JEERS: To the people caught driving at excessive speeds in P.E.I. over the last week. There were two drivers in two days who were caught driving at twice the speed limit on rural roads, including one in Vernon River who was charged with dangerous driving. In that case, the driver was charged after a passenger shared a video that showed the vehicle’s speedometer topped out at 180 km/h. In another case, the police said they stopped a driver who was travelling more than 190 km/h. Island roads weren’t built for those kinds of speeds and the potential for disaster is incredibly high.
CHEERS: To the Public Health Office and the provincial government for releasing details of what appears to be a well-thought-out plan for off-Island residents to begin the process of applying to come back to P.E.I. If these details could have been released with the original announcement of the plan, there likely would have been far less push-back about it.
CHEERS: To golfer Lorie Kane who was named to Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame this past week. The Charlottetown native has always worn her P.E.I. pride proudly on the LPGA circuit, where she has four victories and several second-place finishes. A two-time Canadian female athlete of the year, she has also represented Canada internationally. She will become the fourth Islander to join Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame when she is inducted in a ceremony next year.
CHEERS: To the reopening of bars, pubs and restaurants across the Island starting June 1. It will be nice for Islanders to once again gather on patios and in dining rooms, and it allows us to support our local businesses. However, to maintain social distancing orders, there will be changes put in place that may take some getting to. It will be a learning curve all around, so if you do plan on patronizing these Island businesses, be kind to staff and be generous with your tips.
JEERS: To U.S. President Donald Trump and the U.S. administration for declaring war on social media platform Twitter this week. The president, who uses Twitter to get his message out, didn’t take kindly to Twitter adding a ‘fact-check’ link to one of his tweets. Now, there is no question that social media should not be considered the arbiter of truth for anything, but in this case, you can’t have it both ways. The president can’t use Twitter as much as he does to attack people and policies and then get his nose out of joint when his information is called into question.
And CHEERS from Guardian reader Barb MacMillan to Waste Watch collectors in the Cornwall area for all the hard work they do in all kinds of weather good and bad, including last week's unusually warm temperatures.
