Cheers & Jeers

CHEERS: To members of the Canadian Armed Forces who have always represented the country with class and dignity at home and abroad. Those members and the country mourn the loss of six members of the Royal Canadian Air Force and Royal Canadian Navy last Wednesday in a helicopter crash off the coast of Greece. Sub-Lt. Abbigail Cowbrough, Capt. Maxime Miron-Morin, Sub-Lt. Matthew Pyke, MCpl. Matthew Cousins, Capt. Brenden Ian MacDonald and Capt. Kevin Hagen. Thank you for your service.

CHEERS: To Island anglers who followed social distancing guidelines when they were out fishing on the first day of the season Friday. With the province taking a cautious approach to ease back public health restrictions, a flood of fishermen heading to Island streams and rivers could have been cause for concern. Like every other rule, there will always be some people who ignore it, but as one Guardian reporter was out taking photos of people fishing Friday, every person they saw was keeping a safe social distance from other anglers.

JEERS: To Education Minister Brad Trivers. Disagreeing with media coverage is one thing, and is fair game for government ministers. But ludicrously believing you can order reporters to rewrite stories or headlines you don't like as if a reporters' role is to serve as a government mouthpiece, is a serious overreach for a sitting minister. It also does a disservice to the claims that the current PC government is more collaborative and less driven by partisan egos than past governments.

JEERS: To people who ride ATVs on the Confederation Trail. What has become a perpetual problem is made worse in the spring when the trail bed is soft from the winter snowmelt. At the best of times, ATVs damage the trail and are a safety hazard for walkers and cyclists. It is designated for nonmotorized use for a reason. In some places, ATV tracks sunk into the soft trail have made it so rough and bumpy it is almost unusable for its intended purpose. Not only is it a safety hazard, but taxpayers will be footing the bill for the repairs needed because of people who ignore the rules.

CHEERS: To P.E.I.'s chief medical health officer Dr. Heather Morrison for the opening of COVID-19 test sites at P.E.I. points of entry. The tests will be targetted at longhaul truckers, international travellers and anyone who exhibits symptoms of the coronavirus. In a province where the only cases of the disease have come from outside travel, we applaud the move. In fact, we suggest testing everyone so we can get back to a somewhat normal existence sooner than later.