Ralph Klein: A Maverick Life

David E. Smith is a professor of political science at the University of
Saskatchewan and the author of Building a Province: A History of
Saskatchewan in Documents and The Invisible Crown.

Biography is today’s most popular literary form, and also its most
demanding. The writer becomes the captive of the biography’s subject,
and even a skilful author is taxed to portray a life without incident
or, as in the case of Alberta’s 12th premier, a personality at once
erratic, uncontemplative, and taciturn. In other words, Frank Dabbs had
his work cut out for him.

But then why bother? Klein has been premier for less than three years,
and his government’s one policy—deficit elimination—has been
extensively reported in the media. Since half of the book is devoted to
his first two years in office, there seems little to add, especially
since Klein himself refused to be interviewed. By default, the account
is dependent on the interpretation of others (175 interviews, including
some with the premier’s closest associates and family). The
unfortunate effect of this approach is a staccato presentation of fact
piled on fact.

While the reader is told that Klein is an antipolitician, an “icon of
[the] new science of government,” that he responds to the siren call
of Friedman economics, and that he wants to re-invent government, it is
never made clear what the source of the attraction is. A former mayor of
Calgary (or any large city) is not an obvious convert to the creed
small-is-beautiful.

Dabbs stresses that Klein was, and maybe still is, an outsider, a
figure at the margins. Some of the best parts of the book discuss the
financial and emotional insecurity of Klein’s early years. In all of
this there is an echo of John Diefenbaker. Certainly, like the Chief,
Klein would never have become party leader had insiders controlled the
choice, but in Klein’s case a province-wide, open ballot allowed him
to “hijack” the leadership succession.

The book’s principal strength is the depiction of its subject as
wilful, aggressive, and independent and at the same time confident,
engaging, and, on occasion, accommodating. Klein defies the textbook
formula for a successful politician, and yet he succeeds. This is, after
all, Alberta.