CTV National News: Survey says P.E.I. residents are least happy in Canada
Despite its scenic charm, a new survey ranks P.E.I. lowest in national happiness, leaving many Islanders surprised. CTV's Maria Sarrouh reports.
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CTV News
2 hours ago
- CTV News
‘Really exciting': Regina baton twirlers set to represent Canada at competition in Italy
WATCH: Thirteen baton twirlers from Regina will represent Canada at the World Baton Twirling Championships in Italy. Jacob Carr has the story. Thirteen baton twirlers from the ages of 12 through 18 and over are gearing up to face off against the best in Torino, Italy. The athletes are a combination of twirlers from the Sundown Optimist Baton Group and Phoenix Baton Club. They will compete in both the Nations Cup and World Baton Twirling Championship in Italy, which will get underway on Aug. 2. Former twirler and Team Canada coach Nancy Lightheart says the athletes representing Saskatchewan make up around 25 per cent of the Canadian representatives. 'That's really exciting for Saskatchewan, and for a province our size to have such a large contingent. We're obviously very proud of our athletes. They work tremendously long hours and it's hard to get to this level of training,' she said. For some on the team like Gabriella Buchko, this won't be their first time representing Team Canada at Baton Twirling. Buchko recently took part in a Pan Pacific competition. At just twelve years of age, she is now somewhat of a veteran, but that doesn't make the mental aspect of a twirling routine any easier. 'When you're tossing the baton, you just have to keep doing repetition over and over to have muscle memory where your brain can finally be like, 'Okay I need to think of the corrections now, but I know how to do this trick,'' she explained. For Malia Briere, also twelve years of age, Italy will be her first time donning the Maple Leaf. It's an experience she says will be an incredible learning opportunity. 'I feel like it will kind of be like, 'Oh wow, they can do this trick, and I might want to try this trick next year or in a couple years,'' she said. Briere also said she is looking forward to visiting some historical buildings in Italy and touring Rome with her family. Both Briere and Buchko agree that a bonus to competing in Torino will be experiencing the Italian cuisine. For Buchko, it's also an opportunity to form new friendships. 'It'll be so exciting to meet many new people since everyone is so kind and so tight together. I know that I'm really good friends with a lot of people from across Canada, so it will be good to make new friendships internationally too,' she said. When asked who the fiercest competition should be in the field, Lightheart mentioned Team Japan as the gold standard in the sport. 'The Japanese are always the highlight. Anytime we go to international events they are sort of the pinnacle,' she said. They're the team that people aspire to twirl like. So, yeah, it's always exciting to go watch them for sure.'
CBC
3 hours ago
- CBC
This southern N.B. wharf was bustling with steamboat commuters a century ago
What is now a quiet riverbank was once a bustling transportation link for the residents of Wickham a century ago. Before railways and highways, steamboats used to chugged up and down the river from wharf to wharf, picking up passengers and cargo, said Roadside History explorer James Upham. "Say 1914, 1913, if we were standing here at about quarter to six in the morning, there'd be a steamboat waiting right there to run a commuter service," he said. The Wickham Wharf that Upham is referring to is nearly 50 kilometres north of Saint John on the eastern bank of the St. John River. "It's kind of amazing to imagine what is currently a very sleepy little community at one point being able to sustain its own commuter steamboat service," said Upham. He said Wickham was once "one of the busiest spots in this entire region" and the main point of import and export for the community. People in the area would gather on the wharf each morning in the summer in order to commute to Saint John to work for the day. The commute was two hours compared to what is now a roughly one-hour drive by car. But, two hours on a steamboat was much more peaceful than the morning traffic some face in New Brunswick's cities, said Upham. "Basically no traffic, plus you could just put your feet up and have a cup of tea and watch the absolutely gorgeous St. John River go past you as you're heading off to work in the morning." One of the boats that operated from the Wickham Wharf was the Oconee, whose captain's last name was Taylor. According to Upham and the provincial archives, the Oconee was originally a tugboat called the Stella Marie before it was lengthened by Taylor. The archives website says the boat was renamed on June 13, 1912. It was the last of its kind on the St. John River and was scuttled, or destroyed, on March 1, 1927. On vessels like the Oconee, there were amenities for travellers, explained Upham. Meal service was available with locally grown food, dessert and coffee or tea. "There was a saying in the latter part of the 1800s that it was cheaper to travel than to stay home because ... for pennies, you could get a full, like, four-course meal." Upham said companies would hire the best cooks, with the hopes of luring people onto their ships over their rivals' on the river. Point of competition The river's wharves were also grounds for competition, as steamboat captains raced to pick up the most commuters. Upham said some people had their preferred ship to travel on. Along with the Oconee, the Victoria and the David Weston were also plying the waters at that time. "If you were the first steamboat to get to a wharf, you usually got all the business that was on that wharf and the next steamboat coming along would have to just sort of put up with whoever got there late." One trick used by steamboat captains was to leave someone on the wharf with the task of flagging down other steamboats in order to slow them down. While they picked up a single passenger, other steamboats would work their way down the river to busier stops. "That guy waiting on the wharf waited for the next steamboat to get close enough and then started waving his handkerchief furiously so they had to pull over and pick up one person." Upham said stories like these were written by Donald Taylor, whose father ran the Oconee, and who also became a steamboat captain.
CTV News
9 hours ago
- CTV News
CTV National News: Survey says P.E.I. residents are least happy in Canada
Watch Despite its scenic charm, a new survey ranks P.E.I. lowest in national happiness, leaving many Islanders surprised. CTV's Maria Sarrouh reports.
