Ralph Klein to be awarded Order of Canada

[jagators63]

After several years of delay, former Premier Ralph Klein will be awarded the Order of Canada, the country’s highest honor.


http://www.globaltvedmonton.com/form...186/story.html

[AAAAE]

What a disgrace to the order.

[Sonic Death Monkey]

They hand out these Order of Canada awards like candy from a Pez dispenser. I fully expect the next appointments to include Terrance and Phillip from South Park.

[Edmcowboy11]

Well they are proving that the Order of Canada is in reality a popularity contest rather than something that is earned for merrit in whatever that person has accomplished. Well maybe they are giving it to Klein because he accomplished to do so many BS things and yet be loved and addored by all his drinking buddies around the province and country.

[whynow99]

Next time he has a medical emergency I hope they rush him to the Holy Cross Hospital, whoops no that hospital is closed......then take him to the Calgary General Hospital....oh crap, I blew that hospital up....ok, just take me to one of the many seniors homes I promised but were never built. I hope klein sufffers as much as all the Seniors his health policies have and still are hurting. Order of Canada.....what an insult to Albertans and Canada.

[KC]

What are you guys talking about! Albertans elected him knowing full well the consequences. Your comments are like shooting the messenger! The fact that years of prior irresponsible boomtime spending on the part of government, corporations AND individuals led Alberta into a fiscally untenable position by the time Klein was elected is no reason go blame him for doing what was popularly demanded of him. Moreover, his government's shakeup, cuts, offloading and downsizing got him re-elected! If we hadn't been so lucky to see a recovery in oil and gas prices, his cuts may have proved to save us from far worse conditions. (And don't think that we can't see a repeat of this whole moronic exercise again - and voting in favour of it and the hacking away of livelihoods, infrastructure and whatever else is perceived as necessary.)

Personally, I lost a great job during his cut backs, took a 25% paycut and then spent time unemployed during his cutbacks. Moreover I lost a great great-aunt who had the misfortune to be hospitalized at the peak of the chaos and cuts hitting the hospitals. Unforgivable as that is, I'm not stupid. We, as society lose loved ones all the time due to stupidity of government policy or lack of it. Klein was dealing with severe problems generated by his predecessors, flawed economic forecasts, a manic-depressive populous feeling depressed and flawed political right-wing dogma. Shortly thereafter the federal Liberals were taking similarly hostile moves to get Canada's fiscal house in order. The Liberals though, were just far 'smoother' at hiding their massive cuts (squeezing seniors, offloading, rigging unemployment insurance, etc.)

[whynow99]

NO....the only reason deKlein got relected is because they redrew the constituency boundary lines before his last election and he still barely won. Then the CONS knives came out and booted him from the CONS party before the next election. He is proof you can run a monkey in Alberta as a conservative and still win. He is a deadbeat in a suit, but because he use to be a reporter he got and gets more free positive press then anyone could afford to pay themselves. I still say, I hope he suffers as much as all the seniors he has and is still causing health problems.

[Dusty Bear]

Originally Posted by whynow99

NO....the only reason deKlein got relected is because they redrew the constituency boundary lines before his last election and he still barely won.

That's some interesting revisionist history. I'm not a fan of the man, but he won with 51% of the vote in his constituency. The second place Liberal had 37%. Province-wide, the PCs slipped in terms of the popular vote and lost 11 seats, but still had 46.8% of the popular vote, compared to 29.4% for the Libs.

Not what I'd consider "barely won."

[Turtle]

Originally Posted by whynow99

Next time he has a medical emergency I hope they rush him to the Holy Cross Hospital, whoops no that hospital is closed......then take him to the Calgary General Hospital....oh crap, I blew that hospital up....ok, just take me to one of the many seniors homes I promised but were never built. I hope klein sufffers as much as all the Seniors his health policies have and still are hurting. Order of Canada.....what an insult to Albertans and Canada.

You win "***** of the Day" comment.

[MrOilers]

Congratulations to Ralph.

It's such a shame that his mental illness (early onset dementia) will more than likely hamper his ability to truly be able to appreciate and remember this occasion.


There are also some real a**holes posting in this thread.

[rockyv]

I don't think he deserves it, regardless of how I feel about the guy (not a fan). His racist slurs against his wife and throwing change at homeless people while intoxicated definitely don't exactly exemplify what it means to be Canadian. On the upside, he was still a much better premier than Eddie. I went to university and my mom was a nurse during the worst of his cutbacks, and as painful as they were, they accomplished what needed to be done.

[rockyv]

Oh, and wasn't NAIT going to name a campus after him? "The ironing is delicious".

[KC]

Originally Posted by rockyv

I don't think he deserves it, regardless of how I feel about the guy (not a fan). His racist slurs against his wife and throwing change at homeless people while intoxicated definitely don't exactly exemplify what it means to be Canadian. On the upside, he was still a much better premier than Eddie. I went to university and my mom was a nurse during the worst of his cutbacks, and as painful as they were, they accomplished what needed to be done.

Ralph's racist slurs against his own wife? That's a new on on me.

[whynow99]

Which wife....he had two.....and they both called the cops on him during their marriages for assault.....but yes his current wife Colleen is a full blooded native, who was his drinking buddy in the Westgate Bar before the got married.....but this did not give deadbeat klein the right to make those slurs. Shows how the media can put lipstick on a pig like deadbeat ralph.

[Komrade]

I think it does speak volumes that a man can drunkly harass homless people and still get the order of canada.

What does it say about the order?

[edmonton daily photo]

^ and throw books at kids in the leg.

[edmonton daily photo]

How about this one...
http://daveberta.ca/2012/06/ralph-kl...der-of-canada/
, Premier Klein was accused of having plagiarized large portions of an essay written for a distance learning course through Athabasca University. Despite absolute irrefutable evidence that he had copied sections of the essay directly from the Internet, Premier Klein was cleared of the accusations and received a mark of 77% from the University.

[rockyv]

@KC - I stand corrected. Not sure why I thought it was him to made the comments. I looked it up, and it was a columnist for Western Standard. Here is an excerpt from Wikipedia:

In February 2006, the Western Standard magazine came under fire for printing comments about Klein's wife Colleen Klein who is Metis. A column by Rick Dolphin arguing that Colleen Klein has too much influence over her husband, quoted an unnamed source who said "Once she stops being the premier's wife, she goes back to being just another Indian."

[MrOilers]

Originally Posted by rockyv

throwing change at homeless people while intoxicated definitely don't exactly exemplify what it means to be Canadian.

That's unacceptable behavior for a politician, but I still find that story hilarious. Yes, I am a terrible person.

[Komrade]

Originally Posted by MrOilers

That's unacceptable behavior for a politician, but I still find that story hilarious. Yes, I am a terrible person.

No doubt you are! Shows a lot about your character!

[Jimbo]

Originally Posted by MrOilers

Congratulations to Ralph.

It's such a shame that his mental illness (early onset dementia) will more than likely hamper his ability to truly be able to appreciate and remember this occasion.


There are also some real a**holes posting in this thread.

Well said, and to the point. Agreed.

[Marcel Petrin]

Originally Posted by MrOilers

That's unacceptable behavior for a politician, but I still find that story hilarious. Yes, I am a terrible person.

I agree on both counts. The other thing though, and it's never mentioned, is that Klein supposedly was a fairly regular visitor there. Unfortunately for him, he went there a bit intoxicated one night and chatted up the wrong guy.

I don't have a strong feeling on the Order of Canada in either direction, really.

[The_Cat]

Klein has had some great accomplishments with the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary and his leadership as premier. Regardless of some of his gaffes, he has been elected and re-elected.

[whynow99]

Marcel Petrin....." Unfortunately for him, he went there a bit intoxicated one night and chatted up the wrong guy."

You obviously are trying to defend deadbeat klein without any background info.......drunken premier klein stopped there after midnight......these fellas were asleep and a**hole klein WOKE them up to tell them to get a job, so the fellas closest to klein told him to get out or else. Yeah deKlein may have been a fun person to drink beer with, but Alberta needed a sober and competent Premier......fun guys are a dime a dozen in bars.
As stated......His supporters will praise the media make myth of the man, but when you take a closer look at Ralph Klein’s time as Premier, his quickly becomes a sad story.....once you get through all the media made bs about this drunken wife abuser, homeless abuser and he assaulted a Legislative Female Page by throwing a binder at her, on it went and goes. They tried to put lipstick on a pig, but time has told the story on him, but harpo the republican ignores the truth as usual and will give another loser CON the order of Canada......very insulting to Canadians.

[Komrade]

All im saying that Karma is a *****. Sure he gets the award. He will never remember he got it the next day. Poor Ralph.

[jagators63]

Ralph did good job paying off the provincial debt that was left in a big mess from Don Getty years.

[whynow99]

To do this he chased too many of our Nurses away to other provinces and counties, blew up hospitals and closed others down, medical treatment waiting times went from weeks to months (still are), treated Teachers like crap, too many schools are leaking and drafty for lack of ongoing maintenance, funding, turned seniors facilities into hellholes with under-staffing (still are), reinstated seniors to pay schools taxes, charged for library cards, borrowed money to renovate the Jubilee Auditoriums (which the Social Credit had built and paid off for our Provinces anniversary), increased all kind of FEES while he brags about not raising taxes! What a putz. Other Provinces paid off their debts too in those days, taking them a couple years longer, but they did not and do not have the windfall of petroleum revenues coming in. Plus Klein and Getty started taking money out of the Heritage Trust Fund (and still are to this day), while cooking those books to show roads/bridges etc. were assets within the Fund! On it went and goes with this corrupt CONS government. Dick Johnson could see how things were going years ago, so made a motion which was passed stating any MLA taken to Court would have their legal fees paid by the taxpayers.....this was during the Abacas Cities and Principal Affair kind of "real estate-gates, this CONS government was involved in then. So on it goes klein was a proven abuser to wives, homeless people, Female Legislative Page, cut funding to AISH, Health Care, Education etc........ANYONE can screw a Province up, as deKein did. His supporters praise the "media made myth of the man", not the real person, the media put lipstick on a pig resulting in Alberta's suffering then and to this day. But our MLAs will continue to make those hard decisions of giving themselves 30 and 40 percent pay/benefit increases!

[Marcel Petrin]

Originally Posted by whynow99

You obviously are trying to defend deadbeat klein without any background info

Not really. I'm not much of a fan of Klein at all. He was the right guy to put the books in order, but after that was done he seemed to have zero plan and just kind of coasted along, lurching from one thing to the next.

And it's ironic that you say I was defending him without any "background info" when my post was specifically providing background info: that Klein was a regular visitor there without previous incidents.

Also, try paragraphs and sentences. And learn that calling someone an amazingly un-clever name like "deKlein" does nothing to strengthen your argument. In fact just the opposite.

[Kitlope]

I agree he was the right man for the job of cleaning up Alberta's books in the 90s. But the Order of Canada? Not so sure he deserves that.

[moahunter]

^any Premier in power for years, or important politician who leads a major party for years, IMO deserves it, regardless of their politics. The only offensive thing in this case is that it has taken so long.

It amazes me how much some people have a hatred for those of political stripes and different views from them. Even worse in some of the comments above, I find it so pathetic when people blame personal problems or failures on the decisions of one government leader or another (if half of that whining went into improving yourself... none of us are owed anything). I know politicians themselves don't feel the same hatred normally, you will often find them of all different stripes spending time together when out of the public spotlight.

[Edmcowboy11]

Originally Posted by moahunter

^any Premier in power for years, or important politician who leads a major party for years, IMO deserves it, regardless of their politics.

He wasn't in power for years, the conservative party was and has been in power for years. He just happened to be a premier during the time of power of the conservatives. Based on the statement Don Getty, Peter Loughheed, Ed Stelmach and Allison Redford should all get the Order of Canada. If just being in office means you will get the Order of Canada, then what's so special about that award. Is it only for provincial leaders, what about municipal leaders? Does Mayor Mandel get one? What about Bill Smith, or Jan Reimer or Laurence Decore.

I thought the Order of Canada meant something that it would be given to Canadians that have deeply changed the way we live, changed society for the good.

[Old Dawg]

Premier Klein deserves it. He balanced the budget when oil was $22.00 a barrel. This government can't do it with oil $122.00 a barrel. He was the one who made the tough decisions in a time when the feds cut transfers by a third. His legacy is a debt free province. Canada would be well served to have a few more slash and burn populists as provincial premieres. And yes he was a character.
He joins ranks with Steve Fonyo and Conrad Black which might give one a sense of how carefully members are chosen. I choose Ralph over the previously mentioned any day in the week.
FWIW, unlike bigotry, alcoholism (and Klein whipped it) is a treatable disease.

[Bill]

I understood that Klein was seeking to move the Legislature to Calgary. That's what my government friends told me.

[kkozoriz]

Ralph didn't whip alcoholism he just got better about not doing it in public.

[jizzaldo]

Originally Posted by Bill

I understood that Klein was seeking to move the Legislature to Calgary. That's what my government friends told me.

You're not serious, are you?

[Kitlope]

It amazes me how much some people have a hatred for those of political stripes and different views from them

I'm quite sure this was partially directed at me (or at the very least a few of us) so keep in mind I never brought up the fact Klein is a Conservative in my post. I actually really liked him in the 90s, flaws and all. You're thinking that most of us here don't think he deserves the Order of Canada for the simple fact he's conservative. Don't let your own biases taint your typing. Which leads me to this:

He wasn't in power for years, the conservative party was and has been in power for years. He just happened to be a premier during the time of power of the conservatives. Based on the statement Don Getty, Peter Loughheed, Ed Stelmach and Allison Redford should all get the Order of Canada. If just being in office means you will get the Order of Canada, then what's so special about that award. Is it only for provincial leaders, what about municipal leaders? Does Mayor Mandel get one? What about Bill Smith, or Jan Reimer or Laurence Decore.

I thought the Order of Canada meant something that it would be given to Canadians that have deeply changed the way we live, changed society for the good.

I think EdmCowboy pretty much nailed it.

[Replacement]

Originally Posted by Komrade

I think it does speak volumes that a man can drunkly harass homless people and still get the order of canada.

What does it say about the order?

Originally Posted by edmonton daily photo

^ and throw books at kids in the leg.

I'm hardpressed to come up with a politician I like less or that I find more deplorable although Dani Smith comes close.

Klein was a walking talking embarassment for Alberta. That he's getting the order of Canada is a disgrace.

A populist buffoon that catered to the lowest common denominator at every turn and relished in mean spirited politics.

I guess we have him to thank for privitization of everything, deplorable service, standards, lack of care, deregulation, and giving the province away lock stock and barrel to big business.

Good riddance.

[Replacement]

Originally Posted by kkozoriz

Ralph didn't whip alcoholism he just got better about not doing it in public.

Not all that good at it. Moderation consisted largely of consuming two bottles of red wine instead of hard liquor at dinner.

Ralph treated Red Wine like it was a health tonic. Without regard to any note on moderation.

Pretty much anybody that worked in any of the many liquor establishments Ralph frequented could tell you how much he was drinking and how little he slowed down.

The press in this province ate it up though. Oh look theres new reformed Ralph in a photo op on a treadmill telling people to live healthy and responsible and not be a burden on healthcare..didn't know they had treadmills in lounges.

[cheechako]

Originally Posted by whynow99

next time he has a medical emergency i hope they rush him to the holy cross hospital, whoops no that hospital is closed......then take him to the calgary general hospital....oh crap, i blew that hospital up....ok, just take me to one of the many seniors homes i promised but were never built. I hope klein sufffers as much as all the seniors his health policies have and still are hurting. Order of canada.....what an insult to albertans and canada.

hear! Hear!