Don Getty, who won two Grey Cups as a professional football player and two elections as Alberta premier, a statesman who fought for the Meech Lake Accord and led the province through tough economic times and left, as part of his legacy, a holiday to celebrate the importance of families, died Friday at age 82.
Darin Getty said his father died peacefully in hospital early Friday morning of heart failure.
“He was successful in everything that he did,” his son said of the late Alberta Tory leader. “He was a great father … a great family man, and a great husband. He fought right ’til the bitter end, and I could see him fighting,” said Getty, who spoke to his father just hours before his death. “(But) he looked at me at one point and he said, ‘I’m just all
worn out.” ‘
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Getty was premier from 1985 to 1992, taking on the role just as energy prices slumped. By the time he left office, the province’s debt had swelled to almost $20 billion, which prompted criticism from his successor, Ralph Klein, who took office in late 1992.
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