WHERE'S RALPH?

Tears are nothing new for parents of children addicted to drugs.

If you have a teenager taking crystal meth, for example, tears come with
the territory.

But it came down to tears in the provincial legislature on Tuesday, as Red
Deer MLA Mary Anne Jablonski broke down while pleading with the Liberal
Opposition for help to get her private member's bill through the house.

Her tears were not enough.

Liberal Leader Kevin Taft says his members would gladly co-operate with the
government to get the bill passed into law quickly, but not at the expense
of giving up their time for written questions in the legislature.

He's entirely right in denying Jablonski's request.

There's plenty of time yet for Premier Ralph Klein's Conservatives to take
over the bill, insert it into their legislative agenda, and get it passed.

With the promise of co-operation from the opposition, Jablonski's crusade
to give parents just one more tool to get their children off the streets
and into therapy would become real.

It won't be the fault of Taft or the Liberals if this does not happen.

The Liberals have declared they care about the plight of parents who must
watch from the sidelines as teenage children take a road to quick
destruction because their addictions render them incapable of making life
decisions rationally.

It should not be for them to give up what little force they have in the
legislature, to help government backbenchers whose own party won't support
their efforts.

If the premier wanted parents to have the right to have their addicted
teenagers forcibly removed from their current lifestyles and into a place
where they can receive help, Jablonski's bill would be law within days.

Tears won't get this passed.

This bill has merit; the government itself should show the compassion
needed to see it through the house.

Since when did things like this rely on the opposition - especially in Alberta?