Alberta
Getty's
spending
grates on
farmers
RICHARD H E L M

Journal Staff Writer
Stettler
• Amid the bustle of the provincial
summer games, some Stettler far­
mers are beginning to grumble
about reckless spending in Pre­
mier Don Getty's backyard.
Whether it's the $13 million
slated to calm the waters of Buffa­
lo Lake near Getty's hilltop home
• '(ft county money to upgrade a
i dead-end dirt trail between two of
; the premier's cattle pastures, some
• locals are questioning the prioI rities.
t l i A woman who farms with her
I* husband just eight km away says
j people have to wonder when the
; opunty spends a day graveling and
; grading what has historically been
! little more than a horse trail just
\ west of Getty's ranch-style home.
\ In the meantime, she said, other
• narrow and washboard roads in the
• area are going untended.
• Local farmers are particularly
J galled by the amount of government money that's flowing into the
Buffalo Lake revitalization scheme,
and into campground and park fa­
cilities at the lake.
"There's too much money tied up
into that, and yet a farmer can't
even have a decent road to do their
farming duties on," she said.
A 66-year-old retired farmer now
living in Erskine, 12 km down the
road from the Gettys, put it more
bluntly but was just as leery about
being identified as critical of such
an influential neighbor.
] "There's just too much money
spent on foolish things," she said.
; One of Getty's closest neighbors
just shook her head at the roadwork that's going on in the region.
Alberta Transportation recently
offered the county an extra $1 mil­
lion in road grants, about double
the provincial roadway funding the
county had expected to receive.
Part of the money will be devoted
to continued upgrading of second­
ary Highway 601, an east-west cor­
ridor just south of Getty's home
that would serve as a quicker route
; to and from EdmontofL
L

"There's just too much money
spent on foolish things," she said.
One of Getty's closest neighbors
just shook her head at the roadwork that's going on in the region.
Alberta Transportation recently
offered the county an extra $1 mil­
lion in road grants, about double
the provincial roadway funding the
county had expected to receive.
Part of the money will be devoted
to continued upgrading of second­
ary Highway 601, an east-west cor­
ridor just south of Getty's home
that would serve as a quicker route
to and from Edmonton.
• The woman says most local resi­
dents are not inclined to look too
critically at a gift horse that seems
to be bringing more government
grants and services to the riding.
"There's no doubt in my mind
that he'll get elected if he runs
again," she said.
* ^"You're not going to vote against
Santa Claus now are you."
•"Effie Butterwick, a senior living
in Alix, said she doesn't accept the
suggestion that Stettler is receiving
fayored status because it elected a
premier as its M L A .
*"Edmonton and Calgary have
benefited and benefited and bene­
fited. A n d we country people are
Jeft out in the cold. A n d so i f a
fellow moves down to Stettler it's
just too damn bad for those city
people," Butterwick said.
Stettler is only getting its fair
share of projects and government
support, she said.
"I think Stettler feels pretty good
about Don Getty."