Red Deer 1913 — 2013 Create Celebrate Commemorate
SWEET AND TANGY Cranberry sauce complements many dishes all year round
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THE GREAT GROCERY GIVEAWAY IS BACK!
CANADA GUILTY OF A DOUBLE STANDARD FOR OIL PAGE A4
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Red Deer Advocate TUESDAY, OCT. 8, 2013
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Ward or at-large? MEETING OUTLINES PROS AND CONS OF SYSTEMS OF REPRESENTATION BY CRYSTAL RHYNO ADVOCATE STAFF Information on how Red Deerians could choose their future elected councils drew about 60 residents
to a panel discussion in Red Deer on Monday. Political scientist Duane Bratt, blogger Dave Cournoyer and former Red Deer city councillor Larry Pimm outlined the pros and cons of at-large and ward systems of representation. In Red Deer, councillors are currently elected in an at-large system where the politicians represent
the entire city. But on the Oct. 21 civic ballot, electors will answer the non-binding plebiscite, Do you want the City of Red Deer divided into wards?
Please see REPRESENTATION on Page A2
DON’T LET THIS OPPORTUNITY GO TO WASTE
COUNTY OF STETTLER
Thousands spent on partisan Tory events BY PAUL COWLEY ADVOCATE STAFF The County of Stettler spent $6,540 in violation of election financing rules on partisan Tory events over nearly a decade, according to an internal investigation. The municipality went back through its books last month after Wildrose Party justice critic Shayne Saskiw called for an Elections Alberta investigation of the county for possible rules violations. It was alleged that documents provided under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act suggested county staffers may have done work for the Progressive Conservative Party on county time. In one case, an email was sent drawing attention to a Facebook page by then-local MLA Jack Hayden. In another incident, it was alleged a county worker put up election signs for the Tories while on the job. “There was no evidence to suggest that either of those activities have or are currently taking place,” says county chief administrative officer Tim Fox in a statement issued on Friday. In reviewing documents dating back nearly a decade, the county did find that $3,440 was paid out to councillors to attend “politically associated” events and another $3,100 was reimbursed to staff. Reeve Wayne Nixon said the practice was stopped when the last council came to power in 2010. Nixon said at the time the political events were seen as useful opportunities to press government leaders for funding and other issues of local concern. “We just looked at it as the cost of doing business at that time,” he said, noting the county depends on government grants for many of its projects. The amount of money doled out is small considering hiring a lobbyist would have cost in the tens of thousands, he said. Nixon said county politicians and staffers are free to continue to attend party events, but now they pay their own way. “In the long run it leads to less confusion and less finger pointing.” Nixon remains frustrated by the amount of time and effort that went into what he calls little more than a “witch hunt” by the Wild Rose Party. He sent letters to local MLA Rick Strankman and Wildrose Leader Danielle Smith calling the freedom of information requests a “waste of time” and they would better serve constituents by doing something constructive. Strankman and Saskiw could not be reached for comment on Monday. The use of municipal dollars for attending political party events has come up before around Alberta. In February, the towns of Rimbey and Sylvan Lake were been identified as making illegal campaign donations in a report posted by Elections Alberta.
Please see INVESTIGATION on Page A2
WEATHER Sun and cloud. High 10. Low -2.
FORECAST ON A2
INDEX Two sections Alberta . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A3 Business. . . . . . . . . . . . . A7,A8 Canada . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A5,A6 Classified . . . . . . . . . . .B8-B11 Comics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B4 Entertainment . . . . . . . . . . .A12 Sports. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B5-B7
Photo by JEFF STOKOE/Advocate staff
Taking advantage of this week’s free yard waste drop off at the City of Red Deer waste management facility, Dan Boucher, left, and Ike Martens pull a load of branches out of Martens’ truck. City residents have until Saturday Oct. 12, to take their yard waste to the landfill and drop it off at no charge. Waste, including grass clippings, leaves, garden materials and tree branches, will be recycled by the city and given new life as compost and wood chips.
Olds College introduces course in which iPad is mandatory BY HARLEY RICHARDS ADVOCATE BUSINESS EDITOR Some educational institutions frown on the use of tablet computers. At Olds College, it’s now mandatory for most students. The college has introduced an entrepreneurship course that can only be completed using an iPad. Not only that, it’s in the form of a game that challenges players to operate and grow a lemonade stand business. “It will take then anywhere from 30 to 40 hours to complete it, like it would a normal course,” said Jason Dewling, Olds College’s vice-president of academic and research. Players progress through 12 modules, making financial decisions, improving the efficiency of their operation and applying marketing strategies along the way. New activities and business concepts are unlocked as they advance. Called Spirit of Entrepreneurship, the iPad app must be completed by students enrolled in programs that run for 16 weeks or more. And it could foreshadow a shift in the way curriculum is delivered at Olds College. “In the U.S. right now, 99 per cent of boys and 94 per cent of girls under the age of 18 play at least eight hours a week of games,” pointed out Dewling. “We believe that to engage this generation, it would just be an amazing opportunity if we could find the right partnership with a gamer and whatnot to get the curriculum embedded in ‘gamification.’” In the case of Spirit of Entrepreneurship, Olds
College partnered with GoForth Institute, which specializes in web-based small business training; and Robots and Pencils Inc., a world-class app-designer. It also boosted the campus’s Internet connectivity from 40 to 1,000 megabits. “We have more bandwidth per student here than anywhere in Canada,” said Dewling, adding that the Wi-Fi zone covers virtually every building. The college chose Apple iPads as the platform for this electronic initiative after assessing the alternatives. But it caught the eye of Apple Inc. long before that. “We had made a decision internally to commit to this entrepreneurship game before we even made a commitment to go to the iPad one-to-one environment,” said Dewling. “Apple came to us and said, ‘This is two years ahead of anything that’s out there. We’d like to find a way to work with you.’” Other post-secondary institutions are also showing interest. “The top guy at Harvard, related to educational technology, he’s got a licence to the game as well, and has actually downloaded it.” Recent presentations by Dewling in Chicago and Boston attracted queries from more than a dozen post-secondary institutions, as far away as New Zealand. He’s scheduled to speak at upcoming educational technology conferences in Cyprus and Ontario, sharing the stage at the latter with Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield. “So that’s the level that this is getting attention — and we’re not out pushing it.”
Please see COURSE on Page A2
Egyptian militants strike back A string of attacks killed nine members of Egypt’s security and military forces Monday. Story on PAGE A9
PLEASE
RECYCLE