Alberta's long-standing conservative premier Ralph Klein bid a teary goodbye to the provincial legislature last Thursday after receiving a standing ovation from Conservative and opposition MLAs.
"It's a long period of time coming to an end—26 years in politics," said the 63-year-old politician in a news conference.
Klein also admitted for the first time that his government wasn't ready to deal with the problems caused by the province's oil-fuelled economic boom.
"The boom came on us very, very quickly," said Klein.
"We were prepared for sustainable growth, but not the kind of growth that occurred."
Alberta's red-hot economy and fast-growing industry has attracted 90,000 newcomers to the province since last year and has led to problems of labour shortage and insufficient housing throughout the province.
Klein's remarks drew comments from opposition parties and municipal authorities who say the government should have known about the boom years ago. Klein also came under criticism by the former Alberta premier Peter Lougheed who said Klein's policies have left the oilsands sector in a "mess".
"The real essence of it has to be a better plan," Lougheed said in an interview with the Calgary Herald.
But Klein said his government has handled the province's rapid growth as best as they possibly could.
"Initially, we handled it by reacting to the pressure areas like Fort McMurray, Grande Prairie, Brooks, and so on. Now we're putting in place very specific plans to deal with the growth," Klein said.
The Thursday session was the second time Klein bid farewell to the legislative chamber. Klein's last day in the house was originally thought to be May 18, but the government was forced to call a summer session to authorize a $1.3 billion spending in health care, education, infrastructure, and other "emergency" spending.
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