Cheers & Jeers

CHEERS: to all the police officers, paramedics, doctors, nurses, hospital staff and everyone else who works through the holidays to keep Islanders safe and healthy. The Christmas season is a time many people want to spend with their loved ones, but not everyone has that luxury. Some jobs need to be done and we’re lucky to live in a place where there are people to do them. They deserve kudos and a bit of holiday cheer for their sacrifices.

CHEERS: to the province for increasing social assistance food rates starting in the new year. It’s hard enough to get by on the amount social assistance pays and any increase must be welcome news to recipients. Although the increase will not fix all of the problems people on social assistance face, it is a start. Poverty often affects some of society’s most vulnerable people so here’s hoping more help is on the way.

JEERS: to the idea of allowing horses on the Confederation Trail. Recently a group of horseback riders started a petition in the hopes of getting the provincial government to change the rules to allow access to the trail. P.E.I. has a unique asset in the Confederation Trail and it isn’t built to accommodate any traffic other than cyclists or pedestrians. When horses are taken on the trail, which happens despite the rules, they damage the trail bed as their hoofs sink into the ground or gravel. The holes they leave are a hazard to the rule-abiding users and the messes they drop from their back ends aren’t much better.

CHEERS: to Maxine Doucette and Ben Doucette who were proud to present a donation of $1,900 - the remaining fundraised money from the disbanded Mount Stewart Fire Department - to the Mount Stewart Consolidated breakfast program recently. They also stuck around to flip pancakes. Maxine wishes, on behalf of the remaining members of the MSFD Ross Davies, Michael MacDonald, Kaelin Fisher, Urban MacDonald, Stephen Drake, all the children at the school and their families a happy new year.