Alberta had the tightest controls on spending in Canada during the very period when the Klein government has claimed costs were soaring out of control. Now, public programs in Alberta-including health care-have become the most poorly supported in Canada. (6 weeks on the Financial Post national best-seller list!)

Kevin Taft never thought he?d be a politician. A public policy analyst and head of his own Edmonton-based consulting company, Kevin's life took a sharp turn when he returned to Alberta in 1994 after a year away studying for a business degree.?Alberta had changed,? he recalls. “The government was gutting our health care system without a plan, throwing people's lives into chaos.? Kevin watched in growing dismay as the government took aim at education and other public services Albertans had carefully built over many years.In 1997, Kevin wrote Shredding the Public Interest, a national bestseller which confirmed many Albertans? concerns about the PCs. Clear Answers, a second bestseller in 2000, co-authored by Gillian Steward, exploded the myths of private, for-profit health care.Kevin stepped into public life in 2001, handily winning his Edmonton Riverview seat in the provincial election. In 2004, he was elected Leader of the Alberta Liberals and of the Loyal Opposition in the Alberta Legislature. In 2007 his third book was published, Democracy Derailed, and in 2012 his fourth book, Follow the Money, which he co-authored with Mel MacMillan and Junaid Jahangir. Both books continue Kevin's critical analysis of Alberta politics and public policy. Kevin stepped down from the Legislature when he chose not to run in the 2012 election. He continues to live and write in Edmonton.

Kevin Taft's profile page

• Alberta Book Publishing Awards - Alberta Trade Title of the Year

"Shredding the Public Interest mounts a powerful case against those, of whatever political stripe, too long in power.. a cautionary tale indeed." David E. Smith, CBRA

"When the [Parkland] institute opened, it immediately raised the ire of the provincial government with the release of a book by Kevin Taft, now leader of Alberta's opposition Liberals, entitled Shredding the Public Interest." Richard Cairney, University of Alberta ExpressNews