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Red Deer Advocate MONDAY, SEPT. 21, 2015
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Ready to roll BY LANA MICHELIN ADVOCATE STAFF There’s nothing like strapping on a pair of roller-skates and barrelling through a line of opponents to get that old adrenaline pumping. The women of Red Deer’s Roller Derby league — players like Black Widow, Malady, Dame Tamer and Mexi-Crash — do it every game. The sport known for female players body-checking each other to the ground while dressed in fishnet hosiery and tutus is more about skill and strategy than flashy costumes these days. Besides the desire to be considered a sport rather than “an exhibitionist activity,” there are more practical reasons to skip the costumery: “It hurts like heck when you slide in fishnets, is all I can say …” said Bootstrap Betty, president of Central Alberta’s Nuclear-Free Roller Derby. The up to 30 players who gather for weekly practices at the Springbrook Multiplex take the physical demands of their sport serious — although a few still maintain some kooky derby traditions, like painting their faces for game day. Of course, their colourful derby monikers remain — as a sign of camaraderie rather than any true rivalry. “It’s a culture all of its own,” said Bootstrap (also known as Arlene). She uses words like “empowering” and “nurturing” to describe a sport that embraces all comers and doesn’t play favourites. Nobody is a bench warmer. Everybody gets equal playing time.
Photos by JEFF STOKOE/Advocate staff
ABOVE: From the left, Kristin ‘Dame Tamer’ Guttridge, Miranda ‘Marauder’ Geelen and Jordana ‘Gypsy Jo’ Thesen work to block Cassidy ‘Black Widow’ Tippe from getting past them. LEFT: From the left, members of the Nuclear Free roller derby team, Kristin ‘Dame Tamer’ Guttridge, Miranda ‘Marauder’ Geelen, Rocio ‘Argentina’ D’Alessandro, Jeff ‘the Jester’ Mitchell, Cassidy Black ‘Widow Tippe’ and Jordana ‘Gypsy Jo’ Thesen practice some wall blocking in the gymnasium at Springbrook recently.
Please see DERBY on Page A2
Appeal board questions drainage decision BY PAUL COWLEY ADVOCATE STAFF A provincial appeal board has questioned the province’s stance that landowners can be held liable for decades-old wetland drainage projects. The issue was highlighted in an appeal launched by poultry farmers Henk and Gerrie Krijger of an Alberta Environment and Sustainable Resource enforcement order issued in February 2014. The province alleged the Krijgers improperly drained a 51-acre lake about 10 km east of Ponoka and a smaller wetland, excavating near a lake outlet and putting fill into the lake. Under the order, the Krijgers must restore the lake to the condition it was in before any unauthorized drainage work was done. The Krijgers successfully appealed, arguing a drainage channel identified as a problem by provincial inspectors, was decades old and they had not done anything to drain the lake. It was estimated work on the drainage channel and restoring a historic wetland could cost the Krijgers $175,000. An Environmental Appeal Board panel recommended the wetland and drainage channel restoration were to be removed from conditions. Instead, a much cheaper flow control structure on the drainage channel should be put in place instead. In making its recommendations, the board pointed out the Krijgers were put in the difficult position of being held liable for damage that occurred from a 50-year-old drainage project done long before they bought the land in 2011. If that principle was applied across the province “this could have serious implications for many landowners and future purchasers of land,” says the board in its decision. “It is not normal practice for purchasers of land to investigate if there are any water-related works on a property, and, if there are any, to determine if they are all approved works.” No convenient database exists to even check whether that is the case, the panel adds. Edmonton lawyer Keith Wilson, who represented
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“IT JUST TURNS THE WHOLE NATURE OF RURAL LAND OWNERSHIP AND SELLING AND BUYING LAND IN RURAL ALBERTA ON ITS HEAD.” KEITH WILSON LAWYER the Krijgers, said the implications are “highly problematic and serious” of holding landowners liable for historic drainage projects they knew nothing about. It would force landowners involved in a land deal to hire professional hydrologists to determine if there was a slough, swamp or wetland drained at any point in the past. Who must pay for the restoration work would then have to be agreed on. “It just turns the whole nature of rural land ownership and selling and buying land in rural Alberta on its head,” said Wilson, who is a well-known defender of landowner rights. “It will drive up the transaction costs and create tremendous uncertainty. “In short, what the government is proposing to do is ridiculous.” The preservation of wetlands is a laudable goal, but expecting landowners to pay to reverse projects done many years ago makes no sense, he said. Adding to the absurdity is that many of the drainage projects were encouraged and funded by the provincial and federal governments at the time. Wilson said he knows of other landowners who have been told by the province to restore wetlands and have been waiting on the Krijger decision. The potential that many others could face similar issues was not lost on the appeal board, which noted that given the previous government support for drainage projects now holding landowners liable could affect an “indeterminate number of properties in the province.” pcowley@reddeeradvocate.com
A message of thanks WOMAN TRAVELLING FROM GHANA TO CENTRAL ALBERTA TO SHOW GRATITUDE BY LANA MICHELIN ADVOCATE STAFF Sophia Dauda is on a journey of gratitude. The 26-year-old Ghana native had never been on a plane before coming to Canada this month to thank the Central Albertans who paid for her university education through Tools for Schools Africa Foundation. Dauda had never travelled outside her West African country before stepping onto the sponsored flight to Canada. She never owned a passport or had a birth certificate. But she applied for all documents needed to make the intimidating trip because she wanted to personally tell her beneficiaries how they changed her life. “The eyes of my family are upon me,” said Dauda, a soft-spoken economics and business administration degree holder from the Catholic University College of Ghana in Sunyani. She explained she’s now responsible, as the only university-educated person in her family, for supporting other relatives. “My message is to thank (sponsors) for supporting people like me… My coming here is evidence of what can be done (in Ghana). I would like to encourage (people) to continue to support and contribute for us and (give them) a sign of appreciation,” said Dauda. “I am so happy, and my family as whole is happy. Being the first to get a degree is really wonderful.” Dauda is the featured speaker at the Tools for Schools Africa Foundation Shine fundraiser, held Thursday night at the Westerner’s Harvest Centre. The fourth-annual 7 p.m. benefit features a chance to buy donated new and gently used jewelry, art, purses, belts and scarves. Vice-chair Cindy Jefferies hopes to raise at least $35,000 from the event towards putting some girls in Ghana through middle school to university. “If families can’t afford to educate all of their children… girls are the last to be educated” — yet women tend to pass their knowledge on to their children, contributing towards the economic gain of their family and community, said Jefferies.
Please see GHANA on Page A2
Greece elects left-wing Syrzia Alexis Tsipras vowed to continue fighting for his country’s pride and to quickly form a coalition government. Story on PAGE A6
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