While government MLAs were recently scurrying into the assembly for the start of question period, a Wildrose MLA was doing her best to get their attention.
Stopping a few members on the way in, Airdrie MLA Angela Pitt handed them a sheet of paper containing information about a problem intersection in her riding. She smiled and let them get on their way.
“There were a lot of jokes, everyone wanted me to come on in, and join their team,” joked Pitt, who proudly says she was even able to get her proposed intersection fix into the hands of Transportation Minister Brian Mason.
“I told the minister I’ll go left with him one time together, and maybe buy him lunch.”
Pitt is trying to get a left turn constructed at a busy Airdrie intersection.
The issue has been an irritant in her constituency for years.
“We call it Boston Pizza corner,” said Pitt, who explains the only way to make a left turn off the highway is through a meandering path past the Co-op store and Tim Horton’s drive-thru line.
“It defies logic, it’s an easy fix.”
Manoeuvering a left-hand turn around “Boston Pizza ” corner is one thing, but finding her way around the complex political system is another.
“I think I’m learning how to work the system,” said Pitt, who admits the last year since winning her riding has come with a very steep learning curve.
A day before Pitt handed out her proposal, she asked Mason about the contentious Airdrie corner during the legislature question period. But Mason wasn’t prepared for the question, and according to him he gave Pitt a standard “I’ll-look-into-it” response.
“I think the most effective MLAs work with their local government and they don’t spring surprises on ministers during question period,” said Mason, who knows a thing or two about life as an opposition MLA. “There are ways to do it, but I don’t think Mrs. Pitt’s approach is the best.”
Mason spent 15 years in opposition, before an upset victory by the Alberta NDP vaulted him into government and cabinet.
Mason said he goes out of his way to make time for any MLA who wants to meet with him about a local issue. He cited an example where he was able to get repairs for a dilapidated wastewater system for the town of Nanton after it was raised by Livingstone-Macleod Wildrose MLA Pat Stier.
“I was able to go directly down to Nanton and present the mayor with a cheque to build a new one,” said Mason. “And you know, we’re pretty good friends now.
“I’ve always been good at being a feisty MLA in opposition,” said Mason, adding he learned the best way to get results is with public advocacy, private lobbying and relationship building.
“You have to learn to get along with people who disagree with you.”
Pitt, who is the shadow minister for Human Services, recently raised an issue in the house regarding a young woman with cerebral palsy.
The 19-year-old quadriplegic is in need of government assistance, and Pitt raised her case to Human Services Minister Irfan Sabir. It’s a subject area that was once almost the exclusive domain of the NDP when they were in opposition.
Pitt says raising those kinds of issues is particularly satisfying for her, although she understands that government can easily overlook specific individual cases.
“These are some things that need to be highlighted,” she said. “And it’s really great when the government goes ‘Oh ya, wait, I’m gonna look into this, I’m gonna take care of that.’ And that’s really important. And then when they don’t, we’re going to bring that to their attention as well.”
The MLA has been challenged in ways she never expected. She recalled one incident during a ceremony in the rotunda of the legislature on International Women’s Day.
During a program that was clearly being rearranged on the fly, a flustered Speaker, Bob Wanner, tried to introduce Pitt, but tripped over her name, calling her something that rhymed with Pitt but is slang for a female body part.
Pitt corrected the Speaker and carried on.
“I thought, ‘Are you kidding me? It’s been a year man’,” laughs Pitt, who took the slip up in stride.
“I would be alright if everyone wore name tags. That would certainly be helpful, but, you know what, it happens, we move on.”