It is what it is…

By Marc Chayer

Alberta!

In the past, had you said the name of this province, you would have heard a chorus of perceptions of what other Canadians thought we were about.

However, with that in mind, the name Alberta now stands for something unique to this province.

In the past five years, this province has seen both natural and economic disasters take hold. Varying in timing and strength, the people within this province have often found themselves in a position where a “rebuild” was required.

In Calgary, with the floods and the Stampede just around the corner, we heard them say, “Come Hell or high water, we will be ready!” When Slave Lake, decimated by wildfire, we again found that Albertans will take a look at a situation, then roll up their sleeves and begin rebuilding.

We thrive on the challenge!

Alberta has reminded the rest of the country just what it takes to be a Western powerhouse. We, as a people, don’t look to welfare for help. In cases like the Fort Mac Fire, we find that government is usually three steps behind a couple of Alberta rednecks who fill the tidy tank with fuel then go charging into an inferno to deliver gasoline to stranded folks just trying to get out.

I have written in the past that, in my mind, one of the places you are safest in this province is on a backroad in the oil patch. Rarely is the time that I have ever felt “alone” on the roads. If you end up in a ditch, very few minutes will pass before a crew truck full of rig workers will stop and before you know what hits you, you are out and on the road again. Alberta is like that!

Hold a fundraiser for families affected by a disaster, and a beat up pickup truck will pull up loaded front and back with clothes and gifts for kids put together with care by a grandmother who makes sure that people know someone out there cares for them. Alberta is like that!

Watch as companies from across the province mobilize trucks, equipment, and talent to get someplace to help a community dig itself out or to bring in desperately needed equipment. Drivers will climb down out of the trucks with a tired smile and a smoke hanging from their lips. When thanked, they will say, “Ah, it’s no big deal!” Alberta is like that!

The people in this province come from a long history of struggle and determination. Settlers tamed the west and cleared the land. They harvested the forests by hand, plowed the fields without modern tractors, and they drilled for oil with a process so rudimentary that today we would think they were crazy… that is until something comes at us and our people. Then we find the heritage in all of us and get a little crazy ourselves. On comes the charge of fellow citizens and neighbours looking to help in any way they can.

Alberta, Canada

After the past week or so, I would again challenge you to ask other Canadians what they think Alberta is, and if the answer you get is not that this is the most resilient place on Earth populated by the toughest and most resourceful people you have even met, then the person you are asking has been living in a cave.

#albertaproud

It is what it is…