By now, almost everyone in the country is familiar with Premier Ralph Klein's "Alberta Advantage. A national consensus seems to have emerged (found in both the media and public opinion) that Klein and company have saved the day and can do no wrong. Indeed, Mr. Klein has helped to pull Albertans out of the sinkhole created by his predecessors. The current administration has successively balanced the books from 1995 onwards and will have wiped out the $8.3 billion net debt left to it by the end of this fiscal year. Three cheers for Mr. Klein.

But wait just a minute. All this sycophantic, obsequious commentary on Mr. Klein's fiscal record seems to be producing some unanticipated and rather troubling results.

Most recent of these is the premier's own comments on his government's reorganization. Said Klein, "The point of this realignment- is not to further reduce budgets or further downsize government. We have done that work. So, the realignment I am announcing today is meant to refocus government on Albertans' priorities. Priority number one is people."

In other words, Mr. Klein has come to the end of his pilgrimage for smaller government and will now embark on a crusade for increased spending. This fact is readily apparent after a glance through the province's 1999-2002 fiscal plan. Despite the fact that revenue is only expected to increase by 1.6% this year, program spending is slated to go up by 4.4 percent. To dole out this increased spending the premier has expanded his cabinet from 17 to 21 members -- a jump of 24 percent.

Well, O.K., you say. But what about all those tax cuts Doesn't that indicate Mr. Klein's commitment to a streamlined government Not exactly. As groundbreaking as the province's new tax plan might be, Albertans may have to wait a long while before any disposable cash shows up in their wallets, if ever. Tax cuts will only be implemented if revenue forecasts are met. Moreover, for every dollar in tax cuts over the next three years the province will spend an additional $3.76 on programs.

And what about those programs Most of the spending is, granted, dedicated to public health and education. Contrary to public perception, however, the government is still involved in areas such as funding private business. The Alberta Opportunities Company (AOC) is one example of an agency that continues to flourish at taxpayers expense (over $95 million in grants since 1993), refinancing the existing debt of companies and providing loans to Dairy Queens, motels, golf courses and the like. Klein could have chosen to eliminate the AOC in his latest reorganization. He did not.

Add to all this new commitments for spending outside the budget, and one begins to see the Klein revolution unravel. Case-in-point: Alberta's new "Learning" minister has reversed previous government policy and promised to dig into the provincial coffers to come up with more money for the Calgary Board of Education. The pledge, somewhere in the range of $50 million to $60 million, has triggered calls, in the name of fairness, for yet more spending on the rest of the province's boards.

These changes may be subtle, and after years of fiscal austerity few are likely to believe that the Klein regime could, even if it wanted to, alter course. But politics is a strange business where contradictions and reversals are the order of the day. Taxpayers would do well to keep a close eye on the present and avoid building myths on the past. Even in Alberta.