page_title: Ralph Klein
section_title: The Alberta Advantage: Klein's austerity campaign
hierarchical_section_title: Ralph Klein / Premier / The Alberta Advantage: Klein's austerity campaign
caption_attribution_description: English: Artist Ryan McCourt and Alberta Premier Ralph Klein attend the unveiling of McCourt's sculpture, "A Modern Outlook".
context_page_description: Ralph Phillip Klein, OC AOE was a Canadian politician who served as the 12th Premier of Alberta and leader of the Progressive Conservative Association of Alberta from 1992 until his retirement in 2006. Klein's tenure as premier ended when the Alberta Progressive Conservatives' new leader, Ed Stelmach, assumed office December 14, 2006, exactly fourteen years after Klein first became Premier. His nickname was "King Ralph", a reference to his political longevity and his management style. Klein continued the PC dynasty, winning four consecutive majority governments.
context_section_description: By the mid-1980s there was a worldwide oil glut, a serious surplus of crude oil, with the world price of oil dropping from over US$35 per barrel to below $10. The glut began in the early 1980s as a result of slowed economic activity in industrial countries (due to the crises of the 1970s, especially in 1973 and 1979) and the energy conservation spurred by high fuel prices.  Time Magazine stated, "the world temporarily floats in a glut of oil." By 1993, when Klein took office, Alberta's debt had reached C$23 billion.
  The repayment of the debt was one of the most significant long-term goals of Klein's premiership. During Klein's austerity campaign, the "Klein Revolution", or The Alberta Advantage, as Klein called it, Klein slashed government spending by deep cuts – more than 20 per cent – in public spending resulting in massive job losses in the public sector. The Klein government initiated the sale of the provincial public telephone company, AGT to private interests.
  At the 2004 Calgary Stampede, Klein announced that the province had set aside the necessary funds to repay its public debt in 2005. Klein was re-elected for a fourth term in the 2004 provincial election held on November 22, 2004 with a reduced majority, as he only won 47% of the vote, and only 62 out of the 83 ridings.
  "Never again will this government or the people of this province have to set aside another tax dollar on debt..."Those days are over and they're over for good, as far as my government is concerned, and if need be we will put in place legislation to make sure that we never have a debt again."
  — Ralph Klein 2004
  From the mid-1980s to September 2003, the inflation adjusted price of a barrel of crude oil on NYMEX was generally under $25/barrel. A rebound in the price of oil worldwide led to big provincial surpluses in Alberta since the mid-1990. During 2004, the price of oil rose above $40, and then $50. A series of events led the price to exceed $60 by August 11, 2005, leading to a record-speed hike that reached $75 by the middle of 2006.
  Political analyst David Taras of Mount Royal University argued that although Klein was popular, he failed at public policy. His focus on paying down Alberta's fiscal debt during an oil boom - a time when interest rates on debt were low - was done "at the expense of hospitals, roads, light rail transit lines, and investing in better health-care services or education." Rich Vivone, who was involved in Alberta politics from 1980-2005, claimed Klein "had the trust and popularity to do almost anything he wanted and survive" and his "fiscal achievements early in his career were significant, but he "utterly failed at health reform and economic diversification" and he did "little for culture, recreation or the arts."
caption: Ralph Klein and sculptor Ryan McCourt at the unveiling of "A Modern Outlook" in Edmonton, Alberta.
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