'Renew your domain name before it expires': Alta. cabinet minister locked out of own website
Alberta’s education minister is locked out of her own website after her domain expired earlier this week.
On Friday the website shifted from displaying content curated by LaGrange and her team to showing messages about how “out of touch” the draft K-6 United Conservative Party curriculum is.
“When referring to the use of technology in Alberta’s new curriculum, Ms. Adriana LaGrange has said that students can code with ‘paper and pen’, but it is obvious that Adriana LaGrange does not understand how technology works,” the homepage read.
“Otherwise, she would not have let her domain name expire. This includes failing to renew the domain during the 41-day grace period.”
The site encouraged Albertans to view the draft curriculum for themselves and participate in a government-run feedback survey about the curriculum.
Shortly after 3 p.m. on Friday, LaGrange’s Twitter account no longer featured a link to her previous website domain.
At the bottom of the site, a link asked the “previous owner” of the domain to donate $2,500 to the Science Alberta Foundation Mindfuel charity that helps equip K-12 classrooms with science, technology, engineering, and math learning tools.
The site asked “the previous owner of this domain” to email receipt of the donation after which the new owner of the site would work “to transition the domain back” to LaGrange.
CTV News Edmonton reached out to LaGrange for comment.
Concerned Albertan Todd Willsie, a cyber security consultant and president of Calgary’s Extra Life Guild videogamer group, bought the domain and created the new messages on the site.
“I saw Adriana LaGrange’s profile on Twitter, clicked the website link and saw the domain was available to buy. So I bought it,” he said.
“At that point I just took all the comments I was hearing from friends, family, and coworkers about this curriculum and I saw one specific tweet about how there doesn’t need to be any technology in the classroom.
“I thought that was really ironic and decided to make the site and express all of what my friends and peers have been saying,” he added. “Our curriculum needs to be a bit better.”
The domain costs $70 for a one-year renewal. Willsie said LaGrange has not contacted him about the website.
As someone who works with technology everyday, Willsie said technology “needs” to be in the classroom. He selected the Mindfuel charity because it helps provide technology to educators and students alike.
Willsie said he has only been receiving positive feedback about his website hijack.
“Some people have been saying I am a hero,” Willsie laughed. “I am not, I am just an Albertan.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
How quietly promised law changes in the 2024 federal budget could impact your day-to-day life
The 2024 federal budget released last week includes numerous big spending promises that have garnered headlines. But, tucked into the 416-page document are also series of smaller items, such as promising to amend the law regarding infant formula and to force banks to label government rebates, that you may have missed.
Which foods have the most plastics? You may be surprised
'How much plastic will you have for dinner, sir? And you, ma'am?' While that may seem like a line from a satirical skit on Saturday Night Live, research is showing it's much too close to reality.
opinion I've been a criminal attorney for decades. Here's what I think about the case against Trump
Joey Jackson, a criminal defence attorney and a legal analyst for CNN, outlines what he thinks about the criminal case against Donald Trump in the 'hush money trial.'
$3.8M home in B.C.'s Okanagan has steel shell for extra wildfire protection
A home in B.C.'s Okanagan that features a weathering steel shell designed to provide some protection against wildfires has been listed for sale at $3.8 million.
Diver pinned under water by an alligator figured he had choice. Lose his arm or lose his life
An alligator attacked a diver on April 15 as he surfaced from his dive, nearly out of air. His tank emptied with the gator's jaws crushing the arm he put up in defence.
Psychologist becomes first person in Peru to die by euthanasia after fighting in court for years
A Peruvian psychologist who suffered from an incurable disease that weakened her muscles and had her confined to her bed for several years, died by euthanasia, her lawyer said Monday, becoming the first person in the country to obtain the right to die with medical assistance.
Mystery surrounds giant custom Canucks jerseys worn by Lions Gate Bridge statues
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
Celebrity designer sentenced to 18 months in prison for smuggling crocodile handbags
A leading fashion designer whose accessories were used by celebrities from Britney Spears to the cast of the 'Sex and the City' TV series was sentenced Monday to 18 months in prison after pleading guilty in Miami federal court on charges of smuggling crocodile handbags from her native Colombia.
Wildfire leads to evacuation order issued for northeast Alberta community
An evacuation order was issued on Monday afternoon for homes in the area of Cold Lake First Nation.