Shredding the Public Interest

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 McMillan 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.

• Introduction; Building Trust; Shredding the Evidence; The Getty Cuts; The Klein Cuts: Where Albertans Stand NOW; The Leaky Report; Private-Sector Subsidies in Free-Enterprise Alberta; The Alberta Advantage Up Close; Pulling the Wool; The Spin Doctors; The Parable of 'Al & Berta': Telling Stories in Politics; The Special Case of Health Care; The Acid Test.

6 weeks on the Financial Post national best-seller list!