Who asked you anyway, GQ?!

God, this picture kills me.  Are these actors?

By now many of you have heard about the article posted in British GQ this month about Fort McMurray.  You can read the whole story here. 

There has been plenty written about this shocking (then again, not really shocking at all) and incomplete portrayal of our community, but frankly, I am not nearly as eloquent a writer as the others who have critiqued it, so I will refrain from imposing my views upon you.  I will, however, say this.  I like it here.  I have family who has lived in Fort McMurray for over 30 years, many cousins born and raised here, my own parents moved here six years ago, my sister lives here (a few doors away from me, actually), and too many close friends to count (with the number growing constantly).   The abundance of high paying jobs inevitably draws a constant influx of new people to town, bringing with them fresh ideas, diverse backgrounds and a dynamic that would be difficult to find anywhere else.  Most of these people are far from home, looking for new friends and wanting to make Fort McMurray their new home, whether it's home for now, or home forever.   We've all come here with a common goal, to better our lives and the lives of our loved ones.  Unfortunately, some people have the misconception that making more money = making a better life.  Sadly, those are the only people that Alex Hannaford managed to spend his short visit with. While there are many young men and women in this city with money to burn getting into trouble on a regular basis, they are not the majority and they certainly do not impact my life in any way.

So, have a look at the article.  Good luck getting through it - it's a little anticlimactic.  The author seems to be very focused on our high paying jobs, cold Canadian weather, remote Northern location, crime, blah, blah, blah.  Same old story.  I think GQ should be regretting this job assignment.  A  lackluster article with no new information and no real point.  They seemingly paid a guy to come all this way to visit a strip club, frequent the seedy local pubs and find out what he could with a very limited time frame and no planned connections.  Basically, it's pointless to feel offended by this article.  It was not written about the Fort McMurray I know.  Surely it is someone's reality, but it is most certainly not mine.  Instead of dwelling on this negative stereotype that so many like to perpetuate, I have chosen to focus on making this city home for myself and my husband, the people I sell homes to and everyone I come into contact with.  One of my main goals for 2012 is to become more active in this dynamic community (more on this another day).  This little blog may not be much, but it's a small step in the direction I'm planning to take in the coming year.