It was a bizarre statement. But in the recent provincial election the bizarre was simply par for the course most days.
And no, it wasn’t the dreadful comparison of school kids struggling with their sexuality to putting feces in a recipe – a comment that managed to plumb even-lower depths for pure nastiness in an election campaign that reset the boundaries of civility here in Alberta.
The bizarre remark in question came courtesy of NDP leader Rachel Notley, as she tried to entice Conservative voters worried about Danielle Smith to come over to her orange camp. On election day some probably did, but it proved too few to bring the Dippers to power.
“The Alberta of today is not the Alberta of Ralph Klein,” is how the Opposition leader framed it in trying to attract support from longtime Tory faithful.
But unwittingly she touched upon the truth. Because this latest election campaign, with its huge future spending promises from both camps, was as far away from the program Klein ran upon when he first asked for a mandate from Albertans back in 1993.
However, there was one similarity to today: the Tories were shut out of Edmonton completely, but back then it was at the hands of the provincial Liberals, led by the city’s former mayor, Laurence Decore.
Given that Decore had been even more adamant than Klein about the need for spending restraint during that campaign there was subsequently little political opposition to the massive cutbacks Klein and his sidekick, Treasurer Jim Dinning, instigated once in power.
What those public sector union bosses still active today must have thought about Notley’s backhanded compliment to the man everyone once just called Ralph would make interesting reading, though its unlikely they’d dare rock the NDP boat by airing such opinions publicly. But back in the 1990s there was fury and scorn a-plenty as Klein didn’t just slow or freeze provincial spending but, for the only time in Alberta’s recent history, actually reduced it.
Take the health budget for example. Between 1993 and 1995 it was cut from $1,393 to $1,156 per capita as 14,753 positions were either eliminated or had hours reduced.
That was just the start. After setting an example by trimming his own cabinet from 29 to 17 and axing a gold-plated pension plan for MLAs, Klein slashed the civil service and rolled back public service union salaries, cut kindergarten hours, kicked 30,000 people deemed employable off welfare rolls and froze cash transfers to the municipalities. Oh, and to top it off his government would later blow up – literally – Calgary’s only downtown hospital.
And this is the fellow today’s NDP leader is lauding as a more passionate, caring premier than Danielle Smith – a Tory leader who ran on a program of increased spending on virtually everything? How come?
Well, the election had little to do with the programs of the rival two parties; hefty promises and pledges being a daily occurrence from both camps. To sum it up you could take those UCP announcements, add an extra 10 per cent in costs and manpower and – poof – they’d fit nicely in the Dippers’ playbook.
Therefore the most important question was never asked of either leader: what will you do when energy prices collapse. (Because they always do.)
But maybe we already know what their non-answers would be. Smith would pledge not to hike taxes while Notley would promise not to cut services.
OK, but what would they actually do to fix such a budgetary hole? Borrow oodles of money, of course. As for the Ralph Klein solution - don’t be silly. Those days are long gone in Alberta.
Chris Nelson is a syndicated columnist.
