At issue was the possibility of Alberta opting out of Mr. Trudeau's Charter of Rights. Looming over the Alberta Legislative Assembly is a Supreme Court charter ruling this spring on homosexual rights, in a case raised by gay activist Delwin Vriend. If the court orders Alberta to make special provisions for homosexuals in its human rights, in its human rights law, the Legislature could "opt out" of that ruling by passing a bill.

However, politicians outside Quebec consider opting out a radical step. In Quebec they do it all the time. What the Quebec politicians understand, and ours don't, is that by reversing our Supreme Court's more idiotic personal rights charter decrees, MLAs merely choose to exercise their traditional responsibilities.

Among the more intelligent and courageous MLA's, such as Mr. Havelock, the realization has been growing that it is time for politicians to reclaim or democratic rights from the un-elected courts. It was with this in mind, and with the Vriend case hovering, that Mr. Havelock brought Bill 26 into the Alberta Legislature last week. By opting out of the charter, it would have limited to $150,000 any claim by people wrongly sterilized in the 1950s and '60s at a provincial home for the mentally retarded. A judge last year awarded the first such victim the astonishing sum of $750,000.

Needless to say, Mr. Havelock's bill instantly provoked a loud howl from Tory Senator Ron Ghitter, opposition MLA's and the Southham rabble ­ the self-same crowd, in fact, who rejected Mr. Klein's fiscal cutback four years ago. And it was evident that their larger concern this time was not so much the plight of the sterilized, but the future of gay rights. For after Alberta has opted out once, it can more easily opt out again.

But was Bill 26 really unjust? Nobody likes to be unfair, especially to the weak, but surely that is the whole question who will decide what is fair ­ people we elect, or judges Ottawa appoints? Commentators on both sides say (sensibly enough) that it is impossible to put a value on the right of sexual reproduction. Well, what then makes $750,000 fairer than $150,000?

Mr. Havelock, obviously, was willing to do so. And because opting-out is so controversial, he sought and received the prior support of the Conservative caucus and the premier. But the premier, having given his assent, promptly back-stabbed his minister.

Within hours of the bill's introduction, Mr. Klein flip-flopped. No, he told the media, he had thought better of it "It became abundantly clear," explained the premier after saying he'd taken some 250 calls, "that to individuals in this country the Charter of Rights and Freedoms is paramount."

Oh is it. The thing about Ralph Klein that most people forget is that he is a liberal, not a conservative. He never was a conservative. He doesn't like conservatives, and he detests their issues. But because he heads a conservative party, he must constantly fear and disperse any formation of conservative strength. That was why he lied about removing abortion from medicare three years ago. First he said he couldn't do it. Then he said he would do it. Then he said he had done it. And he finally he refused to do it.

And that's why he hung Jon Havelock out to dry last week. The minister was preparing Alberta to opt out of gay rights. Mr. Klein has always quietly supported gay rights, and would have the courts settle the matter for him. So he let Mr. Havelock bring in his bill and then shafted him. Mr. Klein is not stupid, so this was obviously his plan from the start. So what if he received 250 angry phone calls? Three years ago he received thousands of calls, faxes and letters from Albertans asking him to de-insure abortion. And how many thousand has he received on hospital cutbacks? No, the fix was in.

This makes it sound like the problem for conservatives in Alberta is Mr. Klein. It isn't. The problem is conservatives. They are disorganized, lazy and ineffective. What gets things done in politics ­ the only thing that gets things done ­ organized pressure.

Fortunately there is a new citizens' group which is starting to create exactly this sort of pressure: the Canada Family Action Coalition headed by CFAC Staff. But it has only begun. When the CFAC has 20,0000 members, it will do for conservative social issues what the Canadian Taxpayers Federation did to end deficits in the early 1990s. Until then, liberal politicians like Mr. Klein will continue spitting on conservatives from a great height.