News | DrumhellerMail - Page #1920
09222024Sun
Last updateSat, 21 Sep 2024 12pm

Lions continue support for BCF

Lions

The Lions Club of Drumheller completed its pledge of $50,000 to support the Badlands Community Facility. Thursday, October 15 they presented the members of the Fundraising Cabinet with a donation of $21,500, which supported two reading pods at the Drumheller Library.  Fundraising Chair Hansine Kostelecky expressed her appreciation for the Lions Club’s support for the facility and the meticulous work they did with Alberta Gaming to make this donation possible. At the presentation are (l-r) Kim Suntjens and Hansine Kostelecky of the Fundraising Cabinet and Lions Club Casino Chairman Tony Lacher.


Dragons plan spooktacular evening for Halloween night game

Pumpkin pic

    Drumheller Memorial Arena will be a bit spookier Saturday night for the Dragons Halloween game against the Olds Grizzlys.
    Amanda Stahl, business manager for the Drumheller Dragons, said the organization is having some special contests and prize giveaways throughout the evening.
    She mentioned the first prize giveaway is a costume contest.
    “It can be adults (or) kids. While at the game, if you Tweet or Instagram a photo of your costume with the hashtag #dragonscostumecontest then you will have a chance to win first place, second place, third place or honorable mention,” Stahl said mentioning that the prizes will be Dragons apparel.
    She said the second contest involves liking the team’s Facebook page or following the Dragons on Twitter or Instagram (@drumdragons).
    “We are going to go through the crowd and ask people their name, and if they have liked our Facebook or are following us on Twitter and Instagram then they will win a free t-shirt,” Stahl told inSide Drumheller.
    There will also be giving away free candy for the kids at the game. Game time is 7:30 p.m.

Resident hopes changes come to anti terrorism act

john shoff

    It will be a little while until Prime Minister-in-waiting Justin Trudeau is sworn in and takes the helm of the country, but many are speculating what some of his priorities going forward are.
    John Shoff of Reality Bytes in Drumheller, is concerned with the new government’s position on how it will handle the Anti Terrorism Act, known widely as Bill C-51 before it was proclaimed law.
    The controversial anti terrorism bill was well criticized.  While it was designed to allow government departments to share information, it also granted new powers that could be unconstitutional. While the Conservative Party drafted and voted for the bill, the Liberal Party also supported it, although they said it would be amended in the event they take power.
  With a business in the technology sector, Shoff has been following the debate closely. He is not sure if the bill is salvageable.
  “I would rip it apart, repeal it completely,” Shoff tells inSide Drumheller.
  One of the criticisms of the bill is that some of the language is not clear, and questions have arisen as to what constitutes “terrorism propaganda”, or “promotion of terrorism.”
    “I would redo it from scratch. The intention is good, but it is filled with a lot of vague definitions that could be easily misconstrued. It also doesn’t have much in oversight on how this stuff is going to be implemented,” said Shoff.
    He has concerns as an internet provider, on what sort of information he has to monitor.
    “On the internet provider side of things, again it is pretty vague, but the way they explained it, that as an internet provider, you are almost supposed to be spying on everyone, because you are supposed to be able to go back in time,” he said. “So if they go get a warrant for internet records from a particular user, they want the internet service provider (ISP) to be able to go back in time and provide that information. It means, as an ISP, you have to be tracking everyone all the time in order to provide that information.”
    “It seems really unreasonable.”
    Indications are the new government will be looking at making amendments early in the coming parliamentary session. Some of these amendments could include a sunset clause and a Joint House of Commons-Senate committee to provide oversight. There are indications there will be more consultation with the public and experts.


Subcategories

The Drumheller Mail encourages commenting on our stories but due to our harassment policy we must remove any comments that are offensive, or don’t meet the guidelines of our commenting policy.