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

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University of Alberta, 1997 - Biography & Autobiography - 129 pages
Alberta had the tightest controls on spending in Canada during the very period when the Klein government has claimed costs were soaring out of control. Now, public programs in Alberta-including health care-have become the most poorly supported in Canada. (6 weeks on the Financial Post national best-seller list!)
 

Contents

Building Trust
5
Shredding the Evidence
11
Where Albertans Stand Now
25
The Leaky Report
33
PrivateSector Subsidies in FreeEnterprise
41
The Alberta Advantage Up Close
51
Pulling the Wool
61
The Spin Doctors
73
Telling Stories
81
The Special Case of Health Care
93
The Acid Test
107
Copyright

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About the author (1997)

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. He was elected Leader of the Alberta Liberals and Official Opposition three years later.

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