I am sorry that your father is as unwell as he is. It is no small thing you and your family is going through, I know.

You should defend your father but not to the point of losing sight of reality. Many of his choices as premier were destructive and still being felt today. That is the truth. Perhaps you will one day see that if you allow time to heal some wounds and hurts of today.

As Dave mentioned, the cuts to Post Secondary funding during his term were directly responsible for a massive increase in tuition rates in the 1990s, early 2000s. Students prior to Klein could reasonably expect to make up their year’s tuition and living expenses working summer positions – a luxury not available to most PSE students today. Our province’s problems with hospital wait times can be traced to health care cuts he made – compare the number of doctors and nurses practicing in this province to what most other western countries have. As for balancing the budget, he did it during one of the largest oil booms in recent memory – so lets not get carried away saying he balanced the books all on his own. When the ledgers WERE fixed, rather than take on the deferred infrastructure maintenance, hire more nurses/doctors, open more hospital beds – we got “ralphbucks” – a policy derided by almost every economist I’ve come across. Finally, his public defence of Augusto Pinochet on the floor of the legislature showed a shocking lack of judgement.

As I said, remember Klein for who he was – the good, and the bad. Recognize that not every decision he made was the right one, and that we are still in many ways suffering the after effects of his term in office. I feel for him and his family battling this disease, but rewriting history though rose coloured lenses should be avoided.

Of course, one can argue that craven university presidents, municipal leaders, and health officials who give bribes, tell lies about how well their institutions are performing to comfort the governing party, look the other way, etc. are equally to blame as Klein and his successors for the sorry ethical state of public institutions and public debate in Alberta. But until there is change at the top there won’t be much change at the lower levels. The public officials at the lower levels persuade themselves that they are protecting their clientele from persecution by the provincial Tories that would surely follow failure to buckle under. That mindset is very hard to change especially since those who have that mindset are extremely well paid and have high social status.

Frankly, those who argue in favour of Klein’s “achievements” are largely buying the statements of sycophants dependent on provincial financing, some of whom in private reiterate the critiques of those who view the “Klein revolution” as a financially unnecessary fraud that has created long-term problems on every front. And the beat goes on!