Cheers &Jeers
JEERS
to whoever was responsible for more than 200 goldfish ending up in the Winter River. Fish and Wildlife P.E.I. recently removed the fish from a pond on the river using electrofishing. The fish are considered to be invasive and can cause multiple problems, such as competing for food or preying on native species. Although the captured fish were euthanized, a wildlife official said there may still be more in the area. It's unfortunate to see someone's disregard for nature potentially having disastrous consequences for the local ecosystem.
CHEERS
to Halifax lawyer Lee Cohen and advocates for Mehdi Belhadj, who secured Belhadj's release from Canada Border Services Agency detainment. A former UPEI international student, Belhadj was detained by the CBSA after seeking mental health services at Hillsborough Hospital. With release in hand, his advocates are now trying to get visitor visas for his family to come to Canada to visit and offer their needed support.
CHEERS
to a group of young P.E.I. artists for putting so much effort into promoting the local hip-hop scene. The second Small Island Dreamers show took place in Charlottetown's Victoria Park on the night of Sept. 25. About 100 people turned out for the first show in Charlottetown in July and organizers were hoping for many more at Saturday's outdoor event. Public Health does currently allow outdoor gatherings of no more than 200 people. It's nice to see this form of artistic expression taking place and it's even better that this show was to cater to some of P.E.I.'s lesser-known hip-hop talent.
CHEERS
to Island voters who turned out to cast their ballots in the recent federal election. Voter turnout in P.E.I. tends to be high, especially in provincial elections. In this case, more than 71 per cent of registered voters cast a ballot. That far surpassed the 62.09 per cent turnout nationally. Considering the timing of the election while Canada is still dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, the numbers in P.E.I. were strong and an encouraging sign that Islanders still care about exercising their right to vote.
JEERS
to People's Party of Canada Leader Maxime Bernier who called three journalists idiots in a tweet after the election, listing their email addresses and ending with “They want to play dirty, we will play dirty too.” The message soon found its way to white supremacists who responded by sending racist and hateful messages to the reporters. One woman shared an email she received as a result of the tweet that suggested she should get “brutally raped” for her journalism and told her to kill herself. We condemn these messages and call on PPC candidates to shut down these attacks on journalists doing their jobs.