Central Alberta
New RDC President out to make Red Deer “the first choice for post-secondary education in this region”
A message from Dr. Peter Nunoda, Red Deer College President
Connections and collaboration essential for RDC’s new President
I believe that Red Deer College is a pillar in this community. That’s one of the many things that initially attracted me to this institution.
When I was first learning about RDC and the central Alberta region, I realized there was a special opportunity here to work closely with community members. Coming from Vancouver Community College, where I served as President, we had made positive connections with our community. But at RDC, I saw there was an opportunity to become more closely connected to the larger central Alberta region. By working together and listening to what the community at large wants from this college, we can make an incredible difference.
Another pivotal reason that I came to Red Deer College was the opportunity to be part of the university transition. I have a wide familiarity with post-secondary institutions from my past experiences at the university, university-college and college settings. I have worked and led organizations and teams at all of these levels, and I’m excited about the path that RDC is on. Our future model is unique in that we’re not talking about a traditional university. By keeping the range of credentials that we currently offer and adding degrees, we will be maximizing the opportunities for our students.
I believe in the value of a college education, first and foremost, as a way to prepare students for the work force, and we never want to lose this. In my family, all three of my children are currently in post-secondary, and my middle daughter is a great example of the importance of a college education. She started in a Bachelor of Science program, but was concerned about her job prospects. She then transferred to a Laboratory Sciences Technologist Diploma and has had great success in this program, including an amazing co-op experience.
This example demonstrates the need to have a wide range of opportunities for students, including applied and hands-on knowledge in all of our programs. As we develop our own degrees, we will always keep the ideas of work integrated and experiential learning, as well as practicums and co- ops in mind. This will help our students across all of our programs to transition seamlessly to the workplace. We’re at an important time, when even more students from the region will be able to stay in Red Deer and complete their education in Red Deer, graduating with degrees. We want to prepare our students and graduates for the wider world, but we also want them to have opportunities to learn and to work right here in central Alberta.
We’re evolving as an institution, and we’re doing this at a time when there is an increasing need for post-secondaries to establish their own revenue streams to be continuously financially stable. This will require innovative thinking as we move forward, and that’s an area that I’m passionate about. For me, innovation has many components, and an important one is considering how we can repackage the education that we offer. What do our programs and credentials look like moving forward? Are we maximizing blended and distance options, and offering pieces of traditional education in ways that make sense for our students? Another area we will be looking at is our international student population and how to establish a balanced approach to increase international registrations. All of these questions require a lot of out-of-the-box thinking, but they are important topics to consider as we look to the university of our future.
When we consider the future, it’s my vision to ensure we never lose sight of where we’ve come from. While honouring our history, we want to create a legacy of Red Deer University being an institution that’s virtually self-sustaining. We also want people to look at Red Deer as the first choice for post-secondary education in the region, and we will work with our community members to benefit RDC and all of central Alberta.
This past June, I came to RDC for my announcement as the new President, and I was amazed at the number of people who were in attendance. This really reinforced to me how many people will be counting on me. I know – and am very appreciative – of the fact that I will be part of a team at Red Deer College, but I still take my responsibility as President very seriously. There is important work to be done here over the next few years, and I look forward to undertaking it together.
Dr. Peter Nunoda is Red Deer College’s President.
From LifeSiteNews
Taylor ‘Teej’ Johannesson was fired by H.J. Cody High School in Sylvan Lake because he spoke out against gender confusion, but the community rallied to support him.
A Central Alberta high school football coach who was fired for sharing his views opposing transgender ideology on social media has been vindicated by members of his community, who voted him in to be a town councilors.
As reported by LifeSiteNews earlier this year, coach Taylor ‘Teej’ Johannesson was fired by H.J. Cody High School in Sylvan Lake, Alberta, by school principal Alex Lambert because he spoke out against gender-confused youth who “take their hatred of Christians” to another level by committing violent acts against them.
Many in his community, which is located in a traditionally conservative area of Alberta, rallied to support Johannesson and even had a GiveSendGo campaign for him at one point.
Saying of his win, as noted in a Western Standard report, Johannesson described it as being vindicated, noting how his wife told him, “You’re vindicated — the good wins now. God closed one door and opened a bigger one.”
Last month, Alberta had municipal elections province-wide, and Johannesson ran for a seat on the Sylvan Lake town council. After the results were tallied, he won a seat on the council, noting how he ran for office to fight against the creep of the woke agenda on society.
Johannesson said that he ran for the same council four years ago “purely on an anti-vaccine platform,” saying he was “pissed off at the mandates.”
He said he decided to run for town council as a Christian conservative so he could share his pro-family beliefs with people in the town, so “everyone knows who I am and what my beliefs, morals, and values are, so that way, if I get elected, I could just keep being that way.”
He noted how he received a lot of “hate and slander” from many people, including many in the school, because of his beliefs. However, their plan against him backfired.
“That school tried to bury me, and instead they lifted me,” he said, adding that going from fired football coach to town councillor in “two months was pretty good.”
As reported by LifeSiteNews, Johannesson earlier this year sent a legal demand to his former school board demanding he get his job back.
The legal demand letter, which was sent to school officials last week, reads, “Given that Mr. Johannesson’s expression in the TikTok Video was not connected to his volunteer work, the principal and the division have no authority to regulate his speech and punish him by the Termination decision, which is ultra vires (“beyond the powers.)”
Teej has been in trouble before with the school administration. About three years ago, he was called in to see school officials for posting on Twitter a biological fact that “Boys have a penis. Girls have a vagina.”
Alberta
Pierre Poilievre will run to represent Camrose, Stettler, Hanna, and Drumheller in Central Alberta by-election
From LifeSiteNews
Conservative MP-elect Damien Kurek announced Friday he would be willing to give up his seat as an MP so Pierre Poilievre, who lost his seat Monday, could attempt to re-join Parliament.
Conservative MP-elect Damien Kurek announced Friday he would be willing to give up his seat in a riding that saw the Conservatives easily defeat the Liberals by 46,020 votes in this past Monday’s election. Poilievre had lost his seat to his Liberal rival, a seat which he held for decades, which many saw as putting his role as leader of the party in jeopardy.
Kurek has represented the riding since 2019 and said about his decision, “It has been a tremendous honor to serve the good people of Battle River—Crowfoot.”
“After much discussion with my wife Danielle, I have decided to step aside for this Parliamentary session to allow our Conservative Party Leader to run here in a by-election,” he added.
Newly elected Prime Minister of Canada Mark Carney used his first post-election press conference to say his government will unleash a “new economy” that will further “deepen” the nation’s ties to the world.
He also promised that he would “trigger” a by-election at once, saying there would be “no games” trying to prohibit Poilievre to run and win a seat in a safe Conservative riding.
Poilievre, in a statement posted to X Friday, said that it was with “humility and appreciation that I have accepted Damien Kurek’s offer to resign his seat in Battle River-Crowfoot so that I can work to earn the support of citizens there to serve them in Parliament.”
“Damien’s selfless act to step aside temporarily as a Member of Parliament shows his commitment to change and restoring Canada’s promise,” he noted.
“I will work to earn the trust of the good people of Battle River-Crowfoot and I will continue to hold the Liberal minority government to account until the next federal election, when we will bring real change to all Canadians.”
Carney said a new cabinet will be sworn in on May 12.
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