Wallowing In Wingnut Welfare

JustGiveMeMoney
That'sWhatIWantVille


Who woulda' thunk it.

Ralph Klein is a welfare king:

Alberta Premier Ralph Klein says he will become a fellow with the Fraser Institute when he retires from politics at the end of the year. {snip} As a fellow, Klein would likely offer his expertise in the areas of social policy and governance, said Fraser Institute executive director Mark Mullins.

Of course, that business about 'social policy and governance' expertise sent us scrambling to the google cache, which was very forthcoming. Here are a couple of doozies, just from the last week.

The clock has run out for a controversial private member's bill that would have allowed Alberta's marriage commissioners to refuse to perform same-sex marriages. {snip} But Premier Ralph Klein gave a strong endorsement to the bill Monday, saying he felt it was simply an extension of existing government policy.

"I don't want to be perceived as a gay-basher, because I'm not,'' said Klein. "But I want to protect those who, on moral and religious grounds, don't want to marry a gay couple.''

Canadian Press, May 08, 2006

A national survey released in January shows smoking rates among Alberta teens ages 15 to 19 rose by 30 per cent from 2004 to the first six months of 2005. This survey polled 1,751 Albertans aged 15 and older, including 418 teens.

Jules Xavier, Wetaskiwin TimesAdvertiser, May 08, 2006

Now that last one probably means little - unless, of course, someone were fill you in on the following.

Last week, Premier Ralph Klein announced that he would not back the province-wide smoking ban in full, stating that the emphasis of the bill needed to be altered to protect children and prevent youth from starting to smoke rather than convincing older smokers to quit.

Cosana Preston, The Gateway, Mar 17, 2005

And just imagine what we would have found if we'd gone back a decade instead of just a week.

But, then again, come to think of it, a nation full of nicotine-addicted homophobes who are ticking lung cancer timebombs designed to blow public healthcare costs sky-high is probably just the kind boffo policy/governance result the Fraser Institute is looking for.


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