Connect with us

Alberta

UNESCO announces Alberta’s 6th World Heritage Site – Writing-on-Stone / Aisinai

Published

3 minute read

From the Province of Alberta:

Writing-on-Stone/Áísínai’pi is now Alberta’s sixth World Heritage Site.

UNESCO has announced the addition of Writing-on-Stone/Áísínai’pi as
Alberta’s sixth World Heritage Site. The United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) announced the addition
of this site at the 43rd session of its World Heritage Committee in Baku,
Azerbaijan.

The nomination was prepared by the Government of Alberta in
partnership with the Blackfoot Confederacy and with ongoing support
from the Government of Canada. “Writing-on-Stone/Áísínai’pi is the site
of many natural wonders and a testament to the remarkable ingenuity
and creativity of the Blackfoot people. It’s easy to see why the site is seen by many as an expression of the confluence of the spirit and human
worlds.

I hope all Albertans will take the time to explore this extraordinary part of the province and all it has to offer.” Jason Nixon, Minister of
Environment and Parks

More than 60,000 people visit Writing-on-Stone each year to experience
the landscape and its rich history.

“Writing-on-Stone is an Alberta treasure that draws thousands of visitors annually to take part in interpretive tours and activities led by
knowledgeable and passionate staff who love to share the park’s unique history.”
Tanya Fir, Minister of Economic Development, Trade and Tourism

Writing-on-Stone/Áísínai’pi contains the most significant concentration
of protected First Nations petroglyphs (rock carvings) and pictographs
(rock paintings) on the Great Plains of North America. Some of the
carvings and paintings date back 2,000 years.  

“The designation of Writing-on-Stone/Áísínai’pi as a UNESCO World
Heritage Site provides the Blackfoot Confederacy a basis for its future
generations as to the strength and truth of our continuing relationship to this land and to our traditions, ceremonies and cultural practices.”
Martin Heavy Head, Mookaakin Cultural and Heritage Society/ Blackfoot Confederacy Elder

The inscription coincides with 2019 being designated as the International Year of Indigenous Languages by the United Nations.

Quick facts
Alberta’s six UNESCO World Heritage Sites are:
Writing-on-Stone/Áísínai’pi
Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump
Dinosaur Provincial Park
Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park
The Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks
Wood Buffalo National Park

Áísínai’pi is the Blackfoot word for ‘it is pictured/written.’ Pursuing World Heritage Site designation was identified as an objective in the 1997
Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park Management Plan.

Writing-on-Stone/Áísínai’pi was placed on Canada’s Tentative List for
World Heritage Sites in 2004. The park received federal designation as
Áísínai’pi National Historic Site of Canada in 2004. Key provincial
agencies involved in developing the nomination include: Alberta
Environment and Parks, and Alberta Culture, Multiculturalism and
Status of Women (Royal Alberta Museum, Archaeological Survey of
Alberta), with ongoing advice from Elders of the Mookaakin Cultural and Heritage Society/Blackfoot Confederacy.

Todayville is a digital media and technology company. We profile unique stories and events in our community. Register and promote your community event for free.

Follow Author

Alberta

Central Alberta MP resigns to give Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre a chance to regain a seat in Parliament

Published on

From LifeSiteNews

By Anthony Murdoch

Conservative MP Damien Kurek stepped aside in the Battle River-Crowfoot riding to allow Pierre Poilievre to enter a by-election in his native Alberta.

Conservative MP Damien Kurek officially resigned as an MP in the Alberta federal riding of Battle River-Crowfoot in a move that will allow Conservative Party of Canada leader Pierre Poilievre to run in a by-election in that riding to reclaim his seat in Parliament.

June 17 was Kurek’s last day as an MP after he notified the House Speaker of his resignation.

“I will continue to work with our incredible local team to do everything I can to remain the strong voice for you as I support Pierre in this process and then run again here in Battle River-Crowfoot in the next general election,” he said in a statement to media.

“Pierre Poilievre is a man of principle, character, and is the hardest working MP I have ever met,” he added. “His energy, passion, and drive will have a huge benefit in East Central Alberta.”

Kurek won his riding in the April 28 election, defeating the Liberals by 46,020 votes with 81.8 percent of the votes, a huge number.

Poilievre had lost his Ottawa seat to his Liberal rival, a seat that he held for decades, that many saw as putting his role as leader of the party in jeopardy. He stayed on as leader of the Conservative Party.

Poilievre is originally from Calgary, Alberta, so should he win the by-election, it would be a homecoming of sorts.

It is now up to Prime Minister of Canada Mark Carney to call a by-election in the riding.

Despite Kurek’s old seat being considered a “safe” seat, a group called the “Longest Ballot Committee” is looking to run hundreds of protest candidates against Poilievre in the by-election in the Alberta Battle River–Crowfoot riding, just like they did in his former Ottawa-area Carleton riding in April’s election.

Continue Reading

Alberta

Alberta pro-life group says health officials admit many babies are left to die after failed abortions

Published on

From LifeSiteNews

By Anthony Murdoch

Alberta’s abortion policy allows babies to be killed with an ‘induced cardiac arrest’ before a late-term abortion and left to die without medical care if they survive.

A Canadian provincial pro-life advocacy group says health officials have admitted that many babies in the province of Alberta are indeed born alive after abortions and then left to die, and because of this are they are calling upon the province’s health minister to put an end to the practice.

Official data from the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI), which is the federal agency in charge of reporting the nation’s health data, shows that in Alberta in 2023-2024, there were 133 late-term abortions. Of these, 28 babies were born alive after the abortion and left to die.

As noted by Prolife Alberta’s President Murray Ruhl in a recent email, this means the reality in the province is that “some of these babies are born alive… and left to die.”

“Babies born alive after failed late-term abortions are quietly abandoned—left without medical help, comfort, or even a chance to survive,” noted Ruhl.

This fact was brought to light in a recent opinion piece published in the Western Standard by Richard Dur, who serves as the executive director of Prolife Alberta.

Ruhl observed that Dur’s opinion piece has “got the attention of both Alberta Health Services (AHS) and Acute Care Alberta (ACA),” whom he said “confirmed many of the practices we exposed.”

Alberta’s policy when it comes to an abortion committed on a baby older than 21 weeks allows that all babies are killed before being born, however this does not always happen.

“In some circumstances… the patient and health practitioner may consider the option of induced fetal cardiac arrest prior to initiating the termination procedures,” notes Alberta Health Services’ Termination of Pregnancy, PS-92 (PS-92, Section 6.4).

Ruhl noted that, in Alberta, before an “abortion begins, they stop the baby’s heart. On purpose. Why? Because they don’t want a live birth. But sometimes—the child survives. And what then?”

Ruhl observed that the reality is, “They plan in advance not to save her—even if she’s born alive.”

If the baby is born alive, the policy states, “Comfort measures and palliative care should be provided.” (PS-92, Section 6.4).

This means, however, that there is no oxygen given, no NICU, “no medical care,” noted Ruhl.

“Their policies call this ‘palliative care.’ We call it what it is: abandonment. Newborns deserve care—not a death sentence,” he noted.

As reported by LifeSiteNews recently, a total of 150 babies were born after botched abortions in 2023-2024 in Canada. However, it’s not known how many survived.

Only two federal parties in Canada, the People’s Party of Canada, and the Christian Heritage Party, have openly called for a ban on late abortions in the nation.

Policy now under ‘revision’ says Alberta Health Services

Ruhl said that the province’s policies are now “under revision,” according to AHS.

Because of this, Ruhl noted that now is the time to act and let the province’s Health Minister, Adriana LaGrange, who happens to be pro-life, act and “demand” from her real “action to protect babies born alive after failed abortions.”

The group is asking the province to do as follows below:

  1. Amend the AHS Termination of Pregnancy policy to require resuscitative care for any baby born with signs of life, regardless of how the birth occurred.
  2. Require that these newborns receive the same level of care as any other premature baby. Newborns deserve care—not a death sentence.
  3. Recognize that these babies have a future—there is a literal waiting list of hundreds of families ready to adopt them. There is a home for every one of them.

While many in the cabinet and caucus of Alberta Premier Danielle Smith’s United Conservative government are pro-life, she has still been relatively soft on social issues of importance to conservatives, such as abortion.

Continue Reading

Trending

X