Posted on 11/09/2006 8:41:26 PM PST by Asfarastheeastisfromthewest...
EDMONTON — Alberta Premier Ralph Klein is making no apologies for his stinging, shoot-from-the-lip comments about other politicians in the weeks leading up to his retirement from politics.
Klein was seen on the Rick Mercer Report on Tuesday telling a national TV audience that Liberal leadership hopeful Bob Rae is politically "stupid."
Then Tuesday at a roast in Calgary, the premier made a crude sexual joke about the relationship Ontario MP Belinda Stronach had with fellow MP Peter MacKay before she bolted from the Conservatives to join the Liberals.
"I don't think she ever did have a Conservative bone in her body, well except for one," Klein told the audience at the charity event. "Speaking of Peter MacKay. . ."
The joke got a big laugh, but some people at the roast later said they were uncomfortable with it.
Across Canada reaction has been mixed, with some calling the remarks "sexist" and others saying this is the kind of blunt talk Canadians have come to expect from Klein.
Stronach said Thursday it's an example of the "rough and nasty" treatment that causes some women to hesitate about getting into politics.
But Klein remains unrepentant.
"The fact is that it was a joke," the premier told reporters Thursday.
"I'm making no apologies. I read the copy and I approved it. I thought it was a funny line."
Klein appeared relaxed and jocular during his appearance with Mercer.
The two men dressed in jockey gear and staged a harness race on a wager that Klein would endorse the Kyoto accord if he lost.
But when Mercer mentioned Bob Rae's name, the premier let loose with some venomous remarks about the former Ontario premier.
Klein explained that more than a decade ago, Rae had alerted the media when the Alberta premier missed a breakfast session with other premiers after a night of carousing.
"First of all, I was drinking then and I had a hangover," Klein explained.
"The guy was well educated and he was a Rhodes scholar, but relative to politics, he was stupid."
Klein swore off liquor five years ago after an ugly late-night incident at a homeless shelter, but has been having the odd drink more recently as he prepares to leave public office.
One of his officials said he was not drinking at the roast.
"Ms. Stronach roasted the premier two years ago and made remarks about his weight, his clothing and even his flatulence," said Marisa Etmanski, Klein's press secretary.
"In a roast situation, these remarks were hysterical, and that's the same kind of thing that happened this year."
The premier said he was not trying to be mean. He was simply doing what he has always done: responded to questions with the type of blunt answers that have marked his 26-year career in politics.
When he was Calgary mayor in the 1980s, Klein made headlines for blaming eastern "bums and creeps" for the rising crime rate.
And more recently he was sharply criticized for throwing an opposition policy booklet inside the legislature, hitting a teenaged girl working as a page.
Deputy premier Shirley McClellan said Klein has never been out of line when it comes to the way he talks about women.
She called the media offside for reporting what was supposed to be off the record at the roast, held as a fundraiser for a charity that helps the homeless.
"I don't know of any person who is more respectful of women and who is less inclined to ever tell off-colour jokes or use improper language," McClellan said Thursday.
"I think the story is $200,000 for the homeless."
The Internet was also buzzing with comments about Klein's latest shot from the lip, and the defenders came out in force.
"It was a crude pun, Ralph's speciality. But it's not sexist," said one blogger on a site called The Prairie Wranglers.
Another blogger identified as Leftdog wrote, "I will say this for Ralph, he is a character. A genuine, true blue, dyed-in-the-wool, colourful character."
I tell ya, nobody can tell a joke like Ralph Klein. And in this case, the butt of the joke couldn't be a better choice than Clitton's girlfriend. Check out the youtube.
That's pretty funny.
I've said before that Canada exports its great comedians to the world and saves the mediocre ones for domestic politics. In the light of that blast, I'm going to have to rethink that. Bravo.
Uh George Allen, there is a lesson to be learned here. Never, ever apologize.
Taking the Kerry approach, I see. The big difference here was his joke was actually funny and drew laughs instead of the sound of crickets and scorn.
Definitely not the Kerry approach. The Kerry approach would be to say I'll never apologize to a slut like Belinda. Belinda should be apologizing to Peter McKay.
The difference is that Klein was actually telling a joke. Nobody questions that. Given Kerry's past disdain for the media, people could question whether Kerry was telling a joke. It didn't sound like one.
Ha Ha Ha Ha!
He'll be missed.
Please send me a FReepmail to get on or off this Canada ping list.
He stole it. That joke was on Free Dominion during when Stronach dumped McKay. If fact,I've posted it here once or twice as:
"The only conservative bone in Belinda's body was Peter MacKay's."
Lets hope that Peters judgement of women is NOW better, and....
GEEZE Pete!
Hope you did not catch a political STD in trolling and deboning Stronach!
Boneless Chicken!
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." -Manuel II Paleologus
With a 
to lurker Briguy.
LOL!
Yes, I am afraid that The Honorable Memberless from Aurora is now dead meat , or more accurately, doomed to be eternally:
BONELESS!
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