CHEERS: To Para-Nordic star Mark Arendz of Hartsville, P.E.I. who carried Canada's flag into the closing ceremony Sunday for the 2018 Paralympic Winter Games in PyeongChang, South Korea, as the Canadian contingent celebrated its best-ever Winter Paralympics performance. Canada set a new national Paralympic record with 28 medals in PyeongChang, eclipsing the previous best of 19 from the 2010 Games in Vancouver. Canadian Paralympians earned eight gold, four silver and 16 bronze in South Korea. Arendz won five individual medals in as many events at the Games and added a cross-country mixed relay silver for his sixth in PyeongChang - a truly outstanding achievement and a well-deserved selection as Canada’s flagbearer for the closing ceremony.
CHEERS: To “ex” Guardian staffer Teresa Wright who leaves shortly for Ottawa to join the parliamentary bureau of the Canadian Press. The assignment is one of the most sought-after and prestigious jobs for a newspaper reporter in Canada and it’s richly deserved. Her last day at The Guardian was Friday and Saturday’s paper featured two front-page stories by her, which turned over to fill page two as well. Her farewell column on page 3 was about Islanders and colleagues and not about herself. It was a fitting farewell. She will be missed.
CHEERS: And good luck in the playoffs to the Charlottetown Islanders which wrapped up their regular season in fine style on the weekend. The Quebec Major Junior Hockey League franchise fell behind Acadie-Bathurst Titan 4-0 early in Friday night’s game. That would usually signal defeat for any team but the Isles battled back and won 5-4 in OT. The on-ice and crowd celebrations following the OT winner was one of the most energized of the season. The momentum carried over to Saturday’s wrap-up, hard-fought win against Moncton. The Isles needed to finish the regular season on a positive note after some recent stumbles and the crucial wins before crowds of some 3,500 each day are something to build on for the playoff against Quebec Remparts. That series opens later this week in Quebec City.
JEERS: To a recent poll which found that a majority of Canadians have a negative opinion of – wait for it – pollsters. A Canada-wide Insights West poll found that firefighters and nurses are the only professionals respected by more than nine-in-ten Canadians. More than four-in-five Canadians have very positive views on farmers, doctors, teachers, scientists, engineers, veterinarians and architects. At least seven-in-ten have positive opinions of dentists, accountants, military officers, police officers, psychiatrists, athletes and journalists. More than 50 per cent have a positive opinion of judges, auto mechanics, actors and artists, building contractors, clergy and bankers. Scoring just under 50 per cent were lawyers, realtors, business executives and pollsters. Among the lowest were car salespeople (26 per cent) and politicians (22 per cent.) Politicians have a particularly low rating among women (21 per cent), seniors (15 per cent) and Atlantic Canada residents (12 per cent). It’s a tough crowd in this region.
CHEERS: To former Charlottetown mayor George MacDonald who took city council to task for approving two summer music concerts at Confederation Landing Park. MacDonald said the spacious Events Grounds was built for music concerts and modifications can be made to convert that site into a cozier venue for smaller to medium-sized music crowds. Shutting down the park for concerts denies citizens the use of the waterfront site and will result in damage to the park. MacDonald said council took the easy way out and the decision left him disappointed, concerned and disgusted.
CHEERS: To Sydney Gallant, a fourth-year business administration student at UPEI, one of eight students across Atlantic Canada awarded the 2018 Frank H. Sobey Award for Excellence in Business Studies, valued at $25,000 each. Sydney was involved in a number of societies, including Enactus UPEI, where she started an initiative called Financially Fit, presenting to more than 600 P.E.I. high school students about making financial plans for their post-secondary education. The Sobey awards support future business leaders and business programs in Atlantic Canadian universities and are presented based on entrepreneurial experience, university and community leadership, career aspirations and overall academic achievement.
