Sailing into the future
Coast Guard graduate from Ontario has roots in Cape Breton
With a name like Ceilidh, there’s a good bet your origins can be traced back to Cape Breton.
That’s certainly the case for Ceilidh Rink who will be among 31 students to graduate from the Canadian Coast Guard College today.
Though she’s from Omemee, Ont., her roots are very much in Cape Breton.
Specifically, those roots run deep in the community of Westmount where the college is located. It’s where her mother Lisa Currie grew up and would later meet her father (Harold) while he was a cadet there in the 1980s.
“Nova Scotia feels like home. I lived in Ontario for 15 years but it is always nicer here. I like it here a lot more,” said Rink, who has spent most of her Christmas and summer vacations in Cape Breton.
“I was probably one of very few in my unit that knew the area already, where to have fun and what was cool about it and I enjoy the weather mood swings. It’s nice.”
While her love of all things Cape Breton clearly comes from her mother, her enthusiasm for a career in the Canadian Coast Guard comes from her dad who is currently a chief engineer in the fleet.
“I was introduced to it pretty early on in life,” she said. “He always seemed to have a very adventurous lifestyle and as a kid that appeals to you. You don’t think about the desk jobs when you are six or seven years old so I got into it when I was really young and I stuck to that idea.”
On Saturday, Rink will be among 13 female graduates and one of 10 female engineers out of a class of 18 in that field of study. Her first posting will be in Dartmouth, not far from her Cape Breton roots.
Brian LeBlanc, executive director of the college, is encouraged by the growing number of female students at the college, particularly those in the engineering field.
“In the past it was easier to recruit women into the navigation side but we are finding lately that more and more are
leaning towards the engineering side, which is great because it provides a great mix of officers that work on ships and that are here at the Coast Guard College,” said the Sydney Mines native.
“We are actually quite proud of the graduates this year. It’s a big class so it is nice to have the number of women we are having graduate.”
Saturday’s graduation ceremonies start at 2 p.m. Guest speakers will include Dominic LeBlanc, the minister for the Department of Fisheries, Canadian Coast Guard Commissioner
Jeffery Hutchinson, and senior officials from Transport Canada.
LeBlanc called it an exciting time for all involved.
“It’s a pretty intensive program and, for us, it really is the end of what we like to see as taking officer cadets from their first year right through until they graduate as officers,” he said.
“Its emotional for me, personally. I graduated from here in 1986 so I know what they are feeling. They are going to be glad to get out in the fleet and glad to get working on coast guard ships as soon as possible.”