Shane Getson is a Canadian politician representing Lac Ste. Anne-Parkland in the

Legislative Assembly of Alberta The Legislative Assembly of Alberta is the deliberative assembly of the province of Alberta, Canada. It sits in the Alberta Legislature Building in Edmonton. Since 2012 the Legislative Assembly has had 87 members, elected first past the post f ...

as a member of the

United Conservative Party The United Conservative Party of Alberta (UCP) is a conservative political party in the province of Alberta, Canada. It was established in July 2017 as a merger between the Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta and the Wildrose Party ...

(UCP). Getson was first elected in the

2019 Alberta general election The 2019 Alberta general election was held on April 16, 2019, to elect 87 members to the 30th Alberta Legislature. In its first general election contest, the Jason Kenney-led United Conservative Party (UCP) won 54.88% of the popular vote and 63 ...

and subsequently re-elected in the 2023 election. Getson currently serves as the Chief Government Whip, and Parliamentary Secretary for Economic Corridor Development.

Personal life and education

Prior to serving with the Legislative Assembly, he owned and operated a consulting company serving the construction and energy sectors with a focus on linear infrastructure. He attended the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT), where he received a diploma in Civil Engineering Technology in 1996. He and his wife have four children. Getson is a private pilot and aircraft owner.

Career

Getson was the 917th Member to be sworn into the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. In September 2021, Getson criticized

Alberta Health Services Alberta Health Services (AHS) is the single Health regions of Canada, health authority for the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta and the "largest integrated provincial health care system" in Canada. Headquartered ...

and their executives for not increasing capacity to handle the fourth wave of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. He said that the policy of vaccine passport was a distraction to keep accountability off of AHS. The timing of his comments was criticized by the opposition

Alberta New Democratic Party The Alberta New Democratic Party (Alberta NDP; ), is social democratic political party in Alberta, Canada. The party sits on the centre-left to left-wing of the political spectrum and is a provincial Alberta affiliate of the federal New Democra ...

as being "ignorant and tone deaf", saying that the governing UCP were responsible for the capacity issues. The comments were also criticized by healthcare workers on social media, which prompted Getson to apologize, stating that he made the comments "in context of the management of the organization, and its processes, not the personnel that operate hesestations". In January 2022, Getson faced criticism and calls by the opposition for his removal from caucus after fellow UCP MLA Grant Hunter attended a

convoy protest The Canada convoy protest, known as the Freedom Convoy (French: ''Convoi de la liberté'') was a series of protests and blockades across Canada in early 2022, initially organized to oppose COVID-19 vaccination in Canada, COVID-19 vaccine man ...

that blockaded the

Sweetgrass–Coutts Border Crossing The Sweetgrass–Coutts Border Crossing connects the town of Sweet Grass, Montana, with the village of Coutts, Alberta, on the Canada–United States border. I-15 on the American side joins Alberta Highway 4 on the Canadian side. Similarly, B ...

, while Getson drove his gravel truck in the local Edmonton protest.

Electoral history

2023 general election

2019 general election

References

United Conservative Party MLAs Living people 1973 births 21st-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta {{Alberta-MLA-stub