Mr. Speaker, recently Cape Breton has seen its heroes and stars.
On January 27, the Baddeck Volunteer Fire Department rescued six passengers from a bus that crashed into the ice filled river.
This past weekend we had winners at the ECMA Awards. Tom Fun Orchestra won the rising star recording, Sydney Mines Brenda Stubbert took home the roots/traditional solo, the Burkes from Waterford took home the gospel recording, Ronald Bourgeois from Chéticamp won francophone recording and, last but not least, Gordie Sampson won Vibe Creative Single and SOCAN Songwriter of the Year.
Two basketball teams also made us proud. CBU's Caper's women claimed their third AUS banner and Breton Education Bears won their first Coal Bowl.
On February 23, our entire island celebrated the 100th anniversary of the first flight of the Silver Dart with a re-enactment on Baddeck Bay.
We are proud of each and every one of these outstanding Cape Breton accomplishments.