There was a good vibe at Holland College’s residence during the power outage

By Daniel Brown

Nov. 30, 2018

Students living in Holland College’s residence were more social during yesterday’s power outage, says a residence life adviser.

Adam Shambe is an RLA at Glendenning Hall. He’s in the Sports and Leisure Management program.

Students living at the campus residence in Charlottetown were interacting with one another more during the citywide power outage on Nov. 29, he said.

“It made it a good vibe.”

A Holland College student enters Glendenning Hall on Nov. 30, 2018. Daniel Brown photo.

Students were talking, playing cards and listening to music in the hallways. Some were getting to know new people, he said.

Students normally stay in their rooms, especially during exam time. Because of that, Shambe feels it was good there was an outage.

“[It got] all the students out, you know, interacting with one another. Getting to know each other,” he said.

Terry Chand played UNO, a Crazy Eights-style card game, during the power outage. He lives at the residence, and is studying Computer Information Systems.

He and a group of friends wanted to play hide and seek throughout the building, but unfortunately it wasn’t allowed. They settled for playing UNO, he said.

The residence hallways are normally empty, but that wasn’t the case during the outage, he said.

“On each floor you might see one or two people sitting in the corner with their flashlight, probably talking.”

Most people didn’t want to risk leaving the residence, as the room key device wasn’t working, he said.

“The power turned the front door off.”

Charlottetown smash and grabs may be by the same person, crime analyst says

By Daniel Brown

Nov. 30, 2018

It may be the same person who’s breaking the windows of multiple Charlottetown vehicles and stealing from them, says a crime analyst.

The Charlottetown Police issued a statement on Nov. 26. It warned of an increase of smash and grabs, which is when someone breaks a vehicle’s window and steals from it.

Glen McGrath is a crime analyst for the Charlottetown Police. Car thefts where the window is broken isn’t common on P.E.I., which lead police to think it may be one person doing it, McGrath said.

“It’s unusual for that to occur.”

Car thieves usually wait for someone to leave their car unlocked, rather than break the windows. There have been close to 10 of these incidents in the past two weeks, he said.

There’s normally something of value being stolen in these incidents. Cars are often stolen from to fuel drug addictions, and can happen anytime of year, he said.

“It’s not just because it’s the winter.”

Laura McCallum, insurance broker for Peake & McInnis, hasn’t personally reported any claims for car break-ins.

“Most people don’t claim for break-ins,” she said.

If property is stolen from the vehicle, the claim would fall under home insurance. And if a vehicle’s window is damaged or broken, it usually isn’t claimed at all, she said.

“We wouldn’t know the specifics of why the glass was broken.”

Mary Morrison, a specialist with the Co-operators Insurance, said it could cost $400 to $500 to fix a vehicle window.

“That might include the clean-up,” she said.

Shattered glass could get spread throughout the vehicle, and possibly into the air vents, she said.

Scott Lundrigan, provincial coordinator of PEI Crimestoppers, say’s they’re not getting any more tips than usual for car break-ins.

“It’s just that time of year,” he said.

Crimestoppers receives more tips for car break-ins during tourist season in the summer. People breaking into cars are usually doing it for socioeconomic reasons, like unemployment or addiction, he said.      

“Car break-ins are common."

WWI the topic of this year’s Symons Medal and Lecture

By Daniel Brown

Nov. 27, 2018

The First World War was a turning point in Canada’s growth, this year’s Symons Medal recipient said Nov. 23.

Margaret MacMillan is a Canadian historian who specializes in the history of Britain, early Canada, and 20th century wars. She’s currently a professor at the University of Oxford.

She was recognized at the Confederation Centre in Charlottetown for this year’s Symons Medal and Lecture series.

MacMillan spoke on the First World War’s significance in Canadian history, as this year marks the 100th of it ending. Unlike many countries, Canada had a gradual evolution into becoming a country, she said.

“We don’t have a single moment where it all started.”

The First World War was an important step in Canada discovering its international identity, she said.

“[It was] a time when Confederation was shaken and very nearly fell apart.”

Canada was still underneath the blanket of the British Empire, but after the war it became independent. MacMillan compared Canada to a teenager starting to question their parents.

The First World War sped up Canada’s growth, and other countries recognized it wasn’t just a dominion of Britain anymore, MacMillan said.

“They began to say we were Canadians.”

Canada faced all the struggles a new country faces, such as building infrastructure and a government. The First World War pushed forward Canada’s economy, anglophone and francophone relations, and women’s rights, she said.

Canada’s success at the Battle of Vimy Ridge in 1917 helped form a single Canadian conscious and identity. After the war, Britain intended to represent Canada at the founding of the League of Nations.

The Canadian government fought to represent itself, and ultimately signed for themselves as founders, MacMillan said.

“We make a point that we have to ratify it.”

Edward MacDonald thanked MacMillan. He’s a history professor at UPEI.

The common attitude toward history today is it’s irrelevant, MacDonald said.

“You find it, you put it on display, and you let it gather dust.”

MacMillan’s lecture was a reminder that history is a key to understanding. The First World War also played an important role for Islanders, he said.

“It helped Islanders feel more Canadian.”

P.E.I. was in many ways a self-contained world, but the war drew it more fully into the nation, MacDonald said.

Premier Wade MacLauchlan spoke briefly during the event. Many Canadians today think we are a small country in global terms, he said.

But Canadians have strong personal connections, which the country can use to get things done. A good example for this is Prince Edward Island, he said.

“Canada needs more Prince Edward Island.”

Islanders lose 2-1 in a shootout against Baie-Comeau Drakkar

By Daniel Brown

Nov. 27, 2018

The Charlottetown Islanders lost 2-1 in a shootout with the Baie-Comeau Drakkar during a home game at the Eastlink Centre on Nov. 25.

Islanders Nikita Alexadrov, right, and Drakkar’s Samuel L’Italien wait for the puck to drop during a game at the Eastlink Centre on Nov. 25. Daniel Brown photo.

The Islanders started the game strong, with Hunter Drew scoring the first goal 1:16 into the first period. Drakkar’s Jordan Martel scored their first goal late in the second period.

In overtime, Drakkar’s goalie Kyle Jessiman stopped the Islanders from scoring anything. With 20 seconds left, crowd members gave the Islanders some suggestions as they passed the puck among each other and played the clock.

“Shoot,” was a popular opinion.

The game went into a shootout, with the shots on goal being 37 for the Islanders and 42 for Drakkar. Ivan Chekhovich was the only one to score, so Drakkar won the game.

Drew was disappointed the game ended in a shootout, he said.

“If we won I’d probably think otherwise.”

The Islanders played well, and he’s happy with the goal he scored early on, he said.

“It was a good way to start the game.”

Islanders Keith Getson is proud of how they played against Drakkar, which is one of the top teams in the league, he said.

The team needs to work on their power play, Getson said.

“We had quite a few opportunities to bury them late in the game.”

Shortly after the game started, Drew set the tone by taking the arena by surprise. He raced toward the puck and reached around his opponents trying to stop him.

He hooked it into the net, making it 1-0. The crowd went from silence to uproar.

Jessiman played well, with a number of glove saves. With two minutes left in the period, he lost his stick while the Islanders were on top of him but managed to make due.

Islanders Pierre-Oliver Joseph drew the period’s only penalty for tripping. The second period had Drakkar’s Yaroslav Alexeyev in the penalty box for hooking.

Martel ultimately scored with four and a half minutes left, taking the arena - and possibly his team - by surprise. The game was 1-1.

In the third period, both teams’ players started getting scrappier. Halfway through there was a fight between Islanders Liam Peyton and Drakkar’s D’Artagnan Joly.

Both got penalties, as well as Drakkar’s Xavier Bouchard for cross-checking.

The arena started getting anxious, cheering anytime the Islanders had the puck. The period ended with some applause-worthy saves by Islanders goalie Matthew Welsh and no scoring.

In overtime, Drakkar’s Yan Aucoin got a penalty for checking from behind.