A Brush With Fame

Ralph Phillip Klein, Order of Canada and the Alberta Order of Excellence.

Ralph grew up in a working class part of Calgary. By all accounts he was a colourful character, popular and had no problem speaking his mind.

He dropped out of high school to join the RCAF reserves and finished high school later in life. This allowed him to attend Athabasca University. He rose to prominence in Calgary as a television reporter. Ralph was elected Mayor of Calgary, a position he held during the 1980’s. In this position he was instrumental in winning the bid for the 1980 Winter Olympics.

The transition from municipal to provincial politics was a natural move for him, becoming the Minister of the Environment in 1988. The opportunity to become Premier of the Progressive Conservative Party arose when the Liberal Party was running ahead in the polls and Don Getty resigned. As evidence of his popularity he was Premier for very nearly fifteen years. He was nicknamed “King Ralph” for his political longevity and management style.

There were many conflicts for sure. Comments he made give us a window into King Ralph’s character.

The turning point: Probably the worst incident occurred when he stumbled on a homeless shelter. In his drunken state he berated them for not having jobs.This did not go down well. He promised to cut down on his drinking habits.

The bookworm: “I don’t need this crap” he yelled at a legislature page who had handed him a booklet of the Liberals health care ideas. He threw the book away in disgust.

The honest truth: In response to a question about how being Mayor had changed his life he responded “Everyone knows I have sins, I eat too much. I still drink. I gamble and God forbid I still see some of my old friends”

A man of science: You know, my science is limited to the fact that I know that eons ago there was an ice age … I know that for sure. I know that at one time, the Arctic was the tropics. And I guess I wonder what caused that? Was it dinosaur farts? I don’t know.

What bugged him: The “creeps and bums” reference to people from Eastern Canada moving to Calgary without jobs, accommodation or money to look after themselves caused outrage across the country.

The popular side: “It tastes not bad” he responded after being hit in the face by a banana cream pie at a Calgary Stampede breakfast.

Classic Klein: “Edmonton isn’t really the end of the world – you can just see it from there” he quipped in an address to the Olympic Writers Festival.

The brush: I was working in Calgary in the spring of 2004. My colleague and I had finished our hotel breakfast and had descended the stairs to the sidewalk. There he was. Ralph Klein larger than life getting out of a black car in front of the hotel. He was short, shorter than me. We stood and watched while he ascended the same steps into the hotel. It took a minute or two and that was it. A brush with fame.

The ending:

Ralph lost the election in 2006.

Sadly his health began to fail.

He passed away in 2013 at the age of 70

“Welcome to Ralph’s World”