Week of April 25, 2024

Fort Saskatchewan School, 1918 (ARCH000880)

40 years ago (April 25, 1984)

“Kid I.D. gets the green light”

Forty years ago the Strathcona Public School Board unanimously approved a voluntary child I.D. program in its elementary schools. The program would allow RCMP and Block Parents to go into county schools and make identification files on students. The Child I.D. cards were to include fingerprints, photographs, next of kin, allergies, and medical history. The cards would be turned over to parents, a change from a rejected initial proposal of the program which had called for the identification cards to be stored at the Strathcona Information Centre. The goal of the Child I.D. program was to deter child kidnapping and assist in the identification of fingerprints on abduction vehicles or bodies in abduction cases. The April 25, 1984 paper included perspectives of community members on the programs approval. Some said it was a good idea while some disagreed. Others were on the fence saying it depending on if the information could be misused.

30 years ago (April 28, 1994)

“Park woman experiences historic vote first hand”

This week, thirty years ago, was a historic moment as South Africans of all races took to the polls for the first time in a general election which would result in Nelson Mandela as President of South Africa. A woman from Sherwood Park made the front page of the local newspaper despite being over 15,000 km away in South Africa for the elections. Gladys Teske was in South Africa after being invited by Elections Canada to be part of the team training and monitoring workers during the three day election. One problem Teske had to deal with was a shortage of indelible ink which was used to mark voters fingers, preventing them from casting more than one ballot. Teske enjoyed her time in South Africa saying “I’m interested in human rights, and in people who are disenfranchised getting to vote. I’m very happy to see something like this.”