Ralph Klein, who led the province from 1992 to 2006, died Friday at the age of 70.
And whether you thought of him as King Ralph, or simply Uncle Ralph, the mark he left on this province is indelible.
Klein has been in failing health since he left politics seven years ago, suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder, aphasia and frontotemporal dementia — a progressive disease that limited his speech and mobility.
Elected at the height of one of the province’s worst recessions, Klein, who cut his teeth as a TV reporter in Calgary before assuming the mayor’s seat from 1980 to 1989, did something few politicians can lay claim to.
He told the truth and did what he said he was going to do. Love him or hate him, or the decisions he made, Klein, at least in our opinion, will always be regarded as a man who followed through on his word.
Whereas former premier Peter Lougheed, who passed away last September, was considered a statesman who helped Alberta develop into an economic powerhouse throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Klein will be always be viewed more as just a rank and file Albertan — Uncle Ralph, if you will. He liked to drink and smoke. And no one will forget his infamous midnight visit in December 2001 to the Herb Jamieson Centre in Edmonton, where he called some residents bums and yelled at them to get jobs.
“While Ralph had opponents, he made few personal enemies. To me, he wasn’t King Ralph, as some described him. Instead, during a colourful political career he remained Citizen Ralph — a man equally at home in the Petroleum Club as he was in the St. Louis Hotel. A man who said what he believed and did what he said,” recalled Prime Minister Stephen Harper in a release.
Of course we cannot forget Klein was the man responsible for cuts of 17.6 per cent to the budgets of Alberta’s hospitals in 1994, forcing the layoffs of thousands of nurses and salary cuts to those who stayed — critics say health care has never recovered.
Regardless, Klein believed in a strong Alberta with a balanced budget and made no apologizes for that fact. We offer our heartfelt condolences to the Klein family.
