On Sat, 10 Dec 1994, Doug Henwood wrote:
> .. 2) by the Calgary-based business writer George Koch, called "Canada's
> Newt: How Alberta's premier aims to cut government spending." It
> celebrates the budget cutting led by Ralph Klein, who is prortrayed in an
> accompanying cartoon as holding an ax. Government spending is being cut
> by 20% in nominal terms, and the aim is to cut the provincial
> government's spending from 18.3% of provincial product to 14.3% by 1997.
> According to Koch, Klein is quite popular, with an approval rating of 61%.
>
> Any comments?
>
I am not at all sure why Ralph Klein gets so much approval. I know people
in Alberta who complain bitterly about what he has done to social
programs and I know the federal government is not happy with the fact
that he has opened clinics for health care which actually charge some
fees. Yet, from what I can gather, the polls are accurate - he has
engendered the most hatred and the most loved response form different
groups of people. Alberta has th elowest tax rates in all of Canada and
has the most resources of any province in Canada, yet the people there
seem relieved to get rid of debt - they were also the last province to go
into debt (BC was about the same time). Maybe it is a mind set but I can
assure you that the ROC (Rest of Canada) does not think along the same
lines. If there is to be separation in Canada's future, I see it as being
more feasible for Alberta to go than for Quebec (having lived in Alberta
three years.
