European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - March 28, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Calgary Skyline City s May or believes Alberta hat suffered from depletion by Eastern canadians of Toht province m Canada s  Back to basics in Alberta Calgary links image to 88 olympics App tulo by John  new York times Lbert ans have Long suspected thai they rated Low in the esteem of other canadians. A Calgary columnist Ralph Hedlin. Complained no Long ago that the people of his Oil and Callie province were being depicted in Eastern Canada As hard nosed right Wing Cowboy booted gun equipped undisciplined anti social politically reactionary  ii is an image that riles the majority of albertan. Who have never owned a gun or subscribed to a right Wing cause. When a Neo nazi survivalist group with  origins surfaced last year in a Small town North of Calgary and especially Arter members c the group. Opened fire on local residents Al erlans were dismayed Ralph Klein the mayor of Calgary believes thai Alberta has suffered from a reflex in Eastern Canada to depict the province As Canada s Texas and Calgary As a Northern counterpart to Houston or Dallas next february when the City is to play Host to the olympic games the mayor Hopes thai a different image one that is not quite so Brash will Lake hold among the 200,000 visitors and 1.5 billion television viewers that the olympic organizers Are predicting. We want to show ourselves Lor the Friendly and accommodating people that we Are and Lay to rest thai stuff about Blue eyed sheiks and red necked  Klein said. Staying upbeat has been difficult in a City that is in its fifth year of recession the Downside of an Oil Boom hat doubled the population in so years. From tree spending excess of the 1970s, Calgary now sees an unemployment rate of Aboul 15 percent Good restaurants Are Ollen deserted and dealers lots Are heavy with second hand cars Home auctions sometimes give a taste of overblown living. One that attracted Allenton recently was Tho Sale of 11,800 acres of property Al Airdrie 15 Miles North of Calgary an elusive German millionaire Baron Carlo von Mallei. Emulated the most extravagant residents of Houston and Dallas. The count heir to a locomotive and tank manufacturing Fortune arrived in Alberta in the 1960s and invested heavily in real estate and Oil. By 1960, he was reckoned among Alberta s richest men. When he disappeared two years ago receivers wore left with a 22,000-Square-foot edifice with a a car garage a private car Wash a Squash court a gymnasium and a humongous master bedroom the departure of High rotters is not regretted by mane established tycoons such As Ronald Southern. Southern 56, was partner Ullh his father in a $4,000 slake in a trailer business in 1947. Their company Alco ltd., has diversified intoa$1,1-Bllllon-a-year business largely concerned with temporary housing. Southern spoke of the excesses on the part of individuals and corporations that accompanied the Oil Boom. For All the difficulties of the downturn he said there was much to be welcomed we Veall had logo Back to basics and in that sense i think it s been beneficial Klein too sees a positive Side to the recession. A former to reporter who got bored with covering a lacklustre mayoralty Campaign in 1980, threw his hat into the ring and won. He has made a career of speaking his mind. In 1982, As the Boom began to Peter out he attracted headlines by suggesting that the bums and creeps migrating from Eastern Canada should go Home. According to the mayor some of those were parasites More interested in robbing Banks and mugging than honest work. As Well As a soaring crime rate the City laced overloaded lire and sewerage systems the outgrowth of a $2 billion a year construction Boom. In the Rush Many Fine turn of tha Century Sandstone buildings were torn Down and downtown neighbourhoods disappeared. A Maze of 40-Story Lowers sprouted in their place providing new offices for some 600 Oil companies. By 1933, the inward migration had reversed and the City s population shrank by 7,000. It s been a much better City since the Boom ended said Klein. Of Tho two million people in Alberta More than 70 percent live in the two big cities Calgary and Edmonton and at least Hall of those Are first generation alb erlans. In an increasingly multiracial Milieu diners Are As Likely to be served by a pole a vietnamese or a mexican As by a native Canadian. When a $60,000 Mercedes Bern glides past on Center Street its owner is just As Likely to to chinese or French. It makes for a More tolerant lifestyle than visitors found in the 1960s, when Ernest Manning then the Alberta Premier look to the airwaves with fundamentalist sermons and men and women Wero forbidden to drink together in most bars. Saturday March 28, 19b7 Calgary retains a closer kinship to Eastern Canadian cities such As Toronto than to any american Oil City. A guest in Calgary can stay in a hotel without seeing a pair of Cowboy boots except in a boutique window. Over dinner with local Oil executives the conversation is As Likely to turn to the need to protect the province s dwindling population of wolves and grizzly bears As it is to depletion allowances. I d say we re a Little softer than people  Klein said. Perhaps when the olympics Are Over Well hear less of that redneck nonsense and be appreciated More for what we  Apu Phot Alberta Friendly accommodating  the stars and stripes Page 13