed getting together with the seniors over the last few years, and these past few Sundays have been very precious to me. Some of the initiatives that I’ll be looking for help with from the schools, the villages, the counties, and various management associations are:

1. Let’s connect seniors with our youth. Mental health and lack of purpose are two significant issues that they face. I can’t think of many things that will better impact purpose, community and well-being, such as helping some of our seniors out with the little things and having the seniors pass along that sage advice, wisdom, and knowledge to our youth. I’ll hopefully be able to get a few things kicked off that will bear fruit over the next couple of months.
2. A Silver Trail that gets extra TLC from the rest of us to assist in what the seniors need to be able to get out and about in our communities.
3. We need chairs and tables, so our seniors can get outside and enjoy some of the great weather after being inside for the winter.
4. Let’s get some raised gardening beds and flower beds out at our seniors’ lodges. Gardening does wonders for the soul; we all know nothing tastes better than homegrown carrots.

Wrapping-up and Moving Towards A New Beginning

It has been quite the experience getting to know so many people in the area over the last few years; I can confidently put one hand on my heart, the other on the Bible, and look anyone in the eye, knowing full well I did my best to do the best job I could.

My office has done the same thing – we’ve done all we can to ensure we represented and advocated for you.

I left nothing behind when it came to being the voice for folks in my area, regardless of their political preferences, and I have often had a few folks scratching their heads over my questions or my approach.

Sincerely,

Shane Getson