Cheers & Jeers

CHEERS: To the organizing committee and supporters of the bells restoration at St. Dunstan’s Basilica in Charlottetown. The bells – silent for more than a generation – pealed their joyful sound across the capital city on Canada Day morning. O Canada was played on the bells while a crowd of more than 1,000 sang the national anthem. Premier Wade MacLauchlan, Mayor Clifford Lee, Bishop Richard Grecco, MP Sean Casey and bells chairman Kevin Murphy were on hand for the gala ceremony.

JEERS: To Coast Guard, DFO and Transport Canada who seemed to get their knickers in a knot over a cup of Tm Hortons coffee. After the pilot of a Coast Guard helicopter touched down near a Tims outlet at O’Leary Corner in March – presumably to get a hot coffee on a chilly morning - an inquiry and investigation ensued after the event was recorded on social media. The pilot has been ‘schooled’ on the appropriate use of the aircraft. The commissioner of the Canadian Coast Guard asked for an internal probe. If the pilot was guilty of inefficient use of the aircraft, what are all the federal bureaucrats guilty of? Wasting taxpayers’ dollars on a silly investigation over a java fix was equally as inefficient.

CHEERS: To forward R.T. Rice of the UPEI Panthers and defenceman Guilluame Brisbois of the Charlottetown Islanders who were named to the Vancouver Canucks 2017 Development Camp roster. They are among 36 players scheduled to report for the summer prospect development camp which opens this Tuesday. Rice, a Vancouver resident, was a rookie last season with the Panthers, and has close family connections to P.E.I. Brisbois served as captain of the Islanders this past season. Good luck to both.

CHEERS: To the impressive fireworks display over the Charlottetown waterfront Saturday night to herald Canada Day. The low overcast enhanced the fireworks as the cloud cover reflected sound and colour around the city. The red, white and green glow in the clouds above added to the display below. The crowd was certainly appreciative of the show. Forecast rains held off throughout the day Friday and Saturday to spare huge crowds which thronged the downtown area for the Tall Ships, concerts, woodsmen competition and many other Canada Day attractions. Rain was limited to early Sunday morning but the precipitation ended by 9 a.m. and the sun broke out to cap off a successful holiday weekend.

CHEERS: To the executive members of the Charlottetown Curling Club for their efforts in organizing the salute to Brett Gallant last Saturday night. Gallant, who played with N.L. skip Brad Gushue in capturing the Brier and word titles this spring, was a longtime member of the CCC and won a national junior and world silver medal in 2009 for P.E.I. Gallant told more than 200 supporters at the sold-out dinner that curling was always his goal and winning a Brier and world title were longtime dreams.