ralph klein is alberta’s sad story.

It’s easy to say now that the cutting was too much, but let’s consider the situation we would be in if Ralph had not made those cuts. One of the reasons Canada is in a good position now is because we have a relatively low debt postion. Ralph Klein was the leader among provinces when it came to reducing debt and gave other provinces and the federal government some political cover to get their fiscal houses in order. I think we would have a greater infrastructure deficit now, if we were still spending a large portion of our income on debt servicing.

Trevor:

Every incidence of dementia in any of its forms is a tragedy and I don’t think anyone would argue that Klein’s case is an exception. However, I also don’t think that his suffering makes any critical evaluation of his performance as Premier obnoxious by default, which you seem to be (very righteously) suggesting.

What it does do is suggest an obligation to write with sensitivity to his condition, which I think Dave has largely done.

I think Dave hit the nail on the head. Sure he inherited the government after Getty’s government had run us into severe debt from infrastructure spending (the edifice complex) and Klein did eliminate the debt on the backs on public servants, but as pointed out in Mark Leisac’s book, Klein never had a vision. After paying off the debt, he simply sold our province to the Oil Companies and Utility companies to allow them to make record profits and have us pick up the tab for their expansion. His leadership style was listen to what his corporate and cabinet friends told him, then hurry out front. It is unfortunate his health has failed him, not unlike he failed Albertans.

Yes, it’s amazing how much damage a single man could cause, especially without massive electoral support to bolster him and gigantic opposition caucuses opposing his every move. In particular, think how bad it could have been had Albertans not been so thoroughly disgusted at Ralph they embraced the Liberal alternative wholeheartedly at the ballot box.

Ass.

Thanks for this, Dave. We need to take a more balanced view of our politicians and your willingness to show another side to the Ralph Klein story is appreciated. We will have better long term planning and more success when we listen to all sides in our political debates, instead of jumping on the bandwagon. Albertans are ultimately to blame for letting the Klein government get away with the short term thinking that now jeopardizes our long term success. It’s not Klein personally that I object to, but what he represents–the triumph of hero worship over substance. I hope we can learn to listen to reasonable arguments no matter which side they’re coming from, instead of getting distracted by the most popular. or most colourful personalities.

Great article, Dave.

Alex, as to your comment: “I suppose transforming Alberta into the economic engine of the country through resource development and fiscal conservative policies is not an accomplishment even worth mentioning for a left-winger such as yourself Dave?”…. it wasn’t Ralph Klein who did that, it’s the fact that there are massive amounts of oil in the ground that happen to be within the borders of Alberta. Anyone could have been Premier and benefitted from that resource wealth.

Dave has presented a fair assessment of Klein’s tenure. As some other comments have noted, Klein didn’t have a plan. It’s like the province was on auto-pilot and kept crashing into things. Yes, there were certainly some good things that happened, but what was squandered is quite significant.

Thanks for the post Dave. Very well done.

Some people ask me if I am too young to be a Trustee on the EPSB. Some people are concerned that, at 29, I might not understand the history of education in AB and especially the changes that took place in the 90s. I tell those people that I actually lived those changes in the classroom. I experienced the loss of many opportunities in school: the loss of swimming lessons, the loss of educational field trips, the loss of drama productions and classes, the loss of art supplies, the stress of my teachers, and the stress of my parents. I was very fortunate to have parents who could offer me some of these experiences in other ways…but there were many who could not. We have many inequalities in our province today and I think that these have been largely caused by the errors made during the Klein era.

I think that those of us who were young during the Klein years have a very real understanding of what the cuts meant on the ground and I appreciate you taking the time to write about it and share your sad story.

Heather

God, is this blog filled with limp wristed millies and poofters. Klein was a mans man. told things as they were before the limpies emasculated him after telling a bunch of you lazy Edmonchuckers to go to work, grow up you carpetbaggers and find a job, move from mommas basement, go to the EEEEVIL TARRRRRSands and get a job, you’ll make a great living and stop your whineing. These comments you twits post, sound like a Cosmo thread, Klein got things done when they needed to be done, he got it done by not staring at a belly button ring and a nosering.thinking about the colors and placing like you wimps.

Ralph’s legacy is an infrastructure deficit we are still struggling to pay for. Walk through any hospital or school; look at the walls, the plumbing, the HVAC system, and note the disrepair in many public building. That is a legacy from the deep cuts of the mid-90s. As for the province’s vast oil wealth, he doesn’t get any credit for that; millions of years of geological processes do.

It is always sad when someone develops a dementia, but no sadder for him than for any Alberta senior struggling to survive in our high-cost, low-quality, for-profit seniors care system.

Ralph was the first politician who learned that you can still piss off 60% of the electorate and win a majority government in Alberta. Teachers, nurses, public sector workers, and others were thrown to the wolves. While in the short term, Ralph balanced the books, we’re paying for it now. Ralph had no long term vision. He didn’t account for growth, people’s feelings, and he wasn’t a visionary. We used to have teachers who loved their jobs. Ralph changed a devoted public sector into negative anti government employees, and many of those feelings still remain. He affected the current generation of Albertans with his “all about me” attitute that is prevalent with many young Albertans. Ralph may have temporarily balanced the books, but his lack of empathy is really his legacy. The media within Alberta glossed over his drunkeness and very little attention was paid to his drunken rant towards the homeless when he pulled up in front of a shelter in a government vehicle that was driven by his personal driver and called them all bums. He’s not a man deserving of the order of Canada. Many of his friends became very rich during those austerity years and he saved the PC party from election defeat to Decore’s Liberals. That was a huge accomplishment after Getty almost bankrupted the province but his lack of empathy set an example for Albertans that still permeates many of our institutions almost 20 years later.

Dave, this was a difficult topic–well handled. The decision to award Mr Klein an OC should be based on his record as a political leader. I don’t quibble with the fact that he reduced the deficit but it was at too great a cost to our social services, particularly health care, elder care and education.
That said, it would appear that the OC, like many such awards, is based not just on one’s record but also on one’s contribution to the success of the party. It’s a fact of life.

Folks, it does not rake a rocket scientist to take a machete to the budget and deny tax payer education and access to healthcare. Ab taxpayer money was used to train those teachers and dr.’s that left AB when they got axed! So many of you are so ideologically duped and enamourmed by his lack of thought and concience and confuse this for tough leadership. He shifted healthcare, education and infrastructure spending onto future generations and premiers. So what great genius is there in cold, callous, shallow and remoreseless decision making? Any fool can do that, put on a tough talking persona. Only in AB, the bumpkin sheeples idolize this thoughtless schoolyard bully behavior. Give your head a shake folks, he was marginally better than Special Ed and Redfraud.

Dave is certainly right in suggesting that university presidents would not have been sending letters to the newspapers to defend him if he had been the student who submitted a paper filled with plagiarism at my university (Athabasca University). Then, as now–as witnessed by the revelations, which are gradually being rolled out by the CBC, that universities and colleges have felt the need to bribe the Progressive Conservative Party with taxpayers’ money–university presidents felt that partisan and personal considerations, not objective economic need, would determine the level of government funding they receive. So you had three presidents sending absolutely ludicrous notes to the newspapers congratulating Klein on his alleged dedication to life-long learning as a way of trying to change the issue away from that of plagiarism. Athabasca’s decision to exonerate the premier of plagiarism, claiming that he had not ‘formed the intent’ to plagiarize, was so obviously political that it bears little discussion. Here was a premier, a former mayor, and a life-long journalist, and he did not know what constituted plagiarism? Top officers of the university, who would not have had the slightest involvement in decisions about any other student accused of plagiarism, made the decision to exonerate Klein (with the aid of a media company hired to “manage” all public commentary from the university regarding the issue).

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!

Lets not use Klein’s dementia as a reason to rewrite the history books. I have family members suffering from this disease, and I wouldn’t wish it on anyone – but the dementia itself isn’t a valid reason to conveniently forget (and forgive) some of the poor decisions Klien made.

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.

To Lisa Klein

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.

Ralph, was a one of a kind. Did he do everything perfect? No. But, no one ever does. Ralph left a legacy
not only for Calgary, for Alberta, but for Canada as well. Any one who took the time to watch or listen to the Celebration of his life, that was broadcast by CBC, heard from those he worked with in the political arena.
Many of his colleges have been interviewed over the course of the last week. Even those in the opposition, respected him, even though, they may not have always agreed with him or understood why he did things the way he did them, at least not at the time. Ralph would always greet the everyday guy, and was the very same, no matter who he was talking to. He left a legacy that his family can be proud of. Ralph has finished his race, and now because he made his peace with God, Ralph knows that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. Thanks Ralph. Those of us who Christ as our Lord & Saviour will be seeing you very soon. In the meantime, don’t stir up too much trouble in heaven, just kidding.

His era will be a black mark on our history for certain, but where I run into trouble is trying to rank exactly who was the worst premier we’ve had.

I think I would have to put Aberhart as worse than Klein, what with the pseudo-despotic attempts to take control of the newspapers and banks.

I might put Brownlee as worse than Klein, but that would be based only on the Eugenics Board which he had arguable responsibility over, and the handling of depression era protest which does appear to have been mandated over him by R.B. Bennet.

But to essentially transfer the provincial debt to the municipalities, hospitals, and schools, thus spawning a generation of potholes and stopping urban rail in it tracks, creating linups and wait lists at hospitals that we hadn’t seen since the 1930s, the highest tuition inflation probably in the province’s history and almost destroying medical training so that once the hospitals did re-appear we had no personnel to fill them is already a pretty dodgy legacy.

Add to that the macro layer of paying off the debt when interest rates were at their historical lows, and to completely neglect all forms of infrastructure when construction prices were at their lowest as well is one of the most brilliant examples of utterly clueless administration in a Western Country since Harold Wilson.

Dead or alive, a ready contender for worst premier’s legacy ever.

Born in 1983? …you are too young to have really seen it. no offence,I wish I was younger. Social services advocates will not be happy until education is free with an Oxford on every corner, until hospitals are drive throughs and 75% of the people are in the public service sector. A line needed to be drawn and Ralph drew it. I was there and it hurt people, but it was a means to an end. Maybe not genius, but he did something.

It seems even Ralph had a fault or two when in power and leading to his governing our land we call Alberta.

My brother and I sat with Mr. and Mrs. Klein once in Calgary at a sporting event. Ralph told us to call him just that after both my brother and I called them Mr. and Mrs. Ralph was a man of the people, almost Donald Trump (ish) really. You could sit and chat with Ralph, share a cigar, talk politics, racing (as we did that day) or just sit and appreciate the opportunity to meet such a fine Alberta couple, who loved their Province so much they jumped in to public life and did it with with more flare, class and determinedness than most anyone could have.

Ralph was flawed, BUT aren’t we all?

Charlie Brown