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Music on ice: Skating club holds 2015 gala Page 26
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2014 Newspaper Excellence
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At the frontlines of Internet freedom
Technology: Campbell River native’s battle against corporate control of the 'Net takes him to the White House AlistAir tAylor Campbell RiveR miRRoR
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Bill C51 protestors give voice to their opposition on Saturday at Spirit Square to the federal Conservatives’ security measures they say will infringe on civil liberties.
Bill C51 protestors pelted...with hail AlistAir tAylor
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Just moments before a rally against the Conservative government’s Bill C51 security bill was to begin on Saturday, looming storm clouds burst open and a wave of hail pelted the approximately 40 protesters.
The group scrambled to get under the canopy over the Spirit Square stage then cheerfully waited out the hailstorm. It was Campbell River’s contribution to a storm of protest being held across the country against the Stephen Harper government’s security measures included in a bill that many see as too draconian.
“This bill appears to be more about political posturing ahead of a federal election than it is about protecting public safety,” said Andrea Craddock of the Campbell River and District Labour Council. The wide-ranging bill gives the police broader powers and allows them to detain terror suspects as well as give more power to the
Canadian Security and Intelligence Services. The bill is also criticized for infringing on civil liberties and the right to privacy, particularly on the Internet. “The Conservative government has not justified why it could not protect public safety using the existing criminal code,” Craddock told the gathering.
hen 12-year-old Josh Tabish connected to the world through a dial up Internet connection for the first time, he probably had no idea that more than 10 years later he would be in Washington, DC urging U.S. lawmakers to keep the Internet free and open to everybody. But as a 12-year-old, he surely would have related to his adult self blasting citizens’ messages at the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) building through a giant Jumbotron screen as part of the battle to keep the Internet free. A battle that proved victorious last month. “We won. We did it. The ‘little guy’ won,” Tabish said. Tabish and the organization he works for, Open Media, scored that victory last month when the U.S. Federal Communications Com-
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Realty BE AWARE. Advanced TAKE CARE. 7x2.5 PROCESS
As the warmer weather brings everyone out of their homes and into the outdoors, keep a close eye out for children, cyclists, families and motorcyclists when driving on our roads.
Practice safety by choice, not by chance.
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