Ralph Klein, Alberta’s 12th premier, has passed away at the age of 70, in the Calgary care home where he’s lived for nearly two years.
Once a very public figure, Ralph Klein disappeared from the spotlight after he was diagnosed with serious illnesses, one of which essentially took his ability to speak.
His failing health came after decades of engaging with Calgarians, and then Albertans – first as a broadcast journalist at CFCN TV and radio between 1969 and 1980.
After becoming that station’s senior civic affairs reporter and covering municipal politics in Calgary, Klein decided to take a political turn and run for mayor.
He was elected to his first term as Mayor of Calgary on October 15, 1980, and received overwhelming support in re-elections in 1983 and 1986.
He played a major role in a number of developments in his time in office; some of those highlights from his work in Calgary’s City Hall include introducing the city’s light rail transit system, and helping to bring the 1988 Winter Olympics to Calgary.
In March, 1989, Klein moved into provincial politics when he was elected as the Progressive Conservative MLA for Calgary-Elbow, and was named Environment Minister a short time later.
In 1992, he was elected by his party to replace retiring Premier Don Getty – and was sworn in as the province’s 12th premier on December 14 of that year.
A Klein-led Progressive Conservative Party was elected to govern Alberta again in the next general election in June 1993 – the first of many elections he won.
Immediately after becoming premier, Klein went into debt and deficit control, and his measures –slashing wages, cutting down the public service, eliminating pensions for MLAs and making cuts to education and healthcare resulted in Alberta becoming Canada’s first province without debt.
After fourteen years as premier, he retired on December 2, 2006.
Regardless of his popularity throughout his political career – he was a polarizing figure, and a number of his greatest successes went hand-in-hand with controversy.
As mayor of Calgary, he made national headlines when he blamed his city’s crime rate on “eastern creeps and bums”, the controversial remark increased his popularity in the west, but struck a chord in the east.
Klein was also known for imbibing at times – but an incident at an Edmonton homeless shelter, where he allegedly threw money at some of the homeless in the lobby, forced the premier to make the public admission that he had a drinking problem.
Some of the measures he implemented brought on vocal opposition from his critics – his cuts to health and education were loudly protested by Albertans working in those fields and their supporters – and in one incident in 2003; he was pied while hosting a pancake breakfast.
Despite his opposition, the author of ‘King Ralph’ said his connection to Albertans was strong.
“I think Albertans really bonded to Ralph Klein, he made a lot of mistakes, but he was a guy they could relate to,” Don Martin said. “Someone they could have a beer with and say ‘Yup, I had a drink with the premier and he’s just like one of us’.
“That was always his magic, both as mayor of Calgary and as the premier of the province.”
His years of public service earned him high-profile awards and accolades, in October 2010, he was given the province’s highest honour when he was named to Alberta’s Order of Excellence.
Then, in November 2012, he was recognized by the nation – when the Governor General made a special trip to Calgary to name Klein an Officer of the Order of Canada.
Unfortunately, he was not able to accept one of Canada’s highest honours in person, his wife Colleen received the honour in his stead – his health had already deteriorated and he had backed away from the public spotlight.
In September 2011, he was hospitalized in Calgary, before being moved to a long-term care facility the next month – his diagnosis: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and a rare form of dementia that affects speech, one of the things that helped Klein make an indelible mark on Alberta.
“That will be his legacy, in a political world where there’s far too many robotic people that recite scripts,” Martin said. “Ralph Klein was a unique force and a personality, and we’re going to miss him terribly.”
His quick wit made him a memorable politician and a polarizing figure for many, and even years after he left politics, Klein is still referred to by many simply as ‘Ralph’.
