Shredding the Public Interest: Ralph Klein and 25 Years of One-Party Government

"When our new administration took over a year and a half ago...we saw uncontrolled spending," claimed Alberta Premier Ralph Klein in June, 1994. In fact, Alberta had the tightest controls on spending in Canada throughout the very period when the Klein government has claimed costs were soaring out of control. We are, says Taft, victims of politically induced amnesia and politically reconstructed history. Under Ralph Klein's government, public programs in Alberta—including health care—have become the most poorly supported in Canada. At the same time, the Alberta government has spent more on subsidies to the private sector than has any other province. Shredding the Public Interest delivers a brisk and highly readable critique of Alberta's creation and elimination of its deficit over the past quarter century.

Table of Contents:
Introduction; Building Trust; Shredding the Evidence; The Getty Cuts; The Klein Cuts: Where Albertans Stand NOW; The Leaky Report; Private-Sector Subsidies in Free-Enterprise Alberta; The Alberta Advantage Up Close; Pulling the Wool; The Spin Doctors; The Parable of 'Al & Berta': Telling Stories in Politics; The Special Case of Health Care; The Acid Test.

About the Author :
Kevin Taft never thought he'd be a politician. A public policy analyst and head of his own Edmonton-based consulting company, Kevin's life took a sharp turn when he returned to Alberta in 1994 after a year away studying for a business degree. "Alberta had changed," he recalls. "The government was gutting our health care system without a plan, throwing people's lives into chaos." Kevin watched in growing dismay as the government took aim at education and other public services Albertans had carefully built over many years. In 1997, Kevin wrote Shredding the Public Interest, a national bestseller which confirmed many Albertans' concerns about the PCs. Clear Answers, a second bestseller in 2000, co-authored by Gillian Steward, exploded the myths of private, for-profit health care. Kevin stepped into public life in 2001, handily winning his Edmonton Riverview seat in the provincial election. In 2004, he was elected Leader of the Alberta Liberals and of the Loyal Opposition in the Alberta Legislature. In 2007 his third book was published, Democracy Derailed, and in 2012 his fourth book, Follow the Money, which he co-authored with Mel McMillan and Junaid Jahangir. Both books continue Kevin's critical analysis of Alberta politics and public policy. Kevin stepped down from the Legislature when he chose not to run in the 2012 election. He continues to live and write in Edmonton.

Review :
"When the [Parkland] institute opened, it immediately raised the ire of the provincial government with the release of a book by Kevin Taft, now leader of Alberta's opposition Liberals, entitled Shredding the Public Interest..." Richard Cairney, University of Alberta ExpressNews