Edmonton humorist looks for real Alberta

Geo Takach's book, much like his understanding of Alberta's true nature, is something other than it seems.

Will the Real Alberta Please Stand Up? is a serious exploration wrapped in a humorist’s essay. You can judge the book by its cover if you want but there’s a lot more going on inside.

The Edmonton author has spent the years since the province's centennial in 2005 asking tough questions like “Where else do people drag out debates on homosexuals' rights while creating one of Canada's first provincial human rights commissions?” The result at first was a television special of the same name that aired in 2009. Now he has compiled all of his extensive — and often hilarious — research into this tome.

In an interview with the St. Albert Gazette, he explained why it was so important for him to tackle the mystery of the Alberta identity. Born in Montréal, he recalled his first impressions of Edmonton and thought that all the rumours were true.

“The first thing I really remember noticing … was Refinery Row and I thought, ‘Oh my God! They were right!' When I got here I found that a lot of these stereotypes [of cowboys and macho rednecks in the Bible belt], while there may be some element of truth to them, were just the tip of the grain elevator as I like to say. The province is more complex and nuanced and sophisticated than these stereotypes portray.”

Armed with only a layman's understanding of history but an insatiable curiosity, he set off to interview the people to get to the heart of the matter. Stopping at nothing, he even put a few questions to Princess Louise Caroline Alberta who has not been among the living for more than 70 years.

And then there's the interview with Albertosaurus, a long extinct dinosaur first discovered along the Red Deer River.

“I'm looking for the heart of Alberta,” he asks the beast.

“Well, if it's a theropod like me, you've come to the right place. These badlands are crawling with us. Of course, we're only a shell of our former selves,” is the response, complete with dinosaur guffaws and foot stomps.

Yes, Takach has an incredible sense of humour, one that must be experienced to be appreciated. That comedic approach was probably the right one to take as it maintains a more open and relaxed atmosphere to the writing. It isn't exclusive territory, just an open parlour for discussion.

“Like Oscar Wilde, I think life is far too important to be taken seriously. I took great pains not to write it as something dry.”

Tomfoolery aside, there's a lot of grade-A meat for discussion, not the least of which is the dichotomy of how we are perceived and who we actually are. It should make its way into social studies classrooms for some healthy debate around a broad base of topics.

He goes on at length about the redneck myth, something he likens to ‘are we mavericks or bighorn sheep?' He then examines our macho veneer despite the fact our province is the only one named after a woman.

Alberta was also the virtual birthplace of feminism in the country, what with the Persons Case of 1929 where the Famous Five (Emily Murphy, Louise McKinney, Irene Parlby, Nellie McClung and Henrietta Muir Edwards – all Albertans) set a Canadian precedent by proving that they were, in fact, people in the eyes of the law.

“This province is a hyperbole. It's an absurdity. You will find the best and the worst of the human condition here. It's a province of extremes: economic extremes, climatic extremes … it's just an amazing, fascinating and frustrating place.”